The bustling city of Cairo serves as an excellent environment in which to learn Modern Standard and Egyptian colloquial Arabic. For those students looking to quickly improve their Arabic, they can enroll in a rigorous 4-week or 8-week intensive summer session in the heart of the Arab world. Classes are held in AMIDEAST’s central facilities in Dokki on the west bank of the Nile and students are housed in shared apartments in Dokki. In addition to high-quality Arabic instruction, AMIDEAST works tirelessly to take advantage of the unique environment in which our programs are held by combining classroom instruction with experiential field visits and activities in the vibrant city of Cairo.  Students also participate in an overnight excursion outside Cairo.

Academic Information

The Summer Intensive Arabic Program offers Modern Standard Arabic in two 4-week sessions. Classes meet 5 hours per day, 5 days per week. Each session therefore includes 100 hours of instruction in Modern Standard Arabic (5 credits) and colloquial Arabic (1 credit) for 6 total credits. One summer session covers the material usually presented in one semester on a U.S. campus.

All students enroll in Modern Standard Arabic and in colloquial Arabic at a level appropriate to their proficiency. MSA meets for 4 hours a day and colloquial Arabic for 1 hour a day. Students are given placement tests on arrival and placed in the level appropriate for their Arabic language proficiency. The following levels are offered (see course descriptions for more detail):

Beginning Modern Standard Arabic I (Arabic 101; 5 credits)*
Beginning Modern Standard Arabic II (Arabic 102; 5 credits)
Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic I (Arabic 201; 5 credits)
Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic II (Arabic 202; 5 credits)
Advanced Modern Standard Arabic I (Arabic 301; 5 credits)
Advanced Modern Standard Arabic II (Arabic 302; 5 credits)

Egyptian Arabic I (Arabic 121, 1 credit)
Egyptian Arabic II (Arabic 221, 1 credit)
Egyptian Arabic III (Arabic 321, 1 credit)
 

For students whose proficiency is beyond the advanced level, a tutorial program will be arranged to address their specific interests (Media Arabic; Arabic literature; Classical Arabic texts, etc.)

*Note: Arabic 101 is only offered in summer sessions if there are a number of applicants who do not have any background in the Arabic language. We do not guarantee that this course will be available. Please indicate on your application if you are hoping to enroll in 101.