Arab Academy Blog

Typing Arabic in English without an Arabic Keyboard

nicole111 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:24:31 +0000

Many people ask us why Arabic-speakers sometimes write in Engilsh letters mixed with numbers like 3 and 7. This is a system of Arabic transcription that developed before most computers had an Arabic keyboard or Arabic support. Its use is quite common among educated Arabs, even if they now have computers with Arabic keyboards, especially when typing Arabic in an otherwise English-dominant Web site such as Facebook and when using instant messaging software.

It is also popular for phone text messages because sending a message in English characters is often cheaper than sending one in Arabic.

The table below gives you the English letters used and their Arabic equivalent.

Visiting Al Azhar Park in Cairo

nicole111 — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:57:40 +0000

The small class sizes and friendly atmosphere at Arab Academy naturally leads to friendships between our teachers and study abroad students. Often the two groups enjoy socializing outside of class time. Last Friday, a number of teachers and students decided to go to al Azhar Park together.

Al Azhar Park is one of Cairo's success stories. For 500 years, it was a garbage dump covering 74 acres in the heart of Islamic Cairo. Then the Aga Khan Trust for Culture decided to transform it into a beautiful green space that commands a panoramic view of the city of Cairo. During the building of the park, archaeologists found a wall built 800 years ago by Salah al-Din that they restored. In this city of 20 million, a park such as this provides a much-needed breathing space for citizens and visitors to enjoy the great outdoors.

The weather was lovely for the outing and the teachers and students enjoyed speaking Arabic, seeing the historical sites and learning and playing some traditional Egyptian games.

Arabic Calligraphy

nicole111 — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:01:16 +0000

Like belly dancing, Arabic calligraphy (الخط العربي , sometimes known as Islamic calligraphy), is one of the Egyptian arts that today is neglected by Egyptians but is enjoying great popularity among foreigners, as Egypt Today reports.

It doesn't help that Arabic word processing is now the norm for writing Arabic. It is not even necessary anymore to remember the different forms of the letters when typing them, as computers automatically produce the shape of the letter required by its position in the word.

However, learning Arabic calligraphy is still a good way to help learn and retain one's knowledge of the Arabic script. To this end, one of Arab Academy's teachers, Ahmed al-Sha'er, teaches study abroad students Arabic calligraphy. His lessons consist of the different styles of calligraphy and its rules. With his helpful guidance, students learn how to write each letter and simple sentences.

Egyptian Arabic Words from Ancient Egyptian

nicole111 — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:22:40 +0000

Egyptian Arabic is the most widely understood Arabic dialect due to its widespread use in Arabic movies, music and television. But did you know that many words in Egyptian Arabic come from the ancient Egyptian language? The latest stage of the ancient Egyptian language, Coptic, was still spoken in Egypt at the time of the Islamic conquest and therefore many words from ancient Egyptian survived in Egyptian Arabic.

Every Sunday starting next week, we will be featuring one of these words on our Twitter feed. Follow us on Twitter to get started learning about the origins of these Egyptian Arabic words. You can study Egyptian Arabic online and in Cairo with Arab Academy.

Free Cultural Lectures at Arab Academy

nicole111 — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:02:28 +0000

At Arab Academy, we believe that learning the Arabic language is enhanced by knowledge of Arab and Egyptian culture. Therefore, Arab Academy offers free weekly lectures (in Arabic or English) to all study abroad students. These lectures are given by instructors and staff on cultural topics about which they have a lot of knowledge. Not only do these lectures increase the cultural knowledge of students, but they also help develop students' Arabic listening skills.

This past week Ustaza Mervat (الأستاذة مرفت) gave a lecture entitled "Journey of the Egyptian Woman throughout Modern History" (رحلة المرأة المصرية عبر التاريخ الحديث). In this lecture, she spoke about the status of women in Egypt in the late 19th century and the beginning of the women's movement in Egypt during the 1919 revolution and about the leader of the women's movement, Huda Shaarawi.

The students are able to practice their comprehension and composition skills by writing essays the next day about what they learned during the lecture.

