Intensive Arabic Programs In Palestine (1-13 Weeks)

My name is Elissa and I am from the US. I am a university student, and I study International Relations and Arabic. I was at the Excellence Center for one month taking Arabic language classes.

The Arabic lessons at the Excellence Center are incredible. I have taken Arabic as part of my degree at university for two and a half years and I have also studied abroad in Oman, but I have never learned so much so quickly as I have at the Excellence Center. All of the Arabic classes I have taken in the past have been Modern Standard Arabic, but I decided that during my time in Hebron I wanted an introduction to the Palestinian dialect as well. I was able to arrange this with my teacher and create a customised programme which allowed me to study exactly what I wanted. My first week, I didn't understand anything when my teacher or host family would speak to me in dialect. Now, almost three weeks later, I am able to understand much more than I was at the beginning. I am very pleased with the amount of progress I have made at the Excellence Center.

The environment at the Center has really added to my experience here. I have never been in a learning environment that felt so much like a family. Every week, everyone at the Center stays late and cooks and eats dinner together, followed by coffee, shisha, and long conversations. I am very comfortable asking any member of staff any question I have or about anything I need. They are very knowledgeable about the city and about travelling around Palestine, and everyone goes out of their way to make sure you are comfortable.

While I was in Palestine, the Center also arranged trips to Bethlehem and Jericho. We visited the dead sea and had a barbecue together, and on the way saw monasteries, historic sites, and lots of camels! We will go on another trip to Ramallah before I leave, and I am looking forward to it very much as I know I will be in good company.

On my own and with friends I made at the Center, I also took trips to Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jerusalem and Nablus. Travelling in Palestine has been very easy, and all of the people are very willing to help, even if they speak limited English. I was able to spend Christmas Eve in Bethlehem and Christmas Day in Jerusalem, which was an incredible opportunity. I also spent New Years with a Palestinian family who invited me to stay in Nablus with them. Every city is different, and I have loved experiencing each of them.

One of the main reasons I chose the Excellence Center was because of the opportunity to live with a host family. My host family became like my own family while I was in Hebron, and I was treated like one of their own daughters. It made me feel very safe to know that I had a family looking out for me, and they taught me how to safely get to and from the Center. Although I was warned about safety issues before coming, I have never felt unsafe during my time in Palestine. I feel more safe in Palestine than I do in large cities in the US and Europe.

My favourite thing about Palestine has been the people. Palestine is beautiful, but it is the people here that make it so special. Everyone I have met has welcomed me with incredible generosity and hospitality. I feel like I have many people who care about me and my safety, and who are looking out for me. When you are in a new place, there is nothing better than being welcomed so warmly and being told that while you are here, you are home and this is your family.

