Teaching Arabic Challenges

What are some of the biggest issues you've noticed students facing with learning Arabic?
Why would you say Arabic is important to learn?
What are some of the specific challenges to teaching Arabic versus perhaps other languages?

All the above-mentioned questions i receive always from the parents or an intern teacher who works with Minhaj. And recently i have made an online interview with the “thetutor.me” through a long ZOOM meeting that is lasted for almost an hour, where here I summarize parts of the interview in by the end of the article I will share the link for the whole interview.

What are some of the biggest issues you've noticed students facing with learning Arabic?

I learned after a while that students often have different needs. We cannot teach each student the same material. Each student has their own level, their own capacity. So, what I do usually is; in the first class, I define which material is suitable for the student, for their own needs.

Arabic has different dialects, but anyone can understand Standard Arabic if they speak the language. I usually listen to what the parents need carefully, then we discuss the classes and the course description to come up with a plan that suit the child.

If the student is mature, I also listen to them and ask what they are looking for. For example, if they are using it for professional work, then I help them with a curriculum that is suited to their field. I try to save their time and money, so they get what they want at the shortest period, not what the teacher wants to teach them. I give them what they want, and material that suits their needs.

Why would you say Arabic is important to learn?

Some people say Arabic is a difficult language, and I’ve been through that. But, some students say they don’t want to go to Arabic classes because they don’t think they need the language if they speak English very well. One student, a few months ago, told me people around him don’t speak Arabic, even though his parents are Arabs; no one at school speaks Arabic, either. So, he didn’t think he’ll need it in the future… that English is most important. I told him I respect his point of view - you cannot just say, “no, you’re wrong and start debating.” When he calmed down, I explained to him he’s an Arab and his parents are Arabs, so they’d probably want to talk to him in Arabic at times, that he himself might want to read things in Arabic, if he’s driving a car or walking down the street and something is not written in English. Or, sometimes, not everything on TV is in English if you’re living in an Arab country.

If someone is not living in an Arab country, they are just interested in the language, if they are Muslim, I encourage them to read simple verses of Quran, and if they are not Muslim, I encourage them to know about the culture and amazing history. That happened with me in 2020 / 2021 where I taught a professor in Wales University in the UK; I taught him Arabic and we spoke a lot about Arabic history and culture.

So, as I said, I listen to the student carefully to see what he's exactly willing to do. And, then I reformulate things again, to give it to him as a gift that will suit him perfectly.

What are some of the specific challenges to teaching Arabic versus perhaps other languages?

I've been here in the UAE for a year now. A lot of my students are not Arabs, actually. I have lots of students from Pakistan and India. The parents are Muslims and they want to teach their children a little bit of Arabic to at least read the Quran. I always find it's quite challenging for the students because they don’t find anyone to practise Arabic with, even if I give them homework. In such cases, I don't push them to the speaking part right away. I add a word to each class, and we keep practising it in different sentences. The words become a part of the class tradition.

Yes, Arabic is a challenging language, but it’s not difficult. It’s like any other language or any other knowledge we are learning - if you study engineering, that can be challenging in the beginning, too, right? But everything will be okay with time if you show consistency. That’s what’s missing - the consistency of showing up on time, of doing homework. We just need to teach the students and guide them to not get frustrated when learning.