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Location
Multiple Locations +2
  • Palestine
  • Online
Length
1 to 13 weeks
Language
Arabic
General grants/scholarships

Program Details

Language Level
BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced
Immersion Level
Intensive Online Standard
Specialized Courses
Business Medical Professional Specific Purposes Teaching
Class Size
Private Lessons Small Class (1-7) Medium Class (8-15) Large Class (15+)
Weekly Classroom Hours
30
Housing
Apartment Guesthouse Host Family Hostel
Age Min.
18

Pricing

Starting Price
450
Price Details
The program fees include: pre-departure support, accommodations with a host family, some meals, full coordination while volunteering in Palestine, and some visits to different sites in the city of Hebron.
What's Included
Accommodation Some Activities Classes Some Meals
What's Not Included
Some Activities Airfare Some Meals
Nov 25, 2024
May 01, 2025
Wish List
30 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

The Excellence Center/Engage in Palestine offers immersive and intensive Arabic language programs in the heart of the West Bank. Located in the city of Hebron, these programs are designed for learners of all levels who wish to master Levantine Arabic (اللهجة الشامية), which covers Jordan, Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon, Palestinian Arabic, or Modern Standard Arabic. Whether you're looking to study for one week or up to 13 weeks, our programs provide an in-depth, hands-on learning experience where language and culture blend seamlessly

Through these courses, you will not only develop strong Arabic language skills but also gain firsthand exposure to Palestinian culture, politics, and daily life. With options ranging from super-intensive and intensive to more flexible, non-intensive programs, students can choose the pace that best suits their goals

The Center also offers online Levantine/Palestinian Arabic lessons, Summer Arabic programs, Winter Arabic courses, and year-round courses

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Video and Photos

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Study Arabic in Palestine
Meeting a Palestinian family
Visiting a refugee camp
Arabic lesson
Cooking at the Center
Palestinian Food
Arabic lesson
Breakfast

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Impact 🌎

With all our Arabic courses and volunteer programs, we aim to make a long term difference for the Palestinian local community through the exchange of ideas and “walking in each other’s shoes”. Our programs and courses foster shared learning, for both our community and you. During your Arabic course, you will get to learn so much more than just the language. You will also get to learn a lot about Palestinian culture and customs and the political situation in Palestine. Additionally, you will have many opportunities while outside the classroom to practice your Arabic in a natural and authentic way while navigating your new life in Hebron. Your time with us in Hebron will also provide you with many opportunities of cultural exchange and mutual learning, both with local Palestinians as well as with our other international participants.

Program Highlights

  • Besides developing your Arabic language skills, students will experience various aspects of the Palestinian culture through their living arrangements with host families and various local trips as well as the Excellence Center’s in-house and local activiti
  • The Study Arabic Program in Palestine will give you the opportunity to live in and gain impressions from one of the most politically divisive and ambivalent regions of the Middle East.
  • The Intensive Arabic Courses offered in our programs: Modern Standard Arabic, Levantine (Shami) dialects, Ammiya, Classical and Palestinian Arabic using up-to-date teaching techniques in an intensive learning environment.
  • The Arabic Immersion Program will provide you the chance to visit unique tourist attractions with a particular native perspective – locations including Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron, Tulkarm, Qalqilyah, Jenin and the Dead Sea in Jericho.
  • Our center is staffed by well-qualified, attentive Arabic teachers, each with an excellent educational background, ready and happy to help you.

Popular Programs

Arabic

Study Arabic Online Program

Study Arabic Online Program: In addition to our in-person programs held at the center, Engage in Palestine also offers online Arabic language classes in Modern Standard, Levantine (Shami) and Palestinian Arabic (Ammiya) . Depending upon your intended purpose for studying, each online Arabic program has its own advantages as colloquial variants are better suited for those simply travelling and conversing, whilst Modern Standard is ideal for those needing Arabic professionally.

Summer

The Summer Intensive Arabic Program

The Summer Intensive Arabic Program offers a fantastic opportunity for individuals seeking an immersive Arabic course during the summer in various Middle Eastern regions such as the West Bank, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, or the broader Middle East. Renowned as one of the top Arabic language schools in Palestine, we provide exceptional Arabic language learning experiences.

Arabic

Study Levantine (Shami) Arabic Program

The Levantine Arabic Program offered by Volunteer in Palestine is a unique opportunity for anyone looking to expand their spoken Arabic to include the Levantine dialect, travel through the Levant, and immerse themselves in Levantine culture, history and politics. Fortunately, for those looking to study Arabic with us, we are located in the West Bank, Palestine, in the heart of the Levant, and in the busy and vibrant city of Hebron.