My name is Justin, and I am from the United States. I come from a city of about 200,000 near Texas, and my university degree is in Teaching English as a Second Language.
I began studying Arabic at the Excellence Center to improve my grasp of the language that I had not yet learned despite having already lived in an Arabic speaking country for the last 2 years. As I arrived to the personal warmth and welcoming atmosphere of the language school, it helped me deal with the chilly weather of winter in Hebron. The lack of central heating on an early morning at most buildings including the school is overshadowed by the heat in the kitchen coming from the tea kettle or the portable heater. Most volunteers and students crowd around these two spots to happily begin the day. Once classes begin, and I am comfortable with my glass of delicious sage tea, my teacher turns on the electric wall heater to begin the lesson. Arabic classes are personable with small sizes. Lucky for me, winter is usually low season for tourists learning a foreign language away from home, and I was able to get a one-to-one class with a teacher who had a degree in English. Lessons were low-anxiety and included communicative activities that specified task-based activities. These activities included role-plays between shop owners and customers, asking directions, writing stories, and even help with the local Palestinian dialect of Arabic. These lessons have made it much easier to live in the city and speak to the people. Because the Palestinians of Hebron are so welcoming and curious, it is easy to practice what you learn in class with the locals.
It seems to take a special kind of caring person to come work or study in Palestine in spite of all the rumors one might hear about how it is here. I have seen this special kind of caring in the actions of the volunteers coming to work at the Excellence Center from all different ages and countries. Working with them has been a very international story of travels and adventure.
During my time at the Excellence Center, there were always excursions to places in the city of Hebron and throughout the West Bank. We went to see Ibrahim's Mosque, one of the most well-known sights in the Holy Land and lies in the Old City of Hebron. From there, we went to Shuhada Street (Martyr Street) which used to be a bustling market place before the year 2000. On a Friday morning, a group of us with some of the staff from the Excellence Center took a trip to Jericho and the dead Sea. On the way, we stopped by Mar Saba Monastery of the Greek Orthodox Church near the beautiful Kidron Valley. After taking some amazing photos, we were on our way to the the Dead Sea, but suddenly our vehicle passed a herd of camels and their caretaker. We could not help ourselves but to ask our coworker to pull the car over for a few pictures. We ended up hanging out with the camels for 15 minutes as we spoke to the caretaker. It was amazing, and we had not even reached the Dead Sea yet. Upon our farewell from the lovely hump-backed animals, we drove another 5 minutes to our destination by the beach. Suddenly there was a view of a vast waveless body of water that stretched from Palestine across to the Kingdom of Jordan. It was the Dead Sea and we were ready to test the rumor that you float in the water. Well, the rumor was true, and we also learned not to put our heads under the water because it is so salty that it can burn your eyes for a while. I also learned about how very salty water keeps clothes wet. My blue jeans stayed wet for 5 days after the trip before I finally washed them. The trip to the Dead Sea was capped off by some amazing barbecuing by our Palestinian coworkers. Palestinians sure know how to cook, and the kebabs were plentiful. It was one of the most interesting excursions I had ever taken, and you should definitely plan to do it when you come to volunteer or study at the Excellence Center.
Traveling around the city alone can lead to interesting places, but I would not recommend walking alone in the Old Town alone after the sun goes down. The narrow corridors of ancient streets make for darkness and spooky experiences, so make sure you are with a group.
No tale would be holistic without mentioning the people and more about the food. My overall impression of people here has been positive. People will go as far as to invite you for a tea in their home. As a man, this has been a good experience to know a bit more deeply about the Palestinian families. I would not, however, recommend doing this if you are a female volunteer being asked by a man to come to his home. This is not a norm here in Hebron, and every Palestinian man knows it. The restaurants are mostly quaint and give a homely feeling. Choices of cuisine include delicious friend chicken, excellent shawarma, falafel, and popular Palestinian rice dishes called maklouba and mansef.
If you decide to make the trip to Hebron and volunteer or learn with the Excellence Center, I believe you are making the right choice. The food, the people, and the culture make it all worth your time.

A week ago I arrived in Al Khalil. A Dutch girl living in Denmark, teaching young refugee children from Syria and there for trying to learn some Arabic. Arriving with no knowledge of the Arabic language and the Palestine culture.. now leaving with warm feelings towards the people in Hebron and being able to understand and participate in simple conversations.

Besides from interesting, useful, motivating and inspiring Arabic language lessons, the people from the Excellence center showed me a warm, loving, safe, historical culture and city. Unfortunately a week's visit was too short and I will have to come back some day to meet my friends again.

No where before have I only met a generous and warm staff, caring and loving for all volunteers, students and teachers. If you would ask me what I enjoyed most during my stay in Hebron, I would not be able to answer. Ibrahimi mosque, the old city, Masqubije, Bethlehem. Not even to mention my stay with the loving host family, who introduced me to their everyday lives, to their families and friends, to their children, to their city and to their culture.

I will miss my host family, I will miss the kind staff at the Excellence center, I will miss the joy of learning new Arabic words and sentences.. but most of all, I will miss the delicious foods like humus and the best falafel in the world.

Not only will I recommend any body to travel here and stay for a longer period of time, I will also look forward to visiting Al Khalil again myself.

If one word describes my experience here it is “warmth”. I came to Hebron in the depths of winter (note to winter travelers: bring layers!) but warmth permeated every moment of my stay. I spent hours in the Excellence Center kitchen huddled around the fire, drinking sweet and warm Palestinian tea while exchanging sweet and warm words. My eagerness to learn the language and soak in the culture was received with an enthusiasm level that matched my own. Open arms, minds, and hearts opened doors for indelible friendships. I think I heard and used the word “habeepty!” (“my sweetie!”) as much as every other word combined, but it was never unmerited. Marwa taught me to wrap hijab. Shayma took me to a Palestinian glass factory. Abu-Mohamed showed off the Hebrew words he knows while he drove me on a tour through the city. My Arabic teacher Haifa taught me a traditional Islamic wedding dance and I showed her the Hora while we dreamed up plans for each of our someday-weddings.

And each of my new besties / habeepties are powerful and inspiring and brilliant. My teacher Haifa was my older-and-wiser role model until I learned her age. So now she is my younger-but-wiser role model. Her patience, energy, and Arab coffee fueled me through seven days of (brilliantly executed) 3-hour classes. The Center’s coordinator Marwa went above and beyond with around-the-clock assurance and support that made me feel welcome, safe, and loved. I am so grateful for these seven days, short but so full, of linguistic exchange and cultural give-and-take. Thank you for having me.

