Learning Arabic Abroad

My absolute favorite part of the program was learning Arabic. Our Arabic teachers were wonderful and taught us so much, not only about the language and culture of our environment, but about life as well. I went in as a beginner, not even knowing the alphabet, but by the time the semester ended I was able to speak with other Moroccans and navigate a Moroccan city entirely on my own with my language skills. There are a million opportunities to practice it with the people around you as many who you interact with will not speak English. This immersion is a unique experience.

While we had three hours of Arabic class every day, it did not feel like too much because we were constantly changing activities and being asked to go out into the city and practice what we were learning. For example, when we were learning the alphabet, we took pictures of signs and tried to read them together in class. When we were delving deeper into vocabulary, we went to the national library to write about what we observed.