Study Arabic in Palestine

I travelled to Palestine alone with no arabic experience. I have travelled alot, but not alone like this before, I was excited and also a little bit terrified of traveling alone in a different country. At the Excellence Center they where very welcomming and since the center is small it was easy to get to know both the teachers and other international students. At the center I got private arabic classes, and that was good for my learning, since the teaching went forward in my own pace. I learned a lot in two weeks, but wished i could have stayed longer. After two weeks it was really sad leaving as I have just started to get to know the people at the excellence center and also my hostfamily better.
The picture I have added is a picture of me wearing a Palestinian dress my hostmom helped me pick out.

I spent 1 month studying intensive Arabic in Palestine. When I started I was a complete beginner, but thanks to fantastic teaching I am now comprehensive in Arabic, after just one month. I stayed in a Palestinian host family which was a brilliant experience as not only was I studying Arabic in the day, but I was also able to speak Arabic in the evening with my family, therefore. Further, my host family were so welcoming and taught me a lot about Palestinian life and culture. Before coming to Palestine, I was slightly worried about safety and travelling, but Palestinians are extremely welcoming and friendly, I have never felt unsafe being here. Thank you to all the wonderful people I have met at the centre, you have made my experience unforgettable and I hope to return to Palestine again soon!

My name is Sophia and I am a BA student from the University of Saint Andrews studying International Relations. Therefore, it was extremely important to me not just to understand Palestine from the perspective of a textbook, but to experience the language, politics and culture for myself. In the Excellence Centre I chose to participate in the Intensive Arabic course for the whole month of August 2018.
During my time at the Excellence Centre, my knowledge and fluency regarding the Palestinian dialect increased tremendously. After studying Classical Arabic for a few months two years before, I arrived knowing close to nothing. However, with the fantastic one-on-one teaching which is largely directed by what you want to learn, I have left being able to hold conversations with natives here.
The environment in the Centre is extremely friendly, you meet many Palestinian children, teachers and international volunteers and students. I know that I have made life-long friends here and I plan to return as soon as possible!
The centre also provides excursions around Hebron, such as to the Fawwar refugee camp, glass factories and the centre of commerce. These experiences were some of my most valuable and to visit the refugee camp was incredibly eye-opening and moving.
Hebron itself is a city filled with culture and tradition. Although conservative at times, I would highly recommend staying here as oppose to other, more Western Palestinian cities as here you can truly witness and experience Palestine in its most original form.
Staying with a host family was an amazing experience. They have greeted us with open arms from the start, ensuring our comfort and helping us practice our Arabic. It is also a great opportunity to experience Palestinian home-cooking which is as authentic and delicious as I had imagined. Not only will you be able to eat with your host family for dinner, there are many restaurants and cafes where you can buy a variety of food: including falafel, maqloubeh, kebab and Shawerma, for very low prices.
During the weekends, the friends that I had made here and myself would visit different cities in Israel and Palestine. My favourites would be the bustling, multi-cultural city of Nazareth and the beautiful Golan Heights where we were able to visit the Sea of Galilee and look over to Syria.
My overall experience in the Excellence Centre and Palestine has been fantastic, although I felt very nervous at first, after a day I realised how safe, comfortable and friendly the country and the people are. The teaching is extremely high-quality, and the opportunity to travel is a huge bonus. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is on the fence, you won’t regret it!

I am a Ph.D. candidate and teacher educator, and I have wanted to learn Arabic for several years -- not for academic or employment purposes, but simply for fun and to be able to communicate with Arabic speakers in my city. I came to the Excellence Center to study Palestinian Arabic in an immersive environment. I chose the Center over other programs because of the flexible start and end dates, the personalized individual courses, and the opportunity to live with a host family. I also appreciated that the foreigners at the Center represented a range of countries, backgrounds, and ages.

When I came here, I could read and write the alphabet (very slowly), but I had no ability to communicate, and I don’t think I could write a single sentence. I was fortunate to have a teacher with whom I “clicked” and who was very good at teaching a beginner. I found that she was very perceptive about my needs and preferences as a learner. After just a couple of days, I started recognizing words she was teaching me when I listened to conversations around me. Now, after five weeks, I have made significant improvements in listening, speaking, reading, and writing Arabic. While I still have a long way to go, I now have a much better foundation. When I return home, I will be better able to engage the Arabic speakers around me in conversation. (I evaluate language teachers for a living, so I am pretty difficult to impress.)

I was lucky to live with two different host families, as my first family had a logistical issue when some members came home after living out of town. While I didn’t want to leave them, I really enjoyed getting to experience two different lifestyles (and I still got to visit them). It’s difficult to express how open and welcoming my families were. They included me in all of their activities and always made sure I had anything I needed. Members of both families enjoyed teaching me about Islam and the Quran.

Beyond your host family, you will meet friendly people everywhere you go in Hebron. For example, I was walking to school one morning during my first week when a car stopped and the woman in the passenger seat asked if I wanted a ride; she felt that it was too hot for me to be walking. [Though I was here in the summer and it was certainly hot, it wasn’t unbearable. I generally wore linen pants, t-shirts with ¾ sleeves, and a scarf. (Make sure your clothes are made from breathable fabrics!)] While getting in a car with strangers would be very unusual and certainly not advisable in my home country, I accepted her offer. I then learned that she and her husband were Palestinian Americans who were here visiting family in Hebron and Halhul. I went to a relative’s home with them to pick up their daughter, met their little nieces and nephews who all wanted to shake my hand, then was driven right to the door of the Center -- but not before they had stopped to get falafel for me, because they were concerned that I hadn’t yet eaten breakfast.

Life here is very easy for foreigners, and Hebron is much more than what you will see on YouTube or Twitter. To answer everyone’s question, yes, it is safe. Don’t go walking around the border between H1 and H2 after Friday prayers, but I can’t think of anything else to warn you about. I look forward to telling people back home about Palestine and especially about Hebron. After leaving Hebron to visit other cities like Bethlehem and Jerusalem, I was always happy to return “home.” I had several conversations with other foreigners at the Center about how comfortable we feel here.

Some recommendations for a successful experience studying Arabic at the Center:
* You will get the most out of your intensive Arabic study if you review and practice each day. Find time and space to study -- which may not be possible at home.
* Don’t neglect informal learning opportunities like attending weddings, meeting extended family, and so on. Just as people will want to practice their English with you, they will also be happy to help you practice your Arabic. Adapt as much as possible to your family’s schedule, diet, and so on. Stay in Palestine as long as your schedule allows; let yourself have time to “just hang out”.
* In terms of interacting with the other foreigners at the Center, you can be as social or independent as you want to be. However, you are likely to find some good friends and/or travel buddies here!

I will miss the people of Hebron terribly, and I plan to return to the Excellence Center in the future. I would be happy to answer questions from any prospective Arabic students about my experiences here.

My name is Sigrid and I went to Hebron and the Excellence Center to refresh my Arabic skills before taking up my studies in Arabic after a break of 1.5 years. I also wanted to improve my skills in colloqial Arabic and become better at speaking in general.
My teacher was Maryam and we met three hours a week and focused on basics and to reactivate much of the vocabulary and expressions I had forgotten. We also concentrated on specifically Palestinian vocab and expressions.
My experience at the center has been really great. The people are very nice and welcoming and Hebron itself is a nice city for foreigners because there are not too many tourists so you can practice your Arabic in the street, the shops, and the taxis as well :-)

As an immersive experience with the Hebron Excellence Center, the staff and the resources provided were of great quality. Arabic exposure was ideal, in my experience, due to Palestinian hospitality and the opportunities provided to speak throughout the course of studies. Arabic teachers here are also amazing with providing conversational practice to the students and helping with vocabulary retention and grammar correction. The visits to different areas also lent us a greater insight into Palestinian culture and the politics that make up a great part of the daily life in this area. It was overall a very rewarding experience and one that will continue to be valued.

I had a lovely experience with the Excellence Center in Hebron. The Arabic classes were very good and I learned a lot in a short time and feel much more comfortable in my Arabic. My host family was incredibly nice and allowed me to eat so much delicious local food and try dishes I hadn't before. The program also allowed me lots of free time to explore the city and travel around Palestine to see some of the sites there. Ibraheim was a great teacher and tons of fun to work with. Also the other internationals at the center were lovely.

My name is Qing, I am a student from China. I have spent six weeks learning Arabic with Excellence Center in Hebron. I am living with other volunteers and students in a dormitory. Though the wi-fi in our dorm is not very stable and water is some time cut off, the place and people are still lovely. My program is intensive Arabic course, I spent three to four hours with my tutor. The Arabic course tends out very worth and interesting. And I use rest of my time to join the tours provided by the center.

Staying Hebron also provide me a great chance to explore the local culture and have deeper understanding of the Palestine-Israel conflict. There are many tours provided by the center every week, from visit the old city of Hebron to local university and factory. Though it not a full-scale culture emersion, I obtain many facts and conduct many communications with locals. And as the biggest city in the West Bank, it is very easy use Hebron as base to travel around the West Bank and the transportation here is quite cheap and convenient. And it is safe to stay and traveling around the West Bank. The people in Hebron is also very friendly and even “militant” hospitality.

