About Arab Academy: Learn Arabic Language Online. Arabic Language Courses and Proficiency Tests

President's Messages to:	Students	Number of Students by country
Mission Statement	Board
	Arabic version

What is the Arab Academy?

EduMagic is registered in 1999 in Cairo, Egypt as a company that develops and delivers online training courses. Its registration number is: 38253. It has developed the Arab Academy (www.arabacademy.com) , which is a web site that specializes in teaching Arabic language online. The Arab Academy offers certificates of language level. A number of schools, colleges and universities in the United States use our courses to deliver ACCREDITED online or on site Arabic Language courses.

How do students learn Arabic online?

Learning Arabic language online is a new experience that is worth trying. Every learner gets a unique password that s/he uses to log on to his/her courses. Learners work on online highly interactive sessions that are composed of learning pages and activities. Teachers monitor students' progress through advanced student tracking tools. The time spent on every session as well as scores are recorded. When a learner is has a question, s/he posts it on the teacher's board. When s/he wishes to comment on the lessons, s/he posts messages on the student's board. There is also an Arabic board where students practice communication in Arabic. At the end of a session, students are required to submit a written composition and take an online test. Teachers correct the written compositions and send them back. The program also comprises speaking sessions that are conduced in real time. They are via SKYPE or any other internet telephony program. The student gets the chance to interact with teachers in real time and practice the vocabulary and language structures studied. It greatly enhances communication skills in the oral form.

Why use the Arab Academy's curriculum?

The Arab Academy's curriculum is designed by professionals in the field of "Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language". A team of teachers monitor the program, update and enhance it on a regular basis. Having an interactive Arabic language curriculum that is based on sound pedagogy and advanced technical features puts students and teachers on the right track to effective learning (maximum learning at the shortest period of time). It ensures uniformity and reliability amongst students at different classrooms. The Arabic classes are bound to successful and students' retention increases greatly. The Arab Academy's program has a track record of success with individuals from home, schools, universities and institutions.

How are students monitored?

The Arab Academy is based on an intelligent educational system that is fully automated. The system measures the time spent on activities, scores on tests, the level of participation of students on the boards of the Arab Academy. They system also stores the scores that students get on their written assignments. Students are able to access their "Overall Scores" at any time to check on their grade and see the areas where they need to focus on more. At the end of the course, the system issues transcripts and certificates.

What is a typical Arabic Language lesson composed of?

An Arabic lesson is composed of interactive learning pages followed by intelligent exercises and games that are full of graphics, sound and text. Equal emphasis is given to the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. A lesson then ends with an online test.

How are students evaluated?

The evaluation criteria are based on:
- Attendance:
This measures the time that students spend on the online sessions.
- Online Activities:
Every session comprises a large number of activities. Students are expected to complete those activities.
- Writing:
Students are expected to submit a composition at the end of every session. This forms an important part of the learning process at it allows the learner to produce Arabic. Our teachers correct the compositions and post them back on the site.
- Online Tests:
At the end of every session, there is an online test.
- Arabic Board:
This board allows learners to practice the Arabic learnt in communicating with colleagues.
- Class Participation:
Learners are expected to communicate with the teachers and colleagues via the following boards: Questions to Teacher, Students' Board and Suggestions for Improvement.

Is there online interaction between learners and teachers?

Interaction amongst students and between students and teachers is no longer limited to class time or to the time spent on campus. Interaction can take place at any time of day and on any day including weekends. This takes place via the Arab Academy's online boards. The speaking classes add interaction in the oral form. It greatly motivates students and increases their interests in their studies.

How can the program be used at schools, colleges & universities?

- Mixture of Class and Online
Institutions with ongoing Arabic Language programs may use the University's curriculum in class and then ask students to continue their work at home (online). If class time was an hour a day, asking students to work on the activities at home for half an hour a day (4 days a week) greatly increase the time that the student is exposed to the language. The interactive activities make students more motivated and more engrossed in their studies. Studying Arabic becomes more of an enjoyable game and less of a strenuous learning activity.

- Online Only with supervision from the institution's teachers
Institutions may register students who live far away or at other states online only. Those students would not come to university but will work online and be supervised by the institution's teachers online.

- Online Only with supervision from Arab Academy's teachers
In the case where institutions have a shortage of teachers they may still register students who live far away or at other states online only. Those students would be supervised by the Arab Academy's teachers online. Students get a certificate of completion from their institution.

How much do teachers need to know about computers in order to use the curriculum?

