Intensive Arabic Programs In Palestine (1-13 Weeks)

Great Arabic lessons in Palestine for a fair price. The center provided pleasant housing, and a daily breakfast with the occasional field trip. I would greatly reccomend it for anyone looking for Arabic lessons in the region. The travel to Palestine was supringly relaxed. I made some great friend around the Center.

Traveling to Palestine wan't nearly as bad as I expected. The were no problems at the airport. The trip from Tel Aviv to Hebron was organised by the center, this was pleasant and fast, but a little pricy. Most importantly, Hebron felt like a very safe and pleasant city

My name is Raul Barrena and I am from the Basque Country. I have been in the Excellence Center for one week in order to study the Palestine arabic dialect and in this short period of time I have had such a good experience. The organization of the center is really good as well the teachers of the Center. I have found very nice people from many countries whose have improve my stay in the Center.
I would like to come back someday and I would also like to thank all the staff of the Center for their brilliant work.

My name is Glen Sellers. I am from the United States. I have been studying at the Excellence Center for 11 weeks. It has been a fantastic experience for me. I was concerned that my age (70) may be a problem with fitting in with the other students. Now that I am at the end of my program, I can say that I have fully enjoyed everyday and every activity that the center has done.
Almost every week the center has arranged a special presentation or a visit to an educational site. I have learned so much about the life of Palestinians and the struggles they have with Israel. I did not understand how the land was divided into A, B, and C areas and all the restrictions on travel and work that exist.
I also have learned how safe it is in Hebron. Never have I felt unsafe. The people are so friendly. Even the children greet you and try and talk with you in English. People like to make you feel welcome in Hebron and will help you in amazing ways.
I had the same teacher all 11 weeks. She was always professional and her English was easy to understand. She has a lot of patience and is very skillful as she teaches Arabic. Because of her excellent English skills, she is able to explain the differences between the two languages and how the grammar works. I have met all the teacher here, and they are all well qualified.
The apartment that I lived in was new. The final touches were finished while I lived there. It is a 10-minute walk to the center. The facilities were very nice. There is a kitchen with a fridge and a cooking top. It does have limited cooking pans. The washing machine worked very well. There is a drying rack on the balcony.
I travelled every weekend to Bethlehem, Jerusalem and some other cities. I have always felt safe and found helpful people whenever I needed directions or help with transportation. It is easy to get city to city.
The center has had weekly dinners for the students. It has been a great way to get to know the other students and experience Palestinian food.
The trips to refugee camps, Bedouin camps, and visiting Palestinians in a settlement all were very educational. These are things that seeing them in person has taught me much more than I could possibly learn by just learn by reading or watching a documentary on the topic.
I highly recommend this program. You won't regret your time spent studying Arabic at the Excellence Center. You will definitely love Palestine!

My name is Eli Gottfried. I am from the United States. For thirty years I worked as a soil scientist. Currently I work as a paraprofessional working with children with learning disabilities.
I was here at the Center of Excellence during the summer of 2023 for a period of 8 weeks (about 2 months). I was involved in the program Intensive Amiyah. I studied formally 4 hours per day, as well as an additional 4 hours of individual studies. Within this program, I participated in 6 tours of Hebron and surrounding communities. These included tours of a glass-blowing factory, the Old City of Hebron, the Ibrahimi Mosque, Bedouin settlements, a refugee camp, and a nature hike.
Prior to coming to Hebron and the Center of Excellence, I had studied Fus’ha for 6 years. My goal in coming here was to immerse myself in the language, people, and culture of Palestine, and to learn Amiyah. I feel that the Center provided excellent opportunities for me to achieve my goals. The teachers were skilled and dedicated. And provided very useful exercises for perfecting the language. In addition, they were available any time after class. The tours provided key insights into the culture, people, and problems faced by Palestinians and Palestine
My experiences at the Center were very positive. The teachers were enthusiastic, friendly, helpful, and dedicated. And there was ample opportunity to interact with other students and with staff.
As someone who walks every morning, I also had the opportunity to meet and interact with people in the community. I routinely met and talked to people coming and going from prayer, cab drivers at their taxi stands, and people just sitting outside their homes. Very often I was invited in for tea, coffee, some fruit. I felt very welcome in Hebron.
My memories of Hebron will always include the kind people I met and with whom I shared meals and good talk.

My name is Molly and I'm from Denmark, and I have been studying Arabic at the excellence centre for 4 weeks. I had three hours of Arabic classes each day with Saja who was a great teacher! We were just 2-4 students in class, and we had a lot of fun with each other and the other teachers and students. I already knew some Arabic before I came, so we did a lot of talking, both about ourselves, the political situation in Palestine and many other things. I definitely learned a lot, now I am able to have conversations in Arabic. Apart from the Arabic lessons, the centre organizes a lot of trips around Hebron. We visited a refugee camp, toured the old city and saw some of the settlements there, went on a hike to Palestine's largest cave and many other things.
In summer there are a lot of students at the centre, and everyone is very friendly. Every weekend, students go on trips to different parts of Palestine, so it's easy to find someone to go with. I went to the Dead Sea, Ramallah, Jericho, Jerusalem and the Sea of Gallilee.
I leaved with a very nice Palestinian family close to the old city with another girl from the center. It was really nice to have the opportunity to talk to them and practise Arabic as well as learn more about the life in Palestine. When you walk in the old city, people are eager to talk about their life here and offer you a cup of coffee, especially when they find out you know Arabic. You definitely get a feeling of the Israel/Palestine conflict, as Hebron is a highly contested area with settlers living in the middle of the city. This was really interesting and an aspect of the stay here I hadn't thought about before coming. It doesn't feel dangerous at all, as both sides of the conflict don't have a problem with Europeans and Americans, and everyone just wants you to leave with a good impression of their country. Traveling within the West Bank is really easy and a great experience, and everyone is really helpful. I would recommend it to everyone visiting Israel to see both sides of the conflict.
Overall I'm very happy with the experience. I have learned a lot, both Arabic, about a very important region of the world and about the Palestinian people.