However, the most important part for me is learning Arabic. I have one-on-one class with my tutor, Shayma, 5 days a week. So, it is intense, but not overwhelming. Because it is unlike normal language class in university that strict follow the text book, we will spend a hour and half to talking about anything that interesting us that including local customs, culture, Palestinian cuisine and some politics. And we also learn all the basic grammar and useful words and phrases that really helpful during the daily life. Though 6 weeks are still a short time regarding learning a new language, the learning here is efficient and helpful for further Arabic study.

It is worthwhile to take the opportunities to study Arabic in the Excellence Center and explore the real situation here in the West Bank. In a word, if I have chance I will visit this place again.

My name is Wietske. I am a twenty year old university student from the Netherlands. This summer I participated in the Studying Arabic in Palestine program for five weeks. This means that I had five three-hour one-on-one classes every week with my teacher Afnan. I have to say, deciding to participate in this program was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Not only did I improve my Arabic a lot, because of the amazing, personally tailored program, I also made a lot of friends, saw lots of places around Palestine and stayed with the best family.

Starting with my classes, Afnan ,my teacher, was amazing. She was patient, kind and very professional, but most importantly we had a lot of fun and developed a beautiful friendship I hope will last for many years to come. She made sure to incorporate all sorts of exercises in my classes that would stimulate both reading, writing and dialogue, sometimes in conventional ways, and sometimes through fun games or drawing. I couldn’t have wished for any more.

The whole environment of the Excellence Center also really enhanced my learning experience. There would always be people around willing to have a chat in Arabic with me, and we went on many fun trips with the volunteers and center personnel, including the old city, kaffieh factory, Kharas, glass and ceramics factory, Moscobia church, and more. Next to being a great place for studying Arabic, the center is definitely also a great place to make friends with interesting and kind people from all over the world.

I did a quite a bit of travelling through Palestine during my time at the center. I went to Ramallah, Jericho, Bethlehem, Jerusalem and the villages surrounding Hebron. Travelling is very easy, especially since you will find yourself often going with a group of volunteers/students. I also went on a trip to Jerusalem by myself, which was totally fine as well. I guess I never really felt unsafe travelling around Palestine or in Hebron. As a woman traveling alone of course you are going to find yourself in situations none of your male friends will be able to relate to. My one advice here would be to really make sure you are dressed conservatively. Not only will this prevent a lot of stares, which you are inevitably going to get, it will also make you feel more confident and in place in Hebron.

Last but definitely not least my family in Hebron was the absolute best. They made sure I always felt welcome, happy and well-fed. I stayed in the family together with another student, which has led to a wonderful friendship, next to of course the wonderful friendships I have made within the family, especially with Marwa, who I will never forget.

Over all I think it is clear that my time in Palestine has been absolutely wonderful and unforgettable. I am so grateful for my time in this beautiful, welcoming, friendly place and I wish for you to have the same experience. Of course I can do nothing but highly recommend!

I really enjoyed my time at the excellence center taking a weeklong cooking course with complementary Arabic lessons. Each day, my teacher and I went grocery shopping together and then cooked delicious and interesting meals. Even the recipes that I didn't personally enjoy as much were fun to make, and I hope to share the stories and flavors of this culture and these people with my family and friends back home. I would recommend the staff and community of the center to anyone interested in studying Arabic, Palestinian cooking, or the political situation on the ground here in Hebron. I absolutely hope to return in the future to this warm home away from home.

If you're looking to learn Arabic, please come to the Excellence Center. Everyone here is very relaxed and welcoming, and prior knowledge of Arabic is not necessary. I have spent just one week learning here at the Excellence Center, and, in just this short time, I have learned and experienced so much. Both the culture of Palestine and the Palestinian dialect are incredibly beautiful, and the people are welcoming and helpful around every corner.

At the Center, you can go on excursions in and around the city every day, and the trip to get to Hebron is not difficult. The atmosphere here is very relaxed and friends are made easily. You also have the opportunity to live with a host family, which allows you to further your cultural understanding and practice Arabic every day.

I've learned more in the amazing week than ever before in my studies. I've also made life-long friends. In the future, I will definitely come back to the Excellence Center to participate in the volunteer program and improve my Arabic knowledge. I hope to see you here!