Very little computer knowledge is needed from teachers. A detailed user's guide has been prepared to simplify matters and help teachers understand the system without spending too much time on the computer.
Teachers should be able to do the following:
- Turn computers on and off
- Open Internet Explorer and navigate to the Arab Academy site
- Enter passwords and select the year they are teaching
- Click on the activity that they need to use in class
- Click on "Students Activities" or "Student Tracking" from the classroom in order to supervise their students and monitor their progress.

How will students benefit from the program?

- Exposure: the online curriculum multiplies the time students are actually exposed to native speakers.
- Motivation: the online interactive curriculum greatly increases students' motivation
- Concentration: the interactive curriculum makes each student focus on the activities in order to do the exercises and activities. This sharpens the level of concentration to a large extent. In 'real' classrooms, students may respond to a teacher's question when his or her turn comes up then relax for a short while till his or her turn gets back. Online, students are actively involved the whole time.
- Personalization: the online system personalizes students' profiles. Students are greeted by their names and get to see a report on their progress. This personalization increases the level of interest and motivation.
- Pace: students are able to move at the pace that is most suitable to them
- Special Needs: students with special needs are able to use the program in a way that would allow them to meet their special needs without disrupting the whole class.

How will teachers benefit from the program?

The system allows teachers to focus on teaching (rather than content development) for they can rely on the trustworthy and interactive curriculum of the Arab Academy. Teachers appreciate the following:
- Curriculum: The Arab Academy's curriculum is designed to meet the needs of non-native speakers of Arabic at all ages and language levels.
- Activities: The curriculum is very well structured. Every group of activities on well-specified skills such as: listening, reading, writing and speaking. Teachers are provided with the tools they need to enable them to make their class as successful and enjoyable as possible.
- Achievement Tests: teachers need not worry about preparing well-measured and reliable tests. Tests are automatically generated (to cover all aspects that were taught) and corrected (with 100% accuracy). Scores are automatically saved on the record of each student.
- Placement Tests: students are given tests at the beginning of the semester that ensures the placement of students at the right level.
- Student Tracking: teachers are able to track the progress of each student in great detail due to the intelligent university system. The teacher gets to know how much time each student has spent online, whether students have completed the requirements, their scores on the tests, etc. Teachers may view the progress of the whole class or go deeper into the report of each student.
- Problem Areas: Teachers are able to detect problem areas of students (if there were any), due to the system's intelligent student tracking facilities.
- Students' Levels: Very often teachers face a problem where there are different levels within the same class. This is one of the most common problems in a language classroom. Teachers are able to handle this problem more effectively through the system's personalization. Advanced students may be given more challenging activities to work on and less advanced ones may be given easier tasks. Also, the teacher may change the pace of students allowing those who are up to it, to move faster than others. Through the Arab Academy's system, optimization of class time and student satisfaction is guaranteed.

Which geographical location are the Arab Academy's student from?

The Arab Academy's community of learners is an international one. Students who studied at the Arab Academy came from over 129 countries. The majority are from the United States and Canada.

Can other institutions use the Arab Academy's program?

Yes, the Arab Academy encourages other institutions that teach Arabic to use its program. There are a number of institutions that are already doing that.

Is the site of the Arab Academy multi-lingual?

The ArabAcademy is multilingual. The site runs in English with mirror sites in French, German and Indonesian. The Academy aims at being accessible to the international community. Students of Arabic are given support in their native language.

What is the student body composed of?

The student body is composed of students and professionals from different fields and different areas: diplomats, political scientists, doctors, businessmen, etc. Over 60% of students are women: working women and mothers with young children.

What are the programs offered by Arab Academy University?

The Arab Academy offers nine language levels that are based on ACTFL standards: novice low, novice mid, novice high, intermediate low, intermediate mid, intermediate high, advanced low, advanced mid and advanced high. Those levels are preceded by novice zero which introduces the alphabet. Each of those levels is composed of 45 contact hours.

Courses are offered in the following areas of interest:

I: General Purpose Arabic

Modern Standard Arabic

Colloquial Arabic

II: Arabic for Special Purposes

Writing Business Letters

Quranic Arabic

What is the Arab Academy's High School?

The Arab Academy's High School offers courses to prepare students for the following tests in Arabic.
International Baccalaureate Organization - Ab Initio & Language B
General Certificate of Education (GCE)

The Ab Initio courses are composed of three language levels that are based on national US standards for teaching a Foreign Language . It is suitable for middle level and high school students interested in learning Modern Standard Arabic. It follows a communicative functional approach and is based on topics and situations that young people typically face.

What is the Arab Academy's Arabic School?

The Arabic school is for students who wish to study Arabic as a Foreign Language as of a very young age. The program runs from KG to Year 12 and is based on Modern Standard Arabic. It focuses on communicative skills and prepares students for life in the Arab World as well as for conducting research in the fields of Middle Eastern Politics and History.