The Ab Initio program is composed of the following levels: Level 0 (for the alphabet), then Levels 1, 2, 3. Each of those levels comprises 4 or 5 general themes, then the lessons within each theme revolve around those topics. The Arab Academy provides my school with passwords for each student and workbooks. I use the program in my class which is equipped with a computer connected to a projector. My students are able to work from their homes using their passwords. I am able to check on their progress and know how much work they have done. Overall, this is a very impressive program that I highly recommend. It is primarily designed to be used online, but the addition of the workbooks has made it possible for schools, that are equipped with the necessary hardware, to use it in their classrooms as well.

When we first introduced the program into our school, it became clear that we have taken a step in the right direction. Here is what one of the parents wrote to me: "Mrs. El Agroudy, I just wanted to tell you that I found the web based Arab Academy program that my son Ben Merah worked on to be very practical, instructive and a great additional language instruction tool. He was able to work at his own pace, pronounce the words, and the see the translations as needed. In my opinion, this is the best tool CAC has applied to the Arabic classes I have seen and I hope it is maintained and expanded to all other Arabic classes in CAC. It provides only benefits to students. Thank you for this great improvement." Mohammed (Moe) Merah

The Ab Initio program follows a communicative approach. Its topics are those required by the board of the International Baccalaureate. It enables students to function in Arab culture at the level of having a social life, working or going to school, engaging in sports related activities, reading articles, and writing notes. The dialogues in Ab Initio serve this purpose brilliantly. Not only are they giving the vocabulary of daily life, but they also introduce structures in a functional format that can be adopted as one's own. They provide ways to start a sentence or a conversation or to respond to someone else, especially in dealing with peers within the same age group. It introduces the language used by youth in the Middle East, which makes it perfectly suitable for students at middle to high school.

I am especially heartened by how effective the functional approach that the Ab Initio uses is proving to be. Students learn language structures by inference through the practice of specific elements. They develop competence in the target language without having to struggle with linguistic abstractions.

The Arab Academy program is a useful, pedagogically sound one that I highly recommend for use at schools wishing to deliver web based Arabic programs. I have seen its results on my students and can safely say that it works. It can be used to teach Arabic online as it provides all kinds of online interaction and support.