General online Arabic courses from first letters to conversation

A general Arabic course usually follows the CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference, which has six levels from A1 (beginner) to C2 (near-native). In Arabic the work is spread differently across these levels than in European languages, because the script and the sounds take a lot of time at the start.

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI), the language school of the US Department of State, expects 88 weeks of full-time training for Arabic to reach professional level. For Spanish, French and Italian it names 24 to 30 weeks. An Arabic course therefore needs more class hours per level than a course in a European language. Many providers also split levels into sub-levels such as A1.1 and A1.2, so one course covers only part of a level.

If you study five hours a week, you cover about 250 hours a year. Plan in stages, first A1 with a secure grasp of the script and then A2 with your first free conversations.

Four features of Arabic slow beginners down. A general course needs its own exercises for each of them.

1 A script without short vowels

The Arabic script shows consonants and long vowels only. Short vowels appear as small marks over or under the letters, called harakat. A general course starts with texts that carry these marks and drops them step by step as your vocabulary grows. Dictation and reading aloud show the teacher whether you fill in the missing vowels correctly.

2 Throat sounds and emphatic consonants

The ayn is a tight sound deep in the throat that English does not have. The four emphatic consonants darken the vowels around them. These sounds need individual correction, because learners rarely hear their own mistakes, and a large group leaves little time for that.

3 Roots and broken plurals

Most Arabic words are built on a root of three consonants. Many plurals are formed by changing the inside of the word, so kitab (book) becomes kutub (books). A course that groups vocabulary by root saves you time, because you learn related words together.

4 Two forms of the language side by side

Arabic has a shared written language, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), and many spoken dialects. A general course has to state which form it teaches. If it mixes both without a plan, beginners confuse words and endings.

A general language course trains grammar, vocabulary, listening, reading, writing and speaking along a fixed syllabus. A conversation course concentrates on free speaking and usually expects level A2. In Arabic this split often matches the choice between the two forms of the language.

General courses mostly teach Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the language of newspapers, books and the news. Almost nobody speaks it as a mother tongue, and in conversation it sounds as formal as a news bulletin. Conversation courses therefore often work in a dialect, the spoken everyday variety of a region such as Egypt, the Levant or the Gulf.

Many learners start with MