The Excellence Center

My four week intensive Arabic experience with the Excellence Centre in Europe has been wonderful. All aspects contributed to an enriching journey.

The teaching has been first class -- I went from knowing nothing about Arabic to being able to hold smalltalk. In four weeks, I've learnt to conjugate simple tenses well enough to speak about the present, past, future, and desired actions. Of course, I can read and write it just as well. If you are a beginner like me, you will be taught with a tight lesson plan and materials if you ask for it. You can also request for a more target-focus approach -- going directly to whatever specific objectives you have.

The friends have been amazing too. For example, we went together on weekend trips to Berlin, Paris, and Prague. 3/3 weekends passed in great fun and discovery, so it wasn't bad at all. It was pretty diverse. In the group we have current college students, pre-uni gap-year students, recent and mid-recent graduates too.

Most people here speak some German, so it'd be helpful to request to have a lesson or two at the beginning of your session to be for German. (I can attest to the rigour of the German coursework too -- after an hour, I could compose sentences with adjectives and prepositions about the present and the future/desire.)

The host family was very welcoming. l hung out with them right away, even with limited language capabilities, we talked about history, international relations, religion, and personal lives. Accomodation for me was a whole room to myself. I would recommend. Though I didn't cook much, the kitchen was available to use.

My experience at the Excellence Centre in Europe

As I write this, I’ve been staying at the Excellence Centre for three months, teaching English and studying both Arabic and German. I’ve got nothing but praise for every aspect of the Centre, the staff, their mission, the learning experience, and the accommodation.

At the Centre I stayed in a shared house with two other volunteers and a member of the Centre staff. The accommodation was excellent for a shared room, and the people were welcoming. On the living experience at the Centre, the place has a real community atmosphere; the Centre feels like one big family, especially when we’re all enjoying breakfast together in the mornings!

The quality of language tuition at the Centre is also very high. I studied German for the first part of my experience, and then switched to studying Arabic, both of which were taught by the fantastic Muaz Albaid. He’s a brilliant teacher, with a knack for explaining the most difficult linguistic and cultural concepts in a way that makes them seem as simple as can be, as well as being great value to have around. Through his tuition, I’ve improved my skills in both languages faster than in any other learning situation I’ve had before. The other teachers at the centre are also excellent, for example Ali Moshmosh, also very talented and highly multilingual. The lessons are very professional and of a comparable standard to what I’ve experienced as a university student. The small class sizes also improve the experience, with lessons tailor-made for your level and language goals.

Rafat is the life and soul of the centre, as well as the driving force behind its mission, with an infectious passion for his work, shared by every other member of staff - ultimately, the reason the Centre exists - to have a positive effect on the refugee community in Halle (Saale) by making language learning more readily available to those who don’t necessarily fit into the mould of the German system. This is a task at which he is succeeding beyond all expectations. I was really gratified to see that I and the other volunteers were having a visibly positive effect on our students, and it was great to see them develop over the time that I was teaching them.

As a volunteer, you have complete control over your schedule and how you teach your lessons, which are generally one-to-one, while also being supported by the vast experience of the Centre’s staff and the resources of the organisation - this really makes the experience as beneficial as possible for both students and teachers. Personally, I had the opportunity to form relationships with my students over my time at the Centre, and I’m quite sad to say goodbye to them.

In conclusion, I would recommend the Centre to anyone who wants to make a real positive impact here in Halle (Saale), anyone who wants to improve their language skills in German or Arabic under professional, high-quality tuition from people who really care about their mission, or simply anyone who would like to enjoy the community atmosphere and see the good work that Rafat and the others are doing here.

I recently completed the 10 online Arabic classes focusing on the Shami dialect at the Excellence Center, and my experience has been nothing short of extraordinary. As a remote student, I was initially hesitant about the effectiveness of virtual learning, but Saja, my brilliant instructor, completely changed my perspective.

