Study Arabic in Palestine with The Excellence Center

I am Colter, a Canadian Master of Arts Student at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. My experience of the Excellence Center in Hebron, Palestine, has been incredibly rewarding. The decision to study Arabic in Palestine has been fulfilling, not only because of the high level of professionalism and enthusiasm with which the lessons are conducted, but also because of the chance to continually practice and develop my Arabic while casually speaking to people at the Center, in the city, or at my host family residence.
Not only has the Excellence Center’s program given me the opportunity to intensively study the Arabic language, but it has also afforded me numerous memorable encounters with Palestinian culture and society. The atmosphere at the Center has been welcoming, inclusive, and learning-friendly. Living in the Center of Hebron city with a Palestinian host family has furthermore allowed me to directly connect with regular Palestinian life and traditions. The warm hospitality, delicious food (falafel, shawarma and knaffeh), and weather have been wonderful. I have also been thankful for the opportunities organized by the Center to travel around Palestine; while here I have visited not only Hebron, but also Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho and Jerusalem. Along the way, I have made numerous friends, both local Palestinians and fellow students, volunteers and lecturers.
I have furthermore welcomed the many opportunities provided by the Center to further earnestly explore various aspects of historical and contemporary Palestinian life, in addition to the nature of the Israel-Palestine conflict. As such, I highly recommend the Excellence Center to anyone who wishes to study Arabic, volunteer, or grow in their understanding of Palestine. It is worth every moment.

Once in a lifetime, once in Palestine -
A land of olives, grapes and people

I am Celmah Cecily Yim from Hong Kong. It is my second time to come back to Palestine and I decided to spend two weeks doing intensive private Arabic lesson with Excellence Center in Hebron.

It is really my fortune to have studied Arabic with ustadha Shayma who is highly skillful and experienced in teaching this beautiful language to foreign students. Personally I have been studying spoken Arabic in Hong Kong for 3 years but I wanted to dedicate some time to practise and focus on the fluency. Alhamdulillah ustadha Shayma is very detailed and knows exactly how far I can reach and what objectives I aim for. All the materials provided have been extremely helpful and relevant. Simply a short two week has improved significantly my Arabic in terms of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Works like magic ! I am now feeling much more confident and comfortable in this language.

Excellence Center is like my home base in Hebron. Everyone including the staff and the volunteers are so welcoming and friendly. It is like a family. I am grateful for Rafat, Marwa, Khitam and Abu Mohannad for taking care of me in every aspect. In just two weeks, I am able to get to know the Palestinian culture, local industry and society in a deep level.

During my stay, I am living with a Palestinian host family. Before arrival, I was a bit hesitated about this idea but alhamdulullah, the family is very very good. I am becoming part of the family and now we feel how strange it will be when I am back to Hong Kong ... leaving them alone at home. I am extremely thankful for the Natsheh family, especially Shaza, Safwat, baby Zayna, Yosra, little uncle Yahia, Mustafa and Khitam. Everyday I have been spoiled with wonderful food, either local Palestinian crops or hand picked right from their yard ... lemon, almond, rosemary, potatoes... as if the concept of diet was left behind in Hong Kong.

One of the highlight in this journey is to be able to pray in Masjid Al Aqsa in Jerusalem. Alhamdulullah. As a Muslim revert, this is such a rewarding experience and I wish Allah SWT will accept all our duaas.

As for safety, being a single woman traveller, I feel completely safe, even safer than in Hong Kong and in the U.S. I am perfectly at ease walking alone or wandering around the town by myself. There is no problem at all. The Palestinians in Hebron are the nicest, the most passionate kind I have ever met in my life. There must be someone coming to help you whenever you look in doubt in the street. The owners in the falafel shop, spice shop, fruit shop, sweets shop etc surprisingly can remember everything you told them and admire your level of Arabic in the public. This little episode not only made me feel welcome but also motivated me to speak even better Arabic !

A city where "everyone is doing business with China", Hebron has everything I want and everything I have been looking for : food, people, local industry, a perfect environment to practise Arabic, an accessible balad to walk from here to there, a tradition of family always together, a safe neighborhood for children to run free, a time to slow down and a space to stimulate my intellectual thinking etc etc. The conversation with the local people about their life under Israeli occupation, for example, what they think about it, how they cope with it every day, what are their worries and how do they want to solve it etc is the most amazing moment in this adventure. It's worth every minute and more to listen to their story, their attachment to this land, their determination to protect the homeland.
I highly regard the Palestinians, in spite of the occupation, they remain proud, resistant and resilient.