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Program Reviews

4.87 Rating
based on 221 reviews
Leave a Review
  • 5 rating 87.33%
  • 4 rating 12.22%
  • 3 rating 0.45%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Instruction 4.8
  • Support 4.85
  • Fun 4.7
  • Housing 4.55
  • Value 4.75
Good for Students, Solo Travelers, Adventure travelers
Showing 209 - 216 of 221 reviews
Default avatar
Louise
65
Female
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

what I learned

Jun 15, 2015

I learned a lot. I think the most important is the interaction with our teacher which has been very good.
I have been to arabic classes before but this time I think I have improved.
A problem could be the way to form good studygroups with equal level.
Another problem could be that the motivation among the students is shifting.
I think it is very good that my teatcher is listening to my wishes about
learning .
Of course I would like to go more than twice a week but it is difficult to coordinate with my work in TIPH. I hope to continue after Ramadan.

What would you improve about this program?
I would like to have a disc wiyh spoken arabic that I can listen to when I do my homework. It would improve my ability for pronunciation.
48 people found this review helpful.
Helpful
Default avatar
Donato
50
Male
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

The best school in Hebron

Jun 9, 2015

Excellence center is a school located in one of the most important street in Hebron. It is a school in wich you immediately feel the professionality of the staff: coordinators and teachers. The school strives to improve its standars, indeed they are always more than happy to receive feedbacks. I personally studied dialet and standard arabic, focusing more on the former. I really recommend this school to any newcomer and I am sure that you will enjoy the company and the kindness of these fantastic people like my teacher Dua'a, Marwa , Osama, Alaa and the two Ibrahim etc. etc.

What would you improve about this program?
Personally I think that every student has to find his own method so that in my case I asked the teacher to focus more on conversation. They are really flexible so that you have just to find out what works best for you.
44 people found this review helpful.
Helpful
Default avatar
Alfio
65
Male
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

my experience in excellence center

Jun 7, 2015

I am very glad to learn the Arabic language even if I can learn the basic words. In this way I hope to have the opportunity to deal in a better way with the local Population. I have found a very professional teacche, very patient and also the director, She is very nice and always available. After different lessons I can say to know some Arabic words and I can understand some phrases, even if simple. I woul like to learn in the future also to read the Arabic language but now, unfortunately I have to go back to Italy.

What would you improve about this program?
The program is perfect.
41 people found this review helpful.
Helpful
Default avatar
Rafik
50
Male
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

My review Rafik

Jun 3, 2015

Highligts - the teachers are very good and well prepared, the atmosphere is excelent, staff is wonderfull. You allways get help if you need. I liked the speaking excercises, talking about differences between palestine and our home countries, listening to films and news. overall very happy with the program.

Difficulties - getting enough time to study and prepare, sometimes the work at TIPH takes a lot of time and little time left to study. The working hours in TIPH are sometimes difficult to manage togeteher with the hours at Excelence. the logistics is the biggest challenge as well as having enough hours to study.

What would you improve about this program?
continue mixing the ways of teaching as you do today, the mixture between speaking, tours downtown, movies, cultural discussions and doing excercises are great. best way to learn.

41 people found this review helpful.
Helpful
Default avatar
Ingrid
40
Female
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Classes at Excellence centre

Jun 3, 2015

I have enjoyed four months of studies at Excellence centre that I have really enjoyed and profited from. The teachers are very devoted and respond qickly to the wishes of the students. I plan on continue my studies with Excellence centre and believe that I will have the chance to develop my studies evven more.

41 people found this review helpful.
Helpful
Default avatar
Maryam
27
Female
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

my experience in excellence center

May 31, 2015

My name is Maryam Allan i'm from America. I am 16 years old. I came to live in Palestine. I came to the excellence center to learn Arabic.Here at the excellence center I learned the alphabet and the converstations of everyday life. My experience at the excellence center was great. The staff and teachers treat you like family. They teach the languages so you can undestand and they have a positive atmostphere.

41 people found this review helpful.
Helpful
Default avatar
Mirza
50
Male
4/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Good place to learn Arabic

May 27, 2015

I enrolled in a 50 hours group program at Excellence centre. We decided to study mainly the local dialect, which was approved by the centre and facilitated well. Our teacher was a talented young lady.
We used video in many of our classes, which is very good.
We studied the most relevant subjects relevant for our current and future job in an Arabic speaking country.

All in all, very nice and useful experience.

What would you improve about this program?
-
38 people found this review helpful.
Helpful
Default avatar
Alex
40
Female
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

The ideal place for private Arabic lessons!

May 21, 2015

Why did I not come here sooner? I took private lessons at the Excellence Center for a week, not only was it affordable but the professors were very accomodating and sought to work with my level. As a student, you also eat with the staff every morning which gives you the opportunity to practice your Arabic.

46 people found this review helpful.
Helpful

Questions & Answers

Alumni Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with verified alumni.

Rosalind Dyveke Dale

Program
Intensive Arabic Programs In Palestine (1-13 Weeks)
Rosalind Dyveke Dale

Why did you choose this program?

I previously visited the Excellence Center in Hebron last year to do Intensive Arabic and I really enjoyed the two weeks I had; however, I wished I was staying longer, as two weeks went to fast. This year I was for one month and, in the future, I hope to stay for longer. I have a desire to become fluent in Arabic and coming to the Excellence Center was a great opportunity for me to improve my Arabic, even though that was not the main focus of the visit. The main focus was to conduct research for my dissertation in BSc Anthropology and, with the help from the Excellence Center, this became easier for me to complete.