-Emily Roberts

My name is Joanne, and I’m a British student studying Arabic at the Excellence Centre in Hebron.
I have spent the last three weeks living with a host family, taking part in intensive lessons during the mornings and exploring the city and surrounding areas in the rest of the day. Hebron is a great city for a base; it’s fascinating to wander through the old city and experience the reality of the settlements and how they affect the southern side. It’s a regional centre, with shops, markets and restaurants of every kind imaginable.
It is very easy to explore the rest of the West Bank too; the public transport is cheap and usually friendly, and despite restrictions on Palestinian-vehicular travel by Israeli checkpoints, Hebron to Ramallah is just under two hours by servees. The Excellence Centre organise a ton of trips each week – either to local places like the last remaining keffiyeh factory or the Maskobiyeh church, or to areas further afield, like Jericho and the Dead Sea, or to Bethlehem. The staff are really lovely and
The chief purpose of my stay in Hebron was to learn Arabic, so each morning I’ve had 3 hours of lessons with a wonderful tutor. Usually the classes are on a 1-2-1 basis, but my university friend and I have ours together – this is helpful because we can revise vocabulary and classwork together afterwards. We’ve covered a lot of material; basically we re-covered all of the basic grammar again and addressed a few topics such as human rights, future plans, marriage (!) and Palestinian cuisine. Both of us had been learning Modern Standard Arabic at university, but since no-one actually speaks MSA, we decided to focus on amiyya. Conversations with local shopkeepers, waiters and taxi-drivers has been getting much easier over the course of our stay – it is rewarding to be able to communicate in Arabic rather than switching back to English!
A number of friends from the UK were concerned about security issues and my personal safety when travelling around Palestine; I was also somewhat apprehensive about what the situation here might be. But the reality is that most of the time there is no overt difference between the lives of the locals here and those who live in other Arab countries – of course, the occupation means that there are restrictions for Palestinians, that many of them find themselves unable to travel to work or visit relatives in other areas of Palestine or even abroad because of new checkpoints, and it is impossible to drive anywhere without coming across settlements or Israeli military bases – but the lives still go on. They still go to school, go shopping in the evenings on the ein sarah street, attend university, work in every kind of business and go on day trips to amusement parks or other villages and towns. It’s been a right privilege to have lived with a host family in the north of the city, close to the main university, and see the familiar pattern of school term-time played out in another culture! The family are very welcoming – as are most of the people were have met here.
I thoroughly recommend the Excellence Centre to anyone who wants to visit Palestine, learn Arabic, meet wonderful people and eat awesome food.

I am Colter, a Canadian Master of Arts Student at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. My experience of the Excellence Center in Hebron, Palestine, has been incredibly rewarding. The decision to study Arabic in Palestine has been fulfilling, not only because of the high level of professionalism and enthusiasm with which the lessons are conducted, but also because of the chance to continually practice and develop my Arabic while casually speaking to people at the Center, in the city, or at my host family residence.
Not only has the Excellence Center’s program given me the opportunity to intensively study the Arabic language, but it has also afforded me numerous memorable encounters with Palestinian culture and society. The atmosphere at the Center has been welcoming, inclusive, and learning-friendly. Living in the Center of Hebron city with a Palestinian host family has furthermore allowed me to directly connect with regular Palestinian life and traditions. The warm hospitality, delicious food (falafel, shawarma and knaffeh), and weather have been wonderful. I have also been thankful for the opportunities organized by the Center to travel around Palestine; while here I have visited not only Hebron, but also Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho and Jerusalem. Along the way, I have made numerous friends, both local Palestinians and fellow students, volunteers and lecturers.
I have furthermore welcomed the many opportunities provided by the Center to further earnestly explore various aspects of historical and contemporary Palestinian life, in addition to the nature of the Israel-Palestine conflict. As such, I highly recommend the Excellence Center to anyone who wishes to study Arabic, volunteer, or grow in their understanding of Palestine. It is worth every moment.

Once in a lifetime, once in Palestine -
A land of olives, grapes and people

I am Celmah Cecily Yim from Hong Kong. It is my second time to come back to Palestine and I decided to spend two weeks doing intensive private Arabic lesson with Excellence Center in Hebron.

It is really my fortune to have studied Arabic with ustadha Shayma who is highly skillful and experienced in teaching this beautiful language to foreign students. Personally I have been studying spoken Arabic in Hong Kong for 3 years but I wanted to dedicate some time to practise and focus on the fluency. Alhamdulillah ustadha Shayma is very detailed and knows exactly how far I can reach and what objectives I aim for. All the materials provided have been extremely helpful and relevant. Simply a short two week has improved significantly my Arabic in terms of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Works like magic ! I am now feeling much more confident and comfortable in this language.