Study Modern Middle Eastern Studies and Egyptology in Cairo

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:38:06 +0000

This year, Arab Academy has partnered with Amideast, the leading organization promoting educational cooperation between the U.S. and the Middle East, to offer two semester and year-abroad programs for students interested in studying Modern Middle East/North African Studies or Egyptology in Cairo. Students live and take classes in the heart of Cairo, in the neighborhood of Doqqi. All students study Arabic with Arab Academy instructors and choose from elective courses taught by top Egyptian professors in their fields. The program makes the most of being in the heart of the Middle East and many class sessions take the form of field trips to various sites throughout Cairo and beyond so that students have the opportunity to practice Arabic in real situations and see firsthand the people, places and things about which they are learning. A number of extracurricular acitivities are also arranged as well as internship opportunities.

Jobs for Arabic Speakers

nicole111 — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:13:03 +0000

Many students wonder whether learning Arabic is a worthwhile investment that will pay off in increased career opportunities and higher salaries. We believe the current political and economic climate in the world makes this one of the most rewarding times in history to study Arabic.

There is a high demand and low supply of Arabic-speakers in the Western world. Relatively few Westerners ever venture to learn Arabic. With the growing importance of the Middle East in international affairs, there is an extreme shortage of workers in the West who are versed in Arabic language and culture. Those who study Arabic can find careers in a variety of fields: journalism, business and industry, education, finance and banking, translation and interpretation, consulting, foreign service and intelligence, and many others. Only 1 % of 12,000 FBI agents in the U.S. have any knowledge of Arabic at all, and this includes those who know only a few words.

Arabic-speaking nations are a fast growing market for trade. Initiatives to integrate the Arab world into the global economy are opening up numerous potential new business opportunities. The Arab region with its rapidly growing population provides a huge export market for goods and services. With a GDP of over 600 billion dollars annually, the region also has much to offer the world market. In order to do business effectively, one must understand the language and culture of the people with whom one hopes to negotiate and conduct trade.

Teacher Profile: Sayed Ramadan

nicole111 — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:17:57 +0000

One thing that all our on-site students rave about is the friendliness of the teachers and staff at Arab Academy. Each month we’ll profile one here so you can get to know them too.

This month, we feature Ustaaz Sayed Ramadan (أستاذ سيد رمضان). Ustaaz Sayed has been with Arab Academy since its inception. Married with three children, he lives just outside Cairo in a quiet village, the perfect balance to his hectic work life in frantic-paced Cairo. Ustaaz Sayed is known for the rapt attentiveness with which he listens to students and his ability to help them communicate solely in Arabic regardless of their proficiency level. As lead teacher, he stays very busy managing all the other teachers, the content developers, and the technicians.

Learning Quranic Arabic

nicole111 — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:34:57 +0000

Many Arab Academy students are non-Arabic speaking Muslims who want to be able to understand the language of their Holy Book and understand the verses they recite when they pray their five daily prayers. They are attracted to Arab Academy courses because we recognize the special needs and difficulties of learners of Quranic Arabic who do not already have the background in Arabic language that native speakers do.

The Arabic of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, is considered the purest and most correct form of Arabic because it is the words of God. It is sometimes also called classical Arabic. Quranic Arabic differs from Modern Standard Arabic in that it has some different vocabulary terms and in that all the vowels are written out.

Our Quranic Arabic courses are great for those who are interested in learning and understanding the language and meaning of the Quran. They can click on any word and hear it pronounced and read a translation. The courses also provide essential background information on each surah (سورة) in English that gives a historical perspective and hence enables students to understand the surah fully. It also stresses the tafsir (تفسير), or explanation of the meaning of the Quran. Interactive activities ensure that they have learnt, understood and retained the meanings of the surah.

Learning Arabic from Egyptian License Plates

nicole111 — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:45:26 +0000

Egypt introduced a new system of license plate numbers recently. Previously, all license plates consisted of numbers only but the new system combines numbers with letters, either two or three letters. Since many words in Arabic consist of only two or three letters, this means license plates sometimes spell out words. In the picture to the right, you see a license plate that spells out the word for "country" بلد. In this case, the letters are also spelled out in English but in many cases they are only in Arabic, making license plate watching a good way to practice the Arabic alphabet.