Intensive Arabic Programs In Palestine (1-13 Weeks)

The Excellence Center is a great place for anyone looking to improve their Arabic, gain cultural exposure, and learn more about the political situation in Palestine. After 2 weeks there, I advanced in Arabic more than I expected and felt part of the Excellence Center family.

This is a wonderful opportunity for those needing flexibility. You can go as little as one week, and you can choose your exact start and end dates. It's great for people with full-time jobs who can't take off a whole semester.

Hi I’m Victoria, I’m based in Scotland. I spent 2 weeks at the Excellence Center studying Arabic. I had some basic Arabic before I arrived in Hebron- but just greetings, a few words and a basic understanding of the alphabet. My two weeks at the Excellence centre were fantastic; we went back to basics with the alphabet but progressed very quickly to greetings, vocabulary and verbs. By the end of my time there I was chatting to people in the taxi about my family and job.

The Center itself is very well located off the main street- easy to locate because its next to the stadium. And very close to a very friendly coffee shop that does a great latte, for those rare times that an Arabic coffee is not exactly what you need. The staff at the centre are all lovely and very welcoming, particularly Marwa and her family. Eating breakfast together every day really helps you get to know the other participants at the excellence centre, and they tend to come from diverse and interesting backgrounds, which give you a new insight into Palestine and the Arabic language. The centre also arranged several visits to the old city, which were very informative, and the staff are comfortable to talk about day to day life in Palestine.

Living in Hebron City was a great experience. The city feels safe, people are friendly and happy to talk but also very respectful of boundaries. I felt safer in Hebron than I have done in some British cities in the evening. And the food, of course, is superb. My host family were absolutely delightful; helpful, friendly, interesting and provided wonderful food. I feel I have made some friends for life, and I am very keen to return next year to Hebron next year.

In summary, I am very pleased I chose Palestine and the Excellence Center as my destination to learn more Arabic and experience the Palestinian culture. Lovely people, great food and a fantastic experience.

Just one word on the logistics, the Excellence center website talks in a lot of detail about how to get to Hebron from Ben Gurion airport. The shared taxi from Damascus Gate in Jerusalem doesn’t run all the time- especially in the early morning, so I took the 231 bus to Bethlehem and got a shared taxi from there, or you can get a 234 to Bethlehem check point, go through the checkpoint and get a shared taxi from the other side. People are really happy to help you in Palestine :)

My time at the Excellence Center was a fantastic intellectual, intercultural and social journey. Every week day (Sunday to Thursday) I had 3,5 hours of Arabic class with the extremely knowledgeable and pedagogically apt Doha as my teacher. Not only did Doha help me drastically improve my Palestinian dialect Arabic skills, she also was always able to teach me grammatical concepts and words in a fun and motivating way. She also adapted the class teaching plan according my needs whenever necessary. In addition to being a great teacher, Doha - and also her sister Saja who is also a teacher at the Excellence Center - conversed with me a lot in our free time at the school and thus introduced me to colloquial expressions, jokes and everyday language. The other staff at the Excellence Center was also always very helpful when I needed any specific information about Hebron or its surrounding (e.g. when I needed to get to Dura, a town next to Hebron), and even more great companions during my 1-month stay at the Excellence Center. Moreover the stories Anas and Ibrahim told me about their everyday life were exceedingly interesting and pertinent to my work as a doctoral researcher on Palestine. The center managers, Osama and Marwa, were also always willing to compromise and accommodate my needs regarding my living situation.

Contrary to what you may hear from Western media, Hebron is actually a very safe and fun city to live in (in H1 area). There are many cafes and pastry shops that are open all day and long into the night. The food is among the best Ive ever had. I was in Hebron during 2 weeks of Ramadan and must say that the Muslim month of fasting quite changes the city`s vibe. Restaurants and most stores are closed all day and life only awakes in the night. It is a interesting cultural experience for sure, but if you are keen on experiencing the culinary culture of Khalil to its fullest you might want to reconsider whether you want to come during Ramadan. Overall, the hospitality in Khalil is amazing. There were many times I was just invited for coffee or cocktails *(non-alcoholic ones) by strangers and I was also invited to a couple of Iftar dinners which were great fun. The Palestinian hospitality is unparalleled by anything I have seen elsewhere in the world. Last, if you really want 24/7 arabic exposure, I recommend you see if you can stay with a host family, as I was staying in a shared apartment with other foreigners which limited my exposure to Arabic in the evenings. Moreover, I traveled to Bethlehem, Ramallah and Jericho, which was all very easy because the West Bank is not very big. And before I forget, it is quite cold in March.

