You must have completed a basic level Arabic grammar (nahw) and etymology (sarf) course – ideally you have finished Guided Arabic Reading Level 1 or Medina Course Books 1-3 or Haywood & Nahmad’s, A New Arabic Grammar, or studied the Ajrumiyya or another similar level course and have an understanding of basic verb structures and have an appreciation of the 10 forms of the verb. Mastery in not required, though; just the ability to recall, and apply the previous knowledge.

You probably acquired enough basic knowledge of Arabic grammatical concepts quite early in your learning but were held back from using them to access level appropriate texts because every course you have taken never really tell you what happens next or what you should do: you should have been adequately equipped but were not let out to swim, not even to get your feet wet.

However, in this course, you will dive straight into a text from the first lesson, using the appropriate skills to develop reading speed, unlock the array of structures within both the nominal and verbal sentence; but you will not be left to swim these occasional dangerous waters alone, with proportionate guidance from the instructor and other aids, you will learn to float and eventually swim through any turbulent waters, surprising yourself of how much you can manage on your own. Remember, it is your yearning that will improve your learning!

This course will set you up for life – with Arabic – something you have aspired for. The teacher is passionate and wants you to come with your enthusiasm and energy, which you will transfer into your work. You will leave each class feeling more empowered and ready to do lots of independent reading, in sha’ Allah.

The tutor will provide support, but the ultimate goal is independent reading to comprehend the meanings of the assigned materials. The instructor, when required, will:

·       front-load new or technical vocabulary

·       highlight unfamiliar language structures or features of a text

·       focus on a decoding strategy that will be useful when reading

·       promote the different levels of comprehension – literal, inferential, evaluative.

Testimonials:

“This course has benefited me in many ways and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to practically apply their knowledge of Arabic syntax and morphology to contemporary and classical texts, to gain a deeper understanding of the language. The texts were carefully selected and the engagement with the teacher truly guides the student, facilitating their comprehension of how the writer explains concepts pertaining to themes in Quranic exegesis, Islamic jurisprudence and general Arabic literature. In particular, I greatly benefited from the exposure to new vocabulary, recognition of repeated patterns in sentence structures, use of a dictionary to prepare translations, familiarisation of stylististic variations and encountering new phraseology. This course has increased my confidence to open, read and understand unvowelised Arabic texts and I would recommend it to anyone who wishes to do the same!” (Ashfaq Ghumra)

“The Level Two course has been a challenging but very rewarding course that I would recommend to anyone serious in advancing in their Arabic language studies. We have had the chance to decipher different styles of writing in Arabic literature and tafsir and progressed to entirely non-voweled texts. We were given plenty of support in recognising sentence structures, different forms of the verbs as well as irregular verbs without any diacritical marks to make sense of sometimes extremely long passages with next to no punctuation in them. Moreover,  the translations of the texts brought with them a depth in understanding and appreciation of the deen.” (Fatima Chafai)