Open a window to new country and you will be glad you did. On a personal note, immediately after I had embraced Islam in 2012, there was always a voice in my heart calling me to come to Palestine. Alhamdulillah for everything, Allah made it easy for me to follow the heart map. InshaAllah I will definitely come back to Palestine again, come back to Hebron which has become my important home base in The Middle East.
God bless and protect Palestine.
I am always with you !

الف الف !

I stayed for five days at the Excellence Center and I studied Arabic with my great teacher Maryam Joulany. After my stay in al-Khaleel I continued my travels to Ramallah, Nablus and Jericho. I never felt unsafe during my stay in Palestine even though I was a lone traveller. It was very easy to get around in spite of the fact that I hadn't done any planning, I didn't have a working mobile phone or any maps. I asked my way around and always got very good help from the people I met and that way I also got a valuable chance to speak and listen to a lot of Arabic.

I learned a lot of 3amiyya both at the center but also from all the Palestinians I met during my trip. Maryam was a wonderful teacher and had many creative ideas on how to teach the language. The classes were very varied and never felt boring. The staff at the center were extremely helpfull and generous and we were for example invited to Maryam's house where we ate wonderful Maqlooba and got the chance to communicate in Arabic in a larger group of people. Me and another student also went out for a lovely Palestinian breakfast with our teachers at a restaurant. We did excursions to many interesting places in al-Khaleel and its surroundings; like Betlehem, the monastery Mar Saba and the Jabal al-Fureidis and got the chance, thanks to Marwa, to visit the observer organisation TIPH. I did not only improve my Arabic, but I also learned a lot about the political situation, the occupation and the hardships that most Palestinians meet in their daily lives. The ambiance at the center was very warm and welcoming, thanks to the dedication among students, staff and teachers.

To live in a host family was also a great experience and gave me a chance to speak and listen to a lot of Arabic (and eat great food).

I am also very glad I went to different cities in Palestine because I felt that the culture and climate varied a lot between the places. My trip from Nablus to Jericho for example was very interesting because even though the two places were just about an hour apart by car they seemed to be totally different.

I will of course recommend the center to others. My stay at the Excellence Center was so enriching in many ways and I hope I get the chance to return to the center and Palestine soon!

Thank you for your generosity and for giving me memories for life!

My name is Coco, I'm 23 years old and I`m a midwife from Germany. This year I was staying for 4 weeks in Hebron and participated in the ¨Study Arabic¨ program at the Excellence Center. I want to tell you a little bit more about my stay.
It was the first time ever that I visited an Arabic country and for the first few days I felt like I stumbled pretty clumsy through this foreign culture. I didn`t speak the language and I didn`t really know much about the culture. Thankfully everyone was so patient with me and supported me in every way possible.
I was staying with a Palestine host family that took very good care of me. Everyone was always so friendly and welcoming although it was challenging to communicate because I spoke little Arabic and they didn`t speak that much English. But surprisingly it worked out every time. I also probably gained about 3 kg because they feed me all the time delicious food. And I could get really get used to the practice to have tea or coffee basically all the time. I enjoyed this lots!
I had four Arabic lessons everyday and my teacher Maryam was really good and so patient. I only knew the alphabet before I came here and she helped to improve my Arabic really fast. I`m still a little bit shy with speaking but actually there`s no reason for it as I know all the necessary grammar and words now. Nevertheless Maryam never gave up with getting me to speak. I always have a lot of questions and sometimes I get frustrated easily but she always had been so patient and tried to encourage me.
The environment of the Excellence Center is also a very friendly one. Everyone has always been so supportive and caring. Whenever there was a problem or I needed anything, everyone has tried his or her best to help me. I also enjoyed my time with the other Internationals here and a few good friendships have formed. They have been very important for me while I was here because the understand the struggles you sometimes face while being away from home. We usually would go out every other evening to a coffee shop and it was always lots of fun. I`m gonna miss all the people here – the one`s that work here and my fellow Internationals.
It also never gets boring because the Center organizes lots of activities you can participate in. Unfortunately I didn`t get to enjoy too many as I had been ill during my stay and also needed a lot of time just for being on my own. So I only got to participate in a trip to Jericho and the Dead Sea and it was amazing! I have seen the pictures of people floating in the Dead Sea but it`s a very special experience to really do it yourself. We had lots of fun on your trip although I was very tired when we returned in the evening.
I also got to celebrate my birthday here as I turned 23 during my stay and it was a really good experience. The people from the Center had organized a small party, there was a cake with a picture of me on it and they even got me presents! I was really amazed how everyone tried to help to have a good time and I did in fact. It was a beautiful day and I`m glad that I got to celebrate my birthday here.
What could be challenging from time to time was that I`m a vegetarian. Palestine food contains lots of meat in general but it`s still possible to get by. Especially the Falafel place across the street has a huge place in my heart. As does the bakery. Those cookies are just delicious. I also enjoyed the breakfast in the Center with lots of hummus. I could totally keep that up in Germany. So even you have to search a little bit from time to time it`s still possible to survive here as a vegetarian and there are really lots of delicious food you definitely have to try!
Another thing that was on my mind (and my Mum`s) was the security situation. In general I felt safe most of the time. There had been protests in December after Trump accepted Jerusalem as the capital of Israel but I didn`t really see much of those as they were pretty far away from my host family and the Center. I always felt as nothing could really happen as long as I didn`t go to the protests and just stayed inside. Be carefull, pay attention to the things around you, read the news and ask for advise from the people at the Center and you will be fine. For most of the time everything here is just as normal as elsewhere.
In general I enjoyed my stay in Palestine very much. Sometimes it`s not easy because of the different cultures – for both sides. But just be open and talk with the others if there are problems. It´s also a huge learning experience and I didn`t only learn a lot about Palestine culture but also aboutmyownandaboutmyself.EveryonehasalwaysbeenverysupportiveandkindandI`msadthat I have to leave soon. If you want to learn about another culture and learn Arabic I can only recommend you to stay at the Excellence Center.

