Study Arabic In the West Bank, Palestine (1-13 Weeks)

I spent a week taking cooking classes and Arabic lessons at the center. My teachers were patient and attentive, and all of the staff were incredibly warm and helpful, always checking in to see how I was doing. I feel like I'm coming away with a lot more Arabic knowledge than I expected in such a short time, and I'm very excited to attempt the delicious Palestinian dishes on my own back home! It was also wonderful to get to experience the city of Hebron, I stayed in an apartment about a 20 minute walk from the center and tried probably every falafel place along the way. Most people I encountered were very friendly and I always felt safe on my walks around the city!

I had an amazing two weeks at the center. I wish I had the time to stay longer, as it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. The people at the center were helpful and encouraging with me as I practiced my Arabic skills. My teacher, Saja, was always available to help and was very patient with my mistakes. She was the best teacher I've had. I learned more about Arabic culture, language and food in two weeks than I had expected to with her help. I got to see the old city of Hebron, and on the weekends had time to visit some of the nearby historical cities like Jericho and Bethlehem. The people in Palestine are some of the most welcoming and nice people I've ever met, and I never felt like I wasn't safe during my time here. Couldn't Recommend more.

As a palestinian who grew up in Germany I visited my family in the west bank many times, but my time in the center was a totaly new experience. I got to see the more troubling and politicized sides of the country, which left me with a realistic and in depth understanding of what it means to live under occupation. The impressions I got here definetely heavily impacted my political and moral thinking and shaped me for everything thats still to come in my life.
The arabic lessons with my teacher saja were always very fun, but also productive and professional. In general all of the teaching staff is amazing and always enables and helps you to move forward in your arabic journey.
But the best thing about my stay were the people. I stayed 3 and a half months and I met dozens of amazing and interesting people that made the time in Khalil unforgettable. I made good friends from all over the globe.
I would encourage everybody thats interested in the Arabic language but also in the troubling circumstances of the Palestinian people to visit the center in Khalil and broaden your horizon.

I had a great experience studying Arabic at the Excellence Center. Everyone is extremely welcoming, and my Arabic improved a lot. I came in having studied previously in Amman, Jordan and with a high fluency level, but my instructor Mahmoud was able to push me and help me to improve, especially with the Hebron dialect. Outside of classes, I was able to learn more about the situation in Palestine and make plenty of new friendships and relationships. I was able to visit Nablus, Jenin, Jericho, Ramallah and the center was highly flexible with helping me move around my schedule and my classes. Highly recommend!

Over the past three years I have been trying and switching learning methods regularly. It gave me a basic vocabulary, but when I tried to speak my mind freezed.

My teacher Duha helped me to overcome that obstacle. I noticed that she really made an effort to 'read' me. To try and find out which pace, variation and challenges work for me. The frustration I often felt when learning Arabic disappeared because I became confident I was making progress.

I hope to continue soon, this time in Hebron.

I’ve taken standard Arabic classes before but wanted to focus on being able to speak better and specifically in the Palestinian dialect to understand the older generation of my family. Saja was my teacher and she helped me feel more confident in speaking even if I made mistakes. She helped me with grammar and vocabulary and using dialect instead of the standard which is more helpful to communicate with others. I’ve noticed I can understand more when people talk to me and I can form sentences better. I took the basic 10 class course and I really enjoyed it and looked forward to my classes if anything I wish I had taken more classes and that they were a little longer. Saja was always helpful, kind, and supportive of my journey and always made sure to ask if I understood or needed anything to help me succeed.

My first course in Arabic was 50 years ago. As I progressed through the academic hierarchy I took several other courses and did fairly well. However, there was no breath in the MSA. Recently, I decided that I needed to make the Arabic I knew into a living, breathing Arabic, no longer a language stuck to pages and inside books, but a vehicle of communication and laughter, tears and agony in real life. It has been my good fortune that I found Duha Amro at this online course with Go Overseas. She has been an exemplary teacher, compassionate, yet disciplined; a sense of humor; and a warmth of heart known to the Palestinians. As a language teacher myself, I recommend her and this program highly.

I had online lessons with Saja. We initially discussed all my requirements and she fully understood what I was trying to achieve. I was looking for basic day to day conversation. Saja subsequently implemented what we had discussed and put in place a well structured series of lessons tailored to my needs and objectives - and I was able to achieve my objectives fairly quickly. Saja was fun to work with and made learning enjoyable.
Highly recommended - I am looking forward to my visit in person next year.