Excellence Center is like my home base in Hebron. Everyone including the staff and the volunteers are so welcoming and friendly. It is like a family. I am grateful for Rafat, Marwa, Khitam and Abu Mohannad for taking care of me in every aspect. In just two weeks, I am able to get to know the Palestinian culture, local industry and society in a deep level.

During my stay, I am living with a Palestinian host family. Before arrival, I was a bit hesitated about this idea but alhamdulullah, the family is very very good. I am becoming part of the family and now we feel how strange it will be when I am back to Hong Kong ... leaving them alone at home. I am extremely thankful for the Natsheh family, especially Shaza, Safwat, baby Zayna, Yosra, little uncle Yahia, Mustafa and Khitam. Everyday I have been spoiled with wonderful food, either local Palestinian crops or hand picked right from their yard ... lemon, almond, rosemary, potatoes... as if the concept of diet was left behind in Hong Kong.

One of the highlight in this journey is to be able to pray in Masjid Al Aqsa in Jerusalem. Alhamdulullah. As a Muslim revert, this is such a rewarding experience and I wish Allah SWT will accept all our duaas.

As for safety, being a single woman traveller, I feel completely safe, even safer than in Hong Kong and in the U.S. I am perfectly at ease walking alone or wandering around the town by myself. There is no problem at all. The Palestinians in Hebron are the nicest, the most passionate kind I have ever met in my life. There must be someone coming to help you whenever you look in doubt in the street. The owners in the falafel shop, spice shop, fruit shop, sweets shop etc surprisingly can remember everything you told them and admire your level of Arabic in the public. This little episode not only made me feel welcome but also motivated me to speak even better Arabic !

A city where "everyone is doing business with China", Hebron has everything I want and everything I have been looking for : food, people, local industry, a perfect environment to practise Arabic, an accessible balad to walk from here to there, a tradition of family always together, a safe neighborhood for children to run free, a time to slow down and a space to stimulate my intellectual thinking etc etc. The conversation with the local people about their life under Israeli occupation, for example, what they think about it, how they cope with it every day, what are their worries and how do they want to solve it etc is the most amazing moment in this adventure. It's worth every minute and more to listen to their story, their attachment to this land, their determination to protect the homeland.
I highly regard the Palestinians, in spite of the occupation, they remain proud, resistant and resilient.

Open a window to new country and you will be glad you did. On a personal note, immediately after I had embraced Islam in 2012, there was always a voice in my heart calling me to come to Palestine. Alhamdulillah for everything, Allah made it easy for me to follow the heart map. InshaAllah I will definitely come back to Palestine again, come back to Hebron which has become my important home base in The Middle East.
God bless and protect Palestine.
I am always with you !

الف الف !

I stayed for five days at the Excellence Center and I studied Arabic with my great teacher Maryam Joulany. After my stay in al-Khaleel I continued my travels to Ramallah, Nablus and Jericho. I never felt unsafe during my stay in Palestine even though I was a lone traveller. It was very easy to get around in spite of the fact that I hadn't done any planning, I didn't have a working mobile phone or any maps. I asked my way around and always got very good help from the people I met and that way I also got a valuable chance to speak and listen to a lot of Arabic.

I learned a lot of 3amiyya both at the center but also from all the Palestinians I met during my trip. Maryam was a wonderful teacher and had many creative ideas on how to teach the language. The classes were very varied and never felt boring. The staff at the center were extremely helpfull and generous and we were for example invited to Maryam's house where we ate wonderful Maqlooba and got the chance to communicate in Arabic in a larger group of people. Me and another student also went out for a lovely Palestinian breakfast with our teachers at a restaurant. We did excursions to many interesting places in al-Khaleel and its surroundings; like Betlehem, the monastery Mar Saba and the Jabal al-Fureidis and got the chance, thanks to Marwa, to visit the observer organisation TIPH. I did not only improve my Arabic, but I also learned a lot about the political situation, the occupation and the hardships that most Palestinians meet in their daily lives. The ambiance at the center was very warm and welcoming, thanks to the dedication among students, staff and teachers.

To live in a host family was also a great experience and gave me a chance to speak and listen to a lot of Arabic (and eat great food).

I am also very glad I went to different cities in Palestine because I felt that the culture and climate varied a lot between the places. My trip from Nablus to Jericho for example was very interesting because even though the two places were just about an hour apart by car they seemed to be totally different.

I will of course recommend the center to others. My stay at the Excellence Center was so enriching in many ways and I hope I get the chance to return to the center and Palestine soon!

Thank you for your generosity and for giving me memories for life!