I spent an amazing two weeks at the Excellence Centre this Easter. I came to boost my spoken Arabic language (I study Arabic at University) and in two weeks the difference is huge - one on one lessons for 3h30 every day really gives time to fill any gaps and address difficulties as they arise in a tailored and efficient way. I had the privilege of living with a host family, so in the evenings I could forget all the grammar and rules and just practise and speak, knowing that I could come back to a grounding class the next day.
Having in the past been quite suspicious of organised, all inclusive packages like this, I really can't recommend it enough, especially if you don't have the luxury of endless months travelling to build connections. Here, you can arrive with a ready-made community - family even - to join, both of Palestinians and foreign students of all ages (who tend to be doing pretty interesting things!)
The coordinators manage to strike the perfect balance between hard-hitting informative trips to learn about the situation in Hebron, and holiday-style trips to the dead-sea or nearby attractions, to let off some steam and enjoy this beautiful country.
A couple of considerations: it's not always warm here, and most houses do not have central heating, so unless you're coming mid-summer bring layers! Due to the challenges of living under occupation, plans can change quickly, and organisers may have to adapt new situations - such as certain roads being closed, checkpoints not manned, or clashes in the city centre. This is not a cause for concern in terms of safety (which is always put first) but you do need to be flexible!
What else to say - where ever you're at in your knowledge, political standpoint, personal background etc I would highly recommend this program - there's nothing like coming and seeing things for yourself, learning from human contact and being treated to Palestinian hospitality (the foood) however intimidating the situation may seem from abroad.

Yalla ta3lu!

I came to the Excellence Center to study Arabic intensively 15 hours a week for 4 weeks. I had private lessons with the wonderful Afnan, who used a variety of techniques to help me build on what I had studied previously. She is an excellent communicator and teacher, and laughed at a lot of my silly jokes and anecdotes and helped me express myself more confidently in Arabic.
The entire staff at the EC was helpful and friendly. In general, Palestinians are very warm and welcoming - foreigners here get chased down to be offered free coffee and food. I ended up befriending some locals at the restaurants I would frequent, so I got to practice my new vocabulary chatting and laughing with them late into every night.
As an Asian, I did receive a lot of stares and treatment that made me uncomfortable. No one was malevolent towards me, but it did feel unfair that the locals treated me like some exotic animal while they treated my white colleagues with more humanity - I chalk it up to ignorance.
I was also fortunate in that all the other foreigners with me at the time were brilliant and fun. We'd have enriching discussions - in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish - about serious issues like justice in Israel/Palestine as well as silly ones like our pets.
I studied at EC in the winter - houses are not insulated for the cold, and my apartment bathroom frequently leaked. Be prepared to be a little uncomfortable if you come in the winter. But my roommates were fantastic and will likely be friends for life.

My experience learning Arabic in Palestine was rewarding; I became conversational with the assistance of two knowledgeable teachers, Shahd and Marwa. The learning materials were abundant and relevant for the daily topics. When not studying, I toured Al-Khalil (Hebron) and Bethlehem, meeting local people in restaurants and shisha bars. As part of the program, there is an opportunity for solo travel alongside guided tours to refugee camps and other cultural sites such as Al-Ibrahimi mosque, Banksy's famous Walled-Off hotel and the Church of the Nativity; the site of Jesus' birth!

I took weekly Arabic lessons at Excellence Center while living in Hebron for almost 1,5 years. When I returned to Norway, I was able to continue learning Arabic online with my teacher from Excellence, Marwa.

I immediately felt at home in Excellence Centre. The teachers and the administration in the centre are very welcoming, helpful and professional. Marwa is a very knowledgeable and kind person, and the lessons with her are always fun and useful. She also did her best to accomodate the lessons and material according to my needs and interests.

Altough I prefer face-to-face lessons, taking online lessons have worked out really well. I can recommend it especially to those with prior knowledgeable of Arabic.

Really blessed to join the online program. Rafat was always available to answer any queries to make the whole process run smoothly. Dua'a my teacher is great and so patient. We work together to arrange a schedule suitable for both of us. I have learned so much already and it's only been 3 months. I hope to continue and improve my Palestinian Arabic skills! Being of Palestinian heritage I feel an affinity to this dialect which I love. I definitely will recommend to family and friends. Thank you Excellence Centre.