Culture
Online Exercises
Media
Online Courses for Purchase
Resources
Other
Classroom Programs

Culture

Al-Bab.com | http://www.al-bab.com

Al-Bab.com provides many links to various Arabic language sites that might be interesting to students, including information on the Arab world and culture. This site tries to serve as a portal and much of the information provided is in English.
Good collection of links, well organized and plentiful; not all links work.

Art of Arabic Calligraphy | http://www.sakkal.com/ArtArabicCalligraphy.html

This site describes in clear language the history of many forms of Arabic calligraphy and the alphabet. It also provides good images.
Easy to navigate, lots of images and useful information.

CIA World Factbook | https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

Basic facts about the country, such as geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues.
Reliable information. Country descriptions are regularly updated.

Food from the Arab World | http://almashriq.hiof.no/general/600/640/641/khayat/title.html

Many recipes that can be used in classrooms to teach the cuisine of the Middle East. Recipes are primarily Levantine.
Easy to follow recipes.

Islamic Art and Architecture Organization | http://www.islamicart.com/

Detailed descriptions, pictures and histories of Arabic calligraphy and Islamic art, architecture, coins and rugs.
Useful teaching tool with lots of images and also useful for independent research.  Some links don't work.

Shawshara | http://www.shawshara.com/

An open website for Arabic lyrics containing biographies of contemporary popular and traditional artists.  Songs are listed by album and include the lyrics in Arabic, transliteration in English, and translated lyrics in English. Site includes lyrics only, not music.
Appealing to students and better updated than “Golden Arabic Lyrics.”

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Online Exercises

Aswaat Arabiyya|http://www.laits.utexas.edu/aswaat/

Aswast Arabiyya, originally developed at Emory University, has audio files available for download and accompanying activities. The files are listed according to the students’ level of proficiency in Arabic, with an option to slow down the audio file.
Useful layout, videos well organized according to proficiency level. Videos from the "Index" don't play and some from "Selections" don't have sound.

Flashcard Exchange | http://www.flashcardexchange.com/tag/arabic

You can study the flashcards on-line with the provided flashcard viewer. There are various study options, like changing the sort order (random, alphabetical by questions, etc.) or viewing only a range of cards, or viewing all flashcards in the card set at once in list format. Flashcards can be printed, imported into Microsoft programs, or synced to Palm Pilot or Windows CE devices.
Accessible for students and teachers with some technological saavy, contains most of the Al-Kitaab vocabulary.

LangMedia Practical Language Series | http://langmedia.fivecolleges.edu/

Covers practical aspects of daily life in various countries. The videos reflect authentic linguistic usage including local dialects, colloquial grammar and figures of speech. The series assumes minimal knowledge of the language. It is useful for persons preparing to study or work abroad and for cultural units in beginning language courses. Many of the exercises are tied to Al-Kitaab.
Videos are useful, plentiful, and accessible to students.

Madinah Arabic | http://www.madinaharabic.com/index.htm

Teaches simple grammar and vocabulary.  The grammar section can serve as a supplemental resource for beginning students.
Elementary, focuses on grammar and reading.

Word Champ | http://www.wordchamp.com/

A portal for foreign language learning and teaching.  Students can create vocabulary flashcards or use flashcards created by other users.  Web Reader allows students to view foreign language web pages with translations in the scroll-over. (Free registration required)
Requires registration, but worth it.

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Media

BBC Worldservice | http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/arabic/news/

News, sports, weather, etc. in Modern Standard Arabic.
Full news coverage in Modern Standard Arabic.

Deutsche Welle Worldservice | http://www.dw-world.de/

Germany’s international broadcasting service offers multimedia, globally accessible information in 31 languages.
Full news coverage in Modern Standard Arabic.

Kidon Media Link | http://www.kidon.com/media-link/index.shtml

A comprehensive collection of media by country and by language.
Well-updated links.

Nesnas | http://ac.nesnas.com/news/

Part of a larger website (www.nesnas.com/ is similar to Yahoo!), the news portion has links to major newspapers in the Arab world, as well as foreign newspapers and websites in Arabic.
Good set of primary source links.  Comprehensive.

Sahafa.com| http://www.sahafa.com/NewspapersandMagazines.aspx

Links to news websites and magazines throughout the Arab world.  Organized by country.
Useful primary source links, well-updated and links work.

