We have lifted this message straight off the message board unchanged, as we think it's a nicely written interesting account of a married sister's experiences out in Egypt - meeting people and learning Arabic at Markaz Ad-Diwan and more. Inshallah this will provide more insight for brothers and sisters about life out there.

Jazakallah khair for your contribution sister.

A Sister's Experiences In Egypt

Experience of Arabic Language Training at Markaz Ad-Diwan,
Cairo—Nov 2003 to Jan 2004

Why Arabic

The Quran was revealed in Arabic. Most Islamic literature and thought that developed subsequent to the completion of Quranic revelation (starting, roughly, from mid-seventh century AD up to the medieval era) are also written originally in Arabic. Examples include compilations of Ahadith (sayings) of Prophet Muhammad, development of various schools of jurisprudence, historical accounts of socio-political state of Muslim communities, and works of philosophy (such as those of Avicenna), theology (such as those of Al-Ghazali) and reformers (such as those of Abdul Wahab). The Quran and these works inform present-day understanding of Islam and ultimately have implications for – among other spheres - international politics, the socio-political organization of Muslim communities, and everyday lives of Muslim men and women. I am interested in studying — both formally and informally—some of these implications. I am not aware as yet of the form that my studies will take and the aspect of my inquiries that I will ultimately specialize in. However, I do know that if I am to venture anywhere in this domain, knowledge of Arabic is a pre-requisite.

Why Cairo

My husband, and I decided to travel together to study Arabic. Work allowed us to travel abroad only during Nov-Dec 2003. Given this specific, limited time we looked for schools that offered one-on-one Arabic tutoring, organized around students' schedules. Cairo offers a number of such flexibly organized institutions that specialize in teaching Arabic to non-native speakers and was, therefore, an obvious choice. We also found appeal in the wonderful sightseeing opportunities that Cairo offers to tourists. Sharm el-Shaikh in the South Sinai Peninsula, a world-famous scuba diving region along the Red Sea, was an added attraction for my husband, a scuba diver. Also, given heightened tensions between the US and Middle Eastern countries, it was practical for us to travel to a place that shares relatively less hostility with the US than some other countries (Syria, for example).

Organization of instruction

Markaz Ad-Diwan (Al-Diwan Center) is couched in a quiet, residential street of Madinat-Nasr (Nasr City), a town located in the south/south-east corner of Cairo. The Markaz specializes in teaching Arabic to non-native speakers and has a staff of instructors that work either part- or full-time for the Markaz. Instruction is held within the physical premises of the school and may be organized—depending on students' preference—as a group study or one-on-one session. Of course, one-on-one sessions may be more flexibly organized as far as frequency of sessions and length of each session is concerned. The fee structure is available on the school's website. Given our limited time in Cairo, I decided to receive five hours of one-on-one instruction, five days a week.

Curriculum Organization

Markaz Ad-Diwan is a diploma/certificate granting institution. (It is, however, not accredited with any American academic institution). Coursework is distributed through levels 0 to 16 and the primary text is Al-Kitab Al-Asassi (Tunis 1992) Part 1 (Levels 0-4), Part 2(Levels 5-8) and Part 3 (Levels 9-16). By the end of level 8students have acquired a comprehensive knowledge of Arabic grammar and enough vocabulary to try reading an Arabic newspaper. For levels9 through 16, the institution is flexible about the text used in class. Traditionally, students have preferred to study texts other than Al-Kitab Al-Asassi Part III. Some have wanted to read, for example, the newspaper with teachers while others have brought in textbooks (from elsewhere) on Usul al-Fiqh (principles of jurisprudence). Students write a mid-term and final exam for every level.

How the textbook teaches

Al-Kitab Al-Asassi does not teach with the help of any foreign language. Students are introduced to sentence structures and grammar by example in the Arabic text that precedes the end-of-chapter grammar and vocabulary exercises. (The end of the book, however, provides a thorough glossary for all words; meanings are provided in English and French). Part 1 of Al-Kitab Al-Asassi offers no explanation for the basic sentence structures it introduces. In Part II, where more sophisticated sentence structures are introduced, relevant grammar rules are offered for explanation. In my opinion the book's philosophy is to make the student imbibe sentence structures without really looking for justifications or explanations. The book strives to completely immerse the student in Arabic and to enable a thought process that does not depend on any language, but Arabic.

This method may be new to those that have studied foreign languages in American schools and colleges, where foreign languages are taught (at least till the end of the fourth semester/sixth quarter of instruction) in English (both by the text book and instructor). Also, in America, instruction depends on generating parallels (or highlighting the lack of them) between rules of English grammar (that, ironically, most students are unfamiliar with) and rules of the grammar of the foreign language. This, clearly, was not the method of Al-Kitab Al-Asassi.

How the teachers teach

For beginners, teachers use minimal, necessary English to conduct instruction. The default assumption is that the faster the student gets accustomed to instruction in Arabic, the better. This method benefited me in several ways: it enhanced my Arabic listening skills, encouraged me to make conversation with the teacher, and, ultimately, to think in Arabic without having to depend on English and Urdu. By the time I was at level 6, my teacher began to discourage me from using an Arabic-English dictionary. According to her, I was ready to use al-qamoos al-arabi (an Arabic-Arabic dictionary).

Ustazah Fatimah, my instructor at the Markaz, was a fantastic teacher. Nine months younger than me, she was as much of a friend asa teacher. Ustazah had patience for the terrible Arabic I spoke and so I never tired of speaking with her ("I'm used to it, Munira," she would say with a smile, "all my students use masculine pronouns when they address me"). She was curious about Pakistan and America and I wanted to know more about her life as an Egyptian. We chatted and laughed over Nescafe (Egyptians distinguish between their Nescafe brand coffee and coffee otherwise), shared our home-made snacks, lightly argued when I tried to prevent her from paying for my lunch order (Ustazah, in the spirit of Egyptian hospitality, insisted on paying for my lunch every single day!), and shared stories of our respective upbringings and our views on international politics. I was always welcome to her place to watch her Arabic cartoon videos and I still remember the pleasure on her face when I translated for her in Arabic a verse of Jagjit Singh's ghazal:

Tum itna kyun muskura rahay ho
Why is it that you are smiling so much

Kya gham hai jis ko chupa rahay ho
What is the pain that you are hiding

Arabic grammar was Ustazah's forte. She could teach all grammar rules, along with their exceptions, without referring to a textbook!

Complete immersion?

Cairo does not provide students of classical Arabic (al-Arabial-Fusha) the opportunity to practice their language on the streets. Egyptians speak in every day life an Arabic dialect (al-Lugha al-Ammiya — the common language), a very distant derivative of Classical Arabic. Only Egyptians that have received formal education (religious and otherwise) are familiar with Fusha. In the bazaars, though, we mostly encountered Ammiya speakers (cab drivers, apartment building doormen etc.), so Fusha practice remained mostly confined to the classroom. I am told that students of Arabic seriously looking for the language immersion experience should look into studying in Syria, since Syrian dialect is very close to Fusha. Better still, the Arabic language summer program at Middlebury College, Vermont is the ultimate language immersion experience!