My name is Mila, I’m a 28 year old teacher from Denmark. I have a bachelor degree in Intercultural Education and Arabic Language and decided to come to Hebron in order to practice my Arabic. I participated in the programme ‘Study Arabic in Palestine’ for 2 weeks. During my stay in Hebron I stayed with a host family and had Arabic classes 5 days a week at the Excellence Center. I really liked this combination, since it let me practice the Arabic language throughout the day. I was really satisfied with my teacher Ibrahim who is really skillfull in teaching as a foreign language. I especially liked that he was really creative in his use of different learning methods - I never felt bored!

I felt really pleased with the environment at the center. As soon as I arrived to the center I immediately felt at home since the staff and the other students and volunteers were really welcoming. The atmosphere is relaxed and you hardly feel the difference between who is a teacher, a student and a volunteer. There will always be someone in the kitchen ready for a chat over a cup of mint tea. I liked that during my stay we were only 5-6 international students/volunteers. In that way you get to know everyone well, and also that you also get to spend a lot of time with the local staff and not only internationals like yourself.

The Center arranged a lot of visits to different places such as the Old City, the grocery market, a glass and ceramics factory, and the Miskoubia Church. Since you have two days off each week, you will have the chance to visit many places outside Hebron as well. I visited Jericho and Jerusalem during my two-weeks stay, which I really enjoyed.

The thing I liked the most about staying in Hebron is the great hospitality I met from everyone. It is really easy to practice the language outside the center since everyone you meet is very open and you get a lot a chances to use it with locals, for instance when you go shopping. Hebron is a great city where you can find everything from historical sites to modern cafes and restaurants. At the same time it is close to other West Bank cities such as Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jericho.

I felt very safe during my stay during my stay. The center is located in a safe place in the city so even though some tumults where taking place during the period I was in Hebron, I hardly felt it. Actually, I feel safer staying in The West Bank than in any European Capital. When something happens in Europe you as a tourist can be a target, whereas in The West Bank, no one has interest in harming a tourist - on the contrary, it would be really bad for both parts of the conflict. The conflict that is going on here is a conflict between only Israeli soldiers and Palestinians, and as long as you keep away if you see a demonstration, you will be very safe. The staff at the center are all the time updated with the situation, so if you have the least doubt about whether it is safe to go somewhere or not, you can always ask them for advice.

Overall I had a really good experience at the Excellence center and hope to be able to come back in the future. I will strongly recommend it to anyone interested in learning or improving their Arabic language - you will definitely learn Arabic but also so much more!