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Online Courses for Purchase

Arab Academy | http://www.arabacademy.com/en/arabic-online

An online language course, Arab Academy has different courses for children, students, university students, and adult learners. Students can choose from MSA, Qur’anic, and Egyptian dialect. Student resources include one-on-one attention from an online ?instructor, an online student community, interactive lectures, and the possibility for credit transfer. This site also features a telephone-based Arabic course, specifically for improving spoken Arabic skills.
Expensive, but a good program for the dedicated language-learner.

eLanguage | http://www.elanguage.com/

A combination of interactive, multimedia features with extensive language-learning content. Vocabulary builder (similar to Rosetta Stone commercial software), talking dictionary, phrasebook of basic phrases and expressions, etc.
Average commercial onlinelanguage-learning software.

Middle East International Service | http://www.dalilusa.com/arabic_course/default.asp

Offers several online Arabic courses in both MSA and dialects, with examples of lessons and exercises at different levels.
Gives a good look at the product before purchase.

My Arabic Teacher, Mualimi | http://www.arabicteacher.com/index.htm

Mualimi is an Arabic Language tutoring software package for all levels and ages. The latest version, 5.1 involves comprehensive Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced levels (1,2,3) in 200 hours of study at your own pace.
Claims to function for personal use, home-schooling, and school curriculum support.

Rosetta Stone | http://www.rosettastone.com/home

Uses thousands of real-life images, written text and voices of native speakers to teach by discovering the connection between the images and the words or phrases, either in text or in audio.
Commercial langauge-learning software.

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Resources

Online Arabic Dictionaries:

http://arabicdictionaries.com/arabickeyboard.htm

Online Arabic keyboard for students using computers not formatted to type in Arabic. Tedious, and should only be used for single words—useful for typing words in Arabic to look up in online dictionaries.

http://www.library.cornell.edu/colldev/mideast/dictiona.htm

Links to multiple online dictionary and translation resources.

http://dictionary.sakhr.com/?

Online Arabic-English, English-Arabic dictionary.

http://online-old.ectaco.com/online/diction.php3?lang=3

Online Arabic-English, English-Arabic dictionary.‎

http://www.yourdictionary.com/languages/afroasia.html#arabic

A collection of links to online dictionaries.

Fun with Arabic: Learn Arabic | http://www.funwitharabic.com/

A more interactive introduction to the alphabet and some basic language.  Links to children’s textbooks for purchase from Amazon.com.
Directed towards young learners.

Pearlink | http://pearlinkonline.pearlinksoftware.com/arabiclinks/mosquespage.htm%20%E2%80%8E

The sections on Arab countries, newspapers, radio/TV, Islamic arts, Islamic sites, mosques and museums on this site provide good links for cultural and art resources.
Good resources, useful links.

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Other

Arab Academy’s Arabic Language Proficiency Test | http://www.arabacademy.com/en/alpt

Includes information related to the Arab Academy’s Arabic Language Proficiency Test, a language assessment test for the Arabic language. Information is provided on how the test is administered and the ACTFL proficiency scale guidelines. Test registration procedures are also available.
Useful resource for students looking for a language assessment.

Languages On The Web| http://www.lonweb.org/links/link-arabic.htm

An organized collection of links about the Arabic language and tools for learning Arabic (online courses, online grammars and dictionaries).
Has some links not available in other places.

National Middle East Language Resource Center | http://www.nmelrc.org/‎

The National Middle East Language Resource Center, through Brigham Young University, coordinates the efforts of teaching Arabic and other Middle Eastern languages in the United States. They have several projects including teacher training, materials development, testing and assessment, integration of pedagogy and technology, study abroad, and K-12 programs.
Excellent collection of working links. A good resource for students and teachers alike.

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Classroom Programs

Study Abroad Links | http://studyabroadlinks.com/search/

Guides to study abroad and educational travel by country.
Links are useful, but advertising can be distracting.  Last updated in 2006. Potential students will want to do further research on individual programs.

U.S. Arabic Distance Learning Network | http://www.arabicstudies.edu/

Through Montana State University, this network provides participating universities with telecast lectures from MSU and native-speaking TAs at each university. Second-year students have the opportunity to study abroad at Al-Akhwayn University in Morocco.
An excellent resource for students of participating universities, the program has the potential to expand to other schools.

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