What did your program provider (or university) assist you with, and what did you have to organize on your own?

I had in advance of this program created a questionnaire and interview questions and done some readings to prepare for the fieldwork. When I arrived at the Excellence Center, I had a short meeting with some staff at the Excellence Center about what I needed for my research and, from that point, the Center organised all the interviewees I conducted and all the questionnaires I collected. The only thing I needed to do was to tell them what I needed, and then they organised the rest. This made the research I conducted very easy and possible to complete within the limited time I had.

What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone going on your program?

Be prepared for Arab time. You might have heard about the Arab time before, but if you haven't, now you will. It basically means that times works a bit differently; 9 might mean 9.30, the afternoon might be 12.00 or 14.00, and 5 minutes might be 30 minutes. When deciding to come to this Center, be prepared and accept that time runs differently, and embrace it!

What does an average day/week look like as a participant of this program?

At 9.30 am, it is Palestinian traditional breakfast at the Center together with other volunteers and staff at the Center. After that, I usually talked to the Excellence Center staff about my day.

As I did research, some days the Excellence Center staff had fixed an interview or a focus group that could fill in my questionnaire. Other days I was working on transcribing interviews. I also had two 1.5 hour lecture of Arabic each week, so when I didn't work on my research, I practised my Arabic.

At around 5 pm, I would go back home and use the rest of the day with my host family and relax. As the main focus was my own research, the weeks were very flexible, and I mostly shaped the weeks myself.

Going into your experience abroad, what was your biggest fear, and how did you overcome it? How did your views on the issue change?

Last year was a bit more terrifying than it was this year. Traveling alone and living in a host family with a completely different culture than my own was a bit scary, as I did not know what to expect. However, the friendliness of the host family made this fear disappear and they actually made my stay even better as I had a family to come back to after a long day at the Center.

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Rafat Shantir

Program
Intensive Arabic Programs In Palestine (1-13 Weeks)
Job Title
Manager
Rafat Shantir is the manager of the Excellence Center. Rafat has participated and volunteered in many community development projects in places as diverse as Mongolia, Denmark, Egypt, and Jordan. He has worked for community development for several years in Palestine, and he strongly believes in the role of community activities and cultural exchanges in the lives of Palestinians and members of the world community. Rafat has received his higher education in Germany. As manager, Rafat answers some interview questions:
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What does the future hold for the Excellence Center – any exciting and new programs to share?

In Summer 2015 the Excellence Center sponsored more than 40 internationals from all over the world, and the Center looks forward to continued growth in international volunteers, interns, visitors, and Arabic students. Recently, the Excellence Center has launched a new program called “Trip to Palestine” which will provide services to tourists who come to Palestine.

What sets the Excellence Center apart from other organizations?

The Excellence Center offers unique programs that provide international students, interns, volunteers, and visitors with direct participation and immersion into Palestinian culture and daily life. This immersion occurs by virtue of living with Palestinian host families and participating in family life, visiting local universities and meeting university students, visiting local businesses and industries, and the chance to learn Arabic where it is spoken. All of these opportunities create a unique learning environment.

Should program participants learn Arabic before they arrive at the Excellence Center? If so, why?

The answer to this depends on certain factors: the length of the person’s stay and the purpose for the journey. In the last four years, the Excellence Center has sponsored more than 150 internationals; many of them did not speak Arabic and relied solely on English. Many internationals began to learn Arabic due to their immersion in the environment. They related that it was much easier to learn Arabic in Palestine simply because they were immersed in the culture and language on a 24/7 basis.

Rafat, what is your favorite participant story in the Excellence Center’s programs?

Excellence Center had an Irish volunteer who was only 18 years old. Before she came to Palestine, she told us, her family was vehemently opposed to her going to volunteer in Palestine. Nevertheless, she made her decision to come to Palestine, and she developed a bit of anxiety before her arrival. After she had spent one month here, she did not want to return home. She said that she wished to stay in Palestine to learn Arabic and to help the Palestinian people. How happy we all were to hear her expression of deep feeling.

What would you tell someone who is thinking of becoming a future participant at the Excellence Center?

The Excellence Center has so many unique cultural, social, educational, and community opportunities available to international students, interns, volunteers, and visitors. If you want to meet Palestinian people, interact with them, and travel Palestine, then the Excellence Center is the place for you. The opportunities offered by the Excellence Center are unique and singular. They are opportunities for those wanting to make a difference in the lives of others, as well as your own!

About The Excellence Center

The Excellence Center/Engage in Palestine, established in June 2011, provides intensive Arabic Levantine/Palestinian programs, online Arabic lessons, and educational, cultural, social, and community development services to international students, interns, and volunteers, as well as to Palestinian children, refugees, women, and youth in Hebron, West...

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