I am Amanda, and I am from Denmark. I almost have a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and Arabic, and I came to the Excellence Center to improve my Arabic. Therefore I did the ‘Individual Arabic Course’, and I was very happy with my course. In my opinion it is impossible not to learn some Arabic just by staying in Palestine and living with a host family, and the language course can be a further help in improving your language skills. It has been a much valued experience for me, and I would not have it any other way. The Excellence Center is such a nice base to have in the city! The staff and the teachers are very nice and friendly and willingly to help you with literally everything, you need. It is a wonderful to have a base as this, where you eat breakfast and talk in the mornings, drink coffee in the breaks, share experiences with the other international volunteers and the staff, and you can go back to center, when you need a break from walking in the city. Personally I really liked the Excellence Center, because it is not just a language school. Besides all the meals and talks the center also arranged trips, because they want their students to experience the city. I went on a visit to a glass and ceramics factory and a kuffiyah factory also, which was very interesting. I also went on trips around in Palestine and experienced some of the beautiful places and cities here like Bethlehem, Jericho, Ramallah, Nablus, Jerusalem. There are always new things to see and experience in this country, and I am looking forward to coming back soon, hopefully. But living in Hebron with a host family was the best experience! I learned so much about Palestinian culture just by living with my host family and being a part of their everyday life. For me it was also very nice having someone, you come home to and share things about your day and experiences. I never felt unsafe in Hebron at all. In my opinion it is often a question about travelling wisely and respectful, but the kindness and hospitality of Palestinian people needs to be experienced for sure. My favorite thing about Palestine is the Palestinians, who are some of the warmest and friendliest people, I have met on my many travels. My lasting impression about Palestine is that it really needs to be experienced - this country is so much more than I had ever imagined.

My name is Erica and I’m a teacher student from Sweden. I took a two month arabic intensive course at the Excellence center. I am very happy with the course and my teacher. She really did a great job to variate my lessons and to make it fun and interesting. I am very satisfied because of how my arabic has improved.
I spent a lot of my time in the center. We had breakfast together everyday, and usually I stayed after class to make my homework. I liked the center because of its nice staff, teachers, volunteers and students.
The center also arranged trips to Jerusalem, Betlehem, local factories, the dead sea, a village and a refugee camp. And since I made some Palestinian friends, I also got the chance to go on trips with them to Nablus and Ramallah.
During my stay in Hebron I lived with a palestinian family. They were all very friendly, and I felt very welcomed. The city is very pleasant with nice coffee shops, cafés and restaurant. But what I didn’t know before I came here was how conservative the city is.
The palestinians I’ve met has been very friendly, and the only times I didn’t feel safe was while walking alone in the evening. The hardest thing for me to cope with during my stay was the traditions. It was never a big issue for me, but I got comments like ”Don’t smoke in the street” and ”Cover your body”. But it’s a good experience to see what life’s like for women in Hebron. It’s also good practice for you to put your own beliefs aside for a while due to respect for the culture and religion here.
The things I will miss the most about Hebron is the delicious food, the warm weather and the hospitality. The warm welcoming every time you enter a shop or restaurant is rare to find in Scandinavia.
If you want to improve your arabic, I really recommend you to take classes at the Excellence center.

My name is Miroslav, I'm 32 years old and I'm from the Czech Republic. I graduated in Architecture and Urbanism at the Czech Technical University in Prague. At the Excellence Centre I was studying Arabic for one month which meant 4 lessons per day 5 times a week.
As I'm working in Prague I have one month of holiday only so I decided to focus on Arabic rather then being volunteer at the Centre. My teacher was دعاء and I'm appreciating her approach and skills. She tried to do her best to help me with Arabic as well as with learning vocabulary. I have learned a lot however I would need at least another month to be able to communicate on a level that I would like to have.
As for the Centre itself, I was attending lessons in the new Centre which is quite big and comfortable. The staff, teachers, international volunteers and students were very nice and I really enjoyed time at the Centre. Sometimes we had common dinner and every day before the lesson there was a common breakfast. The Centre organised some trips within the city as well as out of the city. We went together to Jerusalem and a village called Susya, there was also possibility to visit a glass factory in Hebron. All trips were very nice and I'm happy I could visit a place such as Susya.
During my stay in Hebron I tried to travel a lot and so I visited Jenin, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Dahrija. All the cities are accessible by local service and except to Jenin it is possible to visit them in a one day trip. I didn't go to Nablus and Jericho because I already visited these cities last year. I would recommend everyone to travel within the West Bank because each city has different atmosphere.
Hebron itself is a city that has a Jewish settlement in the very centre which creates some difficulties for its citizens as well as for visitors. However I can't say I would feel unsafe in Hebron. Sometimes it happens that Israely soldiers are coming to the centre and in this situations it is better to stay at home.
If I focus on living, me and other guys either volunteers or students only, we were staying in a old house in the very centre of Hebron. I like architecture of the house however I would recommend some improvment, for example in the shower where water pressure was to small to unable us to wash ourself comfortably.
When I decided to come to Hebron to the Excellence Centre I had already known something about Palestine because I had travelled a lot in the region. However I have to say that to stay there for one month was a different experience in a positive way and I realy enjoyed people's hospitality, food and (...) water pipes. In Hebron you can realize what the occupation is, how it is influencing people's lives etc. I would recommend everyone who is interested in Palestinian culture and the region to came to Hebron.
I wish I could come back again.