Arabic

In 2016, I began lightly studying Iraqi and Syrian Arabic when I was volunteering with refugees in Saint Louis, MO, USA. When I began my undergraduate degree at TCU in August 2018, I began formal, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) courses at university. The books that the Modern language Department used were the Al-Kitaab series, which offered instruction in the MSA, Levantine, and Egyptian dialects. After two years of instruction at TCU, the Covid-19 pandemic canceled my 2020 summer plans, which were supposed to be in the Middle East. In summer 2021, I finally made it the Middle East and studied Advanced MSA at Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan for roughly three months. I later took a Palestinian Arabic dialect course at the Excellence Center in Hebron, Palestinian Territories. In Spring 2024, I took yet another Advanced MSA course at the Sultan Qaboos Center in Washington DC. Between the time gaps of formal studying, I used a variety of resources to maintain my Arabic level and learn more colloquial phrases.

Arabic Language Resources

Online:

Mango
- Cost: free
- Details: different dialect courses, focus on vocab & not so much on grammar, helpful for beginners & learning useful phrases
Arabic For Nerds (website & books)
Pimsleur
- Cost: $20 per month
- Details: different dialects, focus on vocab & not so much on grammar
Syrian Arabic Voices (Lingualism)

Books:

Al-Kitaab (Alif Baa, Part 1, Part 2) $30-$80 per book, amazing for understanding the language & grammar, comes with online activities & listening practice, many exercises, different dialects
Arabic Stories for Language Learners

Instagrams:

@ajnabiyeh ; Arabic language learner
@americanqahwa ; Arabic language learner
@qasid.arabic ; Arabic language institute
@hebahsrollercoaster ; Arabic speaker, polyglot
@schoolofyalla ; Arabic learning account
@ihsan.arabic ; Arabic learning account
@markhachem ; Arabic learning account

Youtube:

Arabic Pod 101
Zoe Languages
Mark Hashem
Sarde After Dinner
Al-Jazeera

Podcasts (Spotify)

The Arabic We Speak (podcast & online worksheets)
Lahtha (Al-Jazeera News in Arabic)
Arabic Pod 101
Arabic With Imran Lum (Beginners)
Simple Easy Arabic (Amy Goedhart)

Music

Elyanna (Palestinian)
Mohammad Ramadan (Egyptian)
Saad Lamjarred (Moroccan)
Amr Diab (Egyptian)
Khaled (Algerian)
Shiran (Israeli, Yemeni)
Loai Ali (Israeli, Druze)
Nancy Ajram (Lebanese)
Al-Qasar (North African Psychedella)

Movies & TV Shows

Fauda (Hebrew & Arabic, TV show)
Mosul (movie)
Al-Hayba (TV show)
Omar (movie)
Farhana (movie)
Adel Karam (comedy)
Al Rawaba (TV show)
Born in Gaza, Born in Syria (movies)
The Exchange (TV show)
Whispers (TV show)