Saja's teaching style is a perfect blend of brilliance and patience. She not only provided thorough explanations of the deeper meanings behind phrases but also delved into the cultural context, enriching my understanding of words. Despite the virtual setting, Saja went above and beyond, repeating sentences and offering invaluable guidance on pronunciation during our Zoom calls. She has an intuitive understanding of how much information is enough to push students just a little bit further each class. This personalized approach made every session engaging and productive, leaving me eager to explore more on my own and to practice before the next session.

In conclusion, my time with Saja in the virtual space at the Excellence Center has not only enhanced my Arabic language skills but has also sparked a genuine eagerness to visit the center in person. I highly recommend the Excellence Center in Palestine to anyone seeking a transformative and culturally enriching language learning journey.

I really did enjoyed my time at the Excellence Center. I've decided to break up my review into different aspects of the program

Pre-departure: As someone who had never heard of this program at the beginning of the year, I was skeptical of going all the way to Germany for something I thought could potentially not be legitimate. I'm happy to report I did not need to be worried, I located the excellence center very easily (just use google maps and look for a language school sign) and Rafat and staff were friendly and accommodating from the beginning.

Staff: The Full-Time staff was definitely one of the pros of the Excellence Center. They all went out of their way to make me and the other volunteers feel welcomed. Rafat, Radwan, Ali and Muaz were all incredible people I hope you get the chance to meet someday.
Language Instruction: If you pick the program for it you have the opportunity to learn German or Arabic with Muaz. Muaz is a great teacher. In the past I have had really bad foreign language teachers wether they're rude, condescending, or unqualified to teach. Muaz is none of those things. With Muaz I learned German for six weeks and because he fostered a learning environment that was judgement-free and because of this I learned as much German as possible at a very fast rate.

Students: How much students you get really depends up to how much Rafat wants to give you. I only had two students, but I was perfectly fine with this amount. I really liked my students because it was obvious to me that both of them were always ready to learn English and I hope at least helped them reach their English goals!

Housing: The reason it takes a long time to figure out what your housing situation is going to look like is because often times volunteers will sign up at the last minute which will throw things off or they have to look for apartments in Halle if their is a large amount of volunteers doing the program. For me this wasn't issue but if you're wondering why you may not know yet those are potential reasons for why. For my housing I stayed at an apartment dormitory. The apartment its self was nice but I felt like it could have been cleaner upon arrival.

Halle: Halle is a nice town. Halle from a logistical standpoint has everything you need from restaurants, venues, grocery stores, parks, you name it, Halle has it. However, I attempted to learn German before I came here but had to stop due to unforeseen circumstances, but when I got here everything I learned in German seemed to slip out the window as the Germans in Halle I ran into (especially the older ones) did not know English very well and often times if they did, they really were resistant on speaking English to you. In total, this a problem related specifically to me but something you should be aware of is English in Halle is not as widespread as it is in other big cities such as Berlin.
Social Scene; The social scene at the Excellence Center is nice because even though it was quiet during the time I went, the other volunteers or Ali were always down to do something lol.

Flexible Schedules: Working for the Excellence Center was awesome because Rafat will let you work when you want to, which was really nice for me because on the weekdays I wanted to study for the LSAT and on the weekends+ Fridays because we got them off I was able to travel.
Travel: This was one of my favorite parts about living in Germany is that it was accessible to every else especially in Halle. during my 6 weeks there I went to the following countries: Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Denmark, and Sweden. Since I got Fridays off, it was very easy to travel to these places for weekend trips. If you want to do this I would recommend getting a Eurail pass as it is a cheap way to travel across Europe and all you have to do is go to the main train station in Halle and then you can go wherever your heart desires.
In conclusion, this is a really good set-up and to be honest I wish I heard about this earlier. This was truly a life-changing experience that I will never forget. I would really recommend this program to anyone looking to do be in a international setting, to make a big impact on peoples lives, and to see the rest Europe!

I came to Palestine for my internship and every day i have learned so many new things. I learned about the Palestinian culture but also how the people live here and how certain things work in Palestine. I don't think i have loved a place so much as Palestine, I had an amazing host family (who I will miss very much), i met amazing people at the centre and i also learned so much about myself. I grew inmensly as a human-being. I loved learning Arabic with my teachers and I for sure became better at it.