Arabic

This course is designed to teach students to communicate effectively in Jordanian dialect. It introduces words, expressions, and structures used frequently in everyday life, as well as the Jordanian culture and how to successfully interact with locals. The course practices differentiating the fundamental grammatical structure of colloquial Arabic from that of Modern Standard Arabic; discussing all aspects of daily life with native speakers in the local dialect; distinguishing different accents of Jordanian colloquial dialect; and illustrating appropriate cultural inferences. 

This course is for students with no or minimal knowledge of Modern Standard Arabic. The course begins with an introduction to the sounds and script of the language using the text ALIF-BAA. Following the introduction to sounds and script, the course uses AL-KITAAB PART ONE 3RD EDITION up to chapter 5 as its major textbook. Students are exposed to authentic reading materials, learn to speak at the survival level, give oral presentations, and prepare short written assignments.

This course is designed for students to learn to communicate effectively in Jordanian colloquial Arabic. It introduces words, expressions, and structures used frequently in everyday life, as well as various aspects of Jordanian culture and society through the study of the language. The course practices recall of simple simple Arabic words for basic communication; expressing oneself using basic conjugations of Arabic colloquial verbs; completing basic daily interactions using Jordanian colloquial Arabic such as taking a taxi; and discussing the weather, food, clothing, and cultural customs and traditions in Jordan.

This course complements the competency of Modern Standard Arabic achieved in previous studies of Arabic. There are local materials, where students will use Arabic to read and discuss relevant topics in Jordan. Attention is paid to the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. During the course, students become familiar with major aspects of the Jordan culture and many traditions related to Jordan in general. The course practices arguing the main ideas of a listening passage and discussing them in the class; expressing oneself verbally without mistakes in different situations using a language comprehensible for native speakers; formulating opinions on news articles or books and discussing issues related to Jordan, climate, economy, and culture; writing a diary and creating text on social, cultural, and political issues of Jordan and the Middle East; distinguishing between words in relation to position in the sentence, applying different grammatical structures, and distinguishing between them including changes in the meaning. 

This course provides a systematic overview of the major components of Arab society and culture, covering four major sections: Overview of Arab Society and culture, History and Culture, Nationalities and Culture, and Politics and culture.

The course will guide students to read first-hand classical literature in multiple languages including Arabic, English, French and Chinese, master Arabic philosophy, history, society, ethnicity, religion, population, customs, political thoughts and social trends, watch representative documentaries and original videos of Arabic. And meet and communicate with Arabic speakers from different social backgrounds and countries.

This course covers conversational Arabic, pronunciation, the conjugation of the verbs, declension of the nouns and the prepositions, and introduces a large vocabulary from different fields of daily life. The course focuses on listening comprehension and active use of the spoken dialect. The course utilizes the AL-KITAAB text book series. The course includes both modern standard Arabic (with an emphasis on the foundations of literary Arabic) and colloquial Arabic (Palestinian dialect). Topics include: acquaintance, self-presentation and greetings, proverbs and other expressions, family and kinship terminology, languages and nationalities, numbers, and colors.