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Damascus University Arabic Language Center
Damascus University has a pretty good Arabic learning school for foreigners with month long classes that are fairly inexpensive. I want to say it was around US $200 to $300 but can’t recall the exact amount, for a month, 5 days a week. There are good things and bad things about the program to be sure but overall I’d say it was an important language experience in my own personal trek to learning Arabic.  General Things: Read the entire section here on learning Arabic, there are certain things that are specific to DU that you have to do. Arriving a week before classes start is usually a good thing to do to get ready, enroll, etc. Some people can do it in a shorter time, however. I think I had four days to do it all in and still got ready. Don’t depend on any information online or try and contact them online, though I did receive some emails from them, but you shouldn’t rely on it. The best thing to do is to show up at the college of Adab (literature) at the school of Arabic and start asking questions. You’ll be here often doing administrative things so have patience. You’ll also meet tons of people doing the same exact thing you are doing from all over the world.
Levels There are 8 month-long levels at Damascus University, from Beginning to Advanced. If you use Al-Kitab (the US based Arabic books popular these days) I was about halfway in Al-Kitab part II and I placed at level four at DU. I think I could have retaken a test (they offer, if you feel you were placed at the wrong level) and gotten level 5 but the class I was in was a good overall refresher and had a lot of new grammar taught in new ways so I really feel like it was the best level for me. You should actually plan on doing more than one month if you have time. That way you’ll get used to their teaching style and be more accustomed to learning in their new way of doing so. I heard at level one they moved pretty fast, learning the alphabet in a week, so if you have some background beforehand and are still a beginner be prepared.  Placement Tests The placement tests are required of all new students and are taken a few days before classes start. You need to take them if you want to go here. They also cost 500 Syrian Pounds to take so make sure you bring it when you take the test. The test is kind of fast paced and crazy. You have to take these listening tests in which you have only a few seconds to figure out what they are asking and where you are supposed to write the answers. There is also a general writing test and a speaking test. I heard some grumbling about the quality of the test but still placed at an OK level. You can move around if you got put in the wrong level though.
Classes The classes are M-F from 9:00am to 1pm with a lot of breaks. They really do a nice job of breaking up the monotony of the time you are there because they focus on different things during different segments of the day, sometimes with different teachers. The segments are blocked off in about 30 minute sections with 10 min breaks and a 15-20 minute lunch break. There is a nearby restaurant on campus with good falafel and a little coffee/snack shop right near the classes, which all meet on the same floor. They have reading, listening, speaking, grammar, vocab, some cultural lessons and presentations so you get a good overall mix of learning.  Some iffy stuff: Since DU is an International language learning center the lessons are not geared toward Americans learning Arabic, or even English speakers learning Arabic, and so the entire class is in Arabic. This is good because it makes you really pay attention but can be also bad because it’s operating in a more general level, especially with their books. Their books don’t have translations of the vocabulary, you have to find those out for yourself. That means sitting at an Internet Café with spotty connections typing things into Google translate or finding someone to help you with translation (or of course getting to know your Hans Wehr really really well). Many of the essays had tons and tons of new vocab and very little on the tests tested your vocabulary. Advice: I’d say that DU was a good experience for me, though my vocab didn’t improve that dramatically. I had a private tutor helping me read a book after classes and I’d recommend taking the courses at DU and getting one of many easily found private tutors as well every day to balance it all out. Remember that Arabic is a difficult language and learning it takes a long long time and a lot of patience so be prepared to be a bit disappointed with how much you’ve progressed after a month because it won’t seem like that much, but it probably will be. More info is at the university’s website, though again, it’s best to show up there before and start asking all the questions once you get there. Their Website: http://www.arabicindamascus.edu.sy/ ---------------- -Back to Learning Arabic in Syria Page--->
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