I’m from the Netherlands. I did a Bachelor’s degree in law and in Middle Eastern Studies and a Master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies. I chose to follow the Human Rights Program at the Excellence Center because it combines my interests: Law and the Middle East, especially concerning the situation in Palestine. I wanted to learn more about the humanitarian situation in Palestine. Moreover, I wanted to experience living in Palestine to get an impression of the culture.
The program started with several lectures about human rights and the situation in Palestine. The presentations focused on the political situation in Palestine, the laws applicable to Palestine, and the violation of laws. Various teachers delivered the presentations. Given the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, these lectures and presentations prepared me for the trips to human rights organizations that would take place during my internship.
I attended a lot of activities that were organized by the Excellence Center. For the Human Rights Program, we went to organizations that work on the topic of human rights for example Human Rights Defenders an organization that organizes campaigns to stop the Israeli occupation. Moreover, we went to Palestinian Artist, Nizreen Al-Azza. She lives in the H2 area (the military-controlled area in Hebron). She told me about her husband, a human rights defender in Hebron before he died following the inhalation of tear gas in a checkpoint in Hebron. The work of human rights lawyers is under pressure due to the Israeli military making it difficult for them to carry out their work. Besides organizations that directly focus on human rights, I also visited organizations that are indirectly involved in human rights. An example is the Ministry of Education, a department of the Palestinian government that focuses on the right to education. We discussed the school system and the importance of focusing on schools next to settlements due to the difficult circumstances to go to school because of checkpoints, and the fear of children passing military soldiers. Moreover, it is hard to find teachers that want to teach in these areas given the challenges of teaching children that grew up in a conflict zone and have experienced traumatic events. Also, most of the teachers do not want to be in these areas. Therefore, the right to education in Palestine is under pressure.
The working visits were very helpful to get a better understanding of the situation in Palestine. However, the best way to get a better understanding is by living in the country, speaking with a lot of different people, and hearing their perspectives and experiences. The people in Hebron are very open and willing to talk to foreigners. They are very hospitable and I have been invited to several family dinners. Their hospitality is the thing that I liked most I like to take that home. I have never felt unsafe in Palestine. There are always people on the streets and everyone is willing to help.
It is important to understand a little bit of Arabic. The Center organizes 3 hours of Arabic per week you’re at the center. Those lessons helped me to interact with the people on the streets.
During the weekends you have time off to travel to other places. I have been to many places such as Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Jericho, and the Dead Sea. I really liked the opportunity to visit these places.
In short, I really enjoyed my time at the Excellence Center in Hebron. The staff and the teachers are very friendly. I am writing this in my last week and I am sad that I have to leave. It is an experience I will take with me forever.

Nowhere on Earth will you find people quite like the Palestinian people, they are extremely firendly, generous, and kind. They will happily welcome you into their country and their own homes. The Arabic courses here at the Excellence Center are an amazing way to quickly improve all facets of your language skills. My teacher Duha was amazing! Everyday I learned new and important skills, I felt supported the whole way. I cannot recommend this program enough to others. I always felt safe walking in the city.

I am a 20F and a master’s student in America studying Palestinian politics. I had not been in Arabic classes for over a year, and I wanted to improve my Arabic in an immersive way for a reasonable price. After searching on the internet, I found the Excellence Center.
I was worried about starting Arabic again since I hadn’t been in classes for over a year, but I was blessed to be in a class with one of the best teachers I have ever had. Haya met me exactly where I was and has helped me grow tremendously. Not only in vocabulary, reading, listening comprehension, and writing, but most importantly, I gained confidence in speaking Arabic that I didn’t have before her class. Haya is a fantastic teacher; I can attribute much of my success in Arabic and navigating Palestine to her. She pushed me in the best way, and everything we did in class was set up to help me succeed. Haya is incredibly attentive and meticulous in her lessons and tailored each class to what I needed and even my interests! It is easily visible how much she cares about her students. Even now, I know I can continue to build upon my Arabic because she set up an incredibly firm foundation for me to continue on my own. Everything I learned from Haya applied to my daily life in Palestine. I could visibly see my progress even though I had only spent four weeks in class with her.

The Center was welcoming, and it was great to be placed with a host family to have an
immersive experience. The other teachers at the Center were also incredibly supportive. They were always willing to practice speaking with me and answer my questions about the ongoing Nakba, occupation, and general things about Palestine and traveling around the country.

I traveled to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Nablus during my month here. I visited multiple refugee camps in numerous cities. Even if you have followed the news and studied Palestine, nothing can compare to seeing what is happening firsthand.
I cannot speak highly enough of Haya and the other teachers at the Center. They are genuinely some of the best Arabic instructors I’ve ever had. But, this is tied directly to Palestinian hospitality. This was my first time out of the United States, and I never once felt uncomfortable or unsafe. I knew that if I ever needed help, all I needed to do was turn to a random Palestinian on the street, and they would go above and beyond to help me. I am incredibly grateful for my experience here, both in and outside the classroom, and I cannot wait to return to Palestine.