- Ariel Koren beginner Arabic course 12/21-12/29

Talha, 29 came from Canada to learn classical Arabic (MSA) for a month with the EC in order to understand the Koran.

At Tel Aviv I was stopped by security for three hours and interrogated… three hours of stupid questions about my job in Canada, why I came here, if I knew anybody here, how long I’m staying here… It might be a lot harder to answer the questions the next time around now I know so many people here.

After the airport security issues, getting to Hebron was pretty easy. From the airport I got a bus to Jerusalem, where I spent two nights. The bus from Jerusalem dropped me on the Jewish side of Hebron (Khalil) and from there I got a cab to the Centre. My taxi driver also knew where the Centre was on Ein Sara Street, which was really useful since the street is pretty long.

After I arrived at the Centre, I got an orientation presentation which was good, telling me about safety in Israel, things I need to be aware of, some practical advice, and information about local customs.

Since I’m a guy, I don’t have a host family, so after presentation I was shown by Rafat, Centre manager to the EC dormitories. The dorms are about 10 minutes easy walk from the Centre, or 2.5 shekel 2 minute cab ride. Typically in the evenings I eat outside the dorms since food is so cheap if you just want like a falafal sandwich or shawarma. Sometimes though, I go to nicer restaurants, or I’m invited to a home cooked meal with someone from the Centre.

Palestinians are very warm welcoming people and it’s a very closed society, you know, it’s under occupation. They typically don’t get a chance to travel outside of Palestine, so people are really eager to share their experiences and ask about my life in Canada. I’m often told this is the first time that a person is meeting a Pakistani. Our passport says not valid for Israel on it, so that’s not surprising. But people also really open up here, about their lives. They tell you everything you know… the amount of times I’ve heard people say they’d love to own a car but they can’t afford it since cars are so heavily taxed by the Israelis.

One of my neighbours asked me round for coffee, and told his friends I was coming. Before I’d been sitting in his lounge for five minutes, his brother turns up to talk to me, and then some of his neighbours - just like that - that would never happen in Canada. People can really talk here… I guess partly because they don’t have a lot of outside activities to do, they often just sit in the lounge, talk and smoke, and relax.

Times like that were a good opportunity to use Arabic a bit. Fusha, which I’m learning, is also 70% similar to regional dialect (the pronunciation is different, and a few words) so if you have a grasp of Fusha, the transition to spoken dialect is quite easy.

When I started studying with the Centre, I was at Beginner one level and I studied one month for 15 hours per week. At the beginning, I knew how to read - not very well but - moderate level because I’m Muslim.

I felt from the lessons that I could quite quickly begin to start to break down lines from the Koran and understand it. Even after just two weeks I had enough vocabulary to start recognising a few words, here and there.

The lessons were good and pretty varied. We translated small suraah from the Koran, and one lesson we listened to the national anthem, mawtani (my homeland), and translated it.

Another cool thing about my experience here was meeting a lot of foreigners at the Centre. Like I’d never properly met a British person before, but I met a British girl here, as well as people from Denmark, and Norway, and everywhere. It’s rare to have the chance to meet people from all over the world like that.

We did a lot of trips together, both with the Centre and in our own time. The staff here took us to Battir one Friday, which was a very nice hike close to Bethlehem. The landscape is really striking - all arid and rocky - very different to Canada.

After Battir we went to Soussia, which was a rural Bedouin village. Soussia is under threat from occupation and settler expansion. They don’t have access to electricity because they’re forbidden to construct anything, and their wells are often demolished. Also the caves they’d been living in were filled in by the Israeli Government, so they’re living in erected tents. It’s sad, but really important to see how people are living in the face of the occupation.

My favourite trip was without doubt Jerusalem. Being in Al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock was a really special feeling as a Muslim. It’s the third holiest site in Islam, so I felt very happy and very privileged to be able to be there and pray there. Jerusalem is a very beautiful place; there’s a lot of history here.

After Friday prayer at the mosque, I went into the Arab quarter, which is so lively with people buying and selling you get totally lost in the crowd. And at the same time as you see people selling like galaxy phones, you feel so much history every it’s like a museum. The ancient walls and cobblestone road, and so many old buildings. Every army that came here has left something behind; the Crusaders, Muslims, Jews, it’s an incredible place.

What’s also amazing is that when you’re in the old city in Jerusalem, you see all of the Abrahamic faiths. The Wall of the Al-Aqsa mosque is also the Western Wall, so when you’re the mosque you can see the Wall like fifty metres away. I felt like all of these religions with a special connection to this place are so close together; we come from the same source. But at the same time, we don’t talk to each other. The Jews and Arabs, but we don’t talk. Christians talk to me more, but politics poisons all of that.

There are so many things to see here in Palestine, and everything is so close by. Twenty minutes from the Centre, and you’re in Bethlehem, forty five, and you’re in Jerusalem. And there’s really local things to do as well, like Battir and Masaba.

The Excellence Center offer great opportunities for those who want to study Arabic. Classes are on a 1-1 basis, with really good and inspiring teacher. Having said that, what really sets the Center apart is the environment. The center provides a very friendly atmosphere where there will be a lot of social activities and trips outside your normal schedule. So not only will you improve you Arabic, you will also learn a lot about the culture and political situation in Hebron and the West bank.

The first thing I noticed about this center is how comfortable it is to be there. Really from the first day it was easy to feel at home. The staff, the students, and community that come by are all relaxed, joke around with eachother, and are welcoming in a genuine and calm way. We eat breakfast all together, people randomly make tea for eachother throughout the day, it really does feel comfortable and easy to be part of this learning family. This makes it easy to learn because it is a comfortable place and a supportive environment to make mistakes in Arabic.

Another wonderful thing about this center is how much it supports the education of people from Hebron. Most of the classes are for Palestinians who want to improve their English. I have a lot of respect for the way this center is truly focused on this mutual learning of both English and Arabic. It is inspiring to know that the infrastructure of the school is not just for the benefit of foreigners who want to learn Arabic, but is also, and maybe primarily, for Palestinians who want to learn English. By coming to this center that is located in Hebron, you participate in witnessing disparities, suffering and resiliency of the occupation in ways specific to Hebron and at the same time, you know that by supporting this center you are supporting an incredibly positive institution in society in Hebron and also in Palestine.

The quality of the teaching in the center is excellent. The teachers regularly get training and refresher training on teaching methods and the center has checked in with me a few different times to be sure the quality of the teaching is what I was looking for. They want to be sure there are no problems, and best of all, the did this in a discrete way so if I had anything to request, I felt I truly could have.

My amazing teacher Rashaa has gone above and beyond in a number of ways in the short time I have been here. She really listened to what topics were important to me and taught in creative and effective ways. For example, I am a nurse, so on the 2nd day I show up to a table full of medical type equipment she gathered from her family so we could learn and practice in 3D! Amazing! She also learned I plan to work in refugee camps in Jordan and she looked up videos about the camps in Arabic so we could practice the relevant vocabulary while looking at images and hearing from people living in the camps. Both of these were very effective ways to learn and I definitely feel like I have learned a lot of Arabic. Her dedication is contagious and motivates me to study more!

Overall, I would 100% recommend coming to this center.

I spent two months volunteering at the Excellence Center teaching English. In addition to teaching English I took six hours of Arabic per week. My teacher was Du’a Qasim. Overall I was satisfied with her teaching methods and what I got out of the lessons. She’s very knowledgeable, communicative, and attentive to concerns. She has a lesson plan set up but she’s open to exploring personal interests her students may have. Moreover, she’s an exceptionally caring individual who is genuine in her goals and committed to her job. The staff at the center also encourage Arabic usage. This is helpful in applying what you learn in the classroom and translating it to everyday experiences. The fact that you’ll be living in a city of over 200,000 people who speak Arabic is just another incentive to learn and improve your language skills.

The center offers three hours of Arabic per week for every volunteer who works at the Excellence Center. However, one can certainly add more hours at a reasonable price. For those coming from the United States, it’s certainly more affordable than anything a university would charge per credit hour. And in my opinion, this is just as effective if not more. I’d encourage volunteers to take additional hours.

The Excellence Center is sanctioned by the Palestinian Ministry of Education and at the end of your volunteer period you will receive a certificate from the Center acknowledging your participation in the teaching aspect and completing the Arabic lessons. Moreover, one can certainly just enroll at the Excellence Center to take Arabic lessons. A few of the individuals I met in summer of 2016 at the Excellence Center attended the Center exclucivly for the Arabic lessons. Again, this a combination of reasonable cost, social environment, and a cadre of capable local teachers who take their profession seriously.

As I mentioned, my teacher was Du’a Qasim, who has been just wonderful in every sense of that word. Extremely helpful and effective as a teacher. I would strongly recommend her as my personal experience dictates as such. The Excellence Center’s staff are capable of working with people from beginner, to novice, to intermediate, to advanced levels. So if you want to learn basic Arabic to more advanced literary and comprehensive understanding of the language, the Center can provide teachers who are capable.

Lastly, the Arabic lessons are a good complementary experience that will certainly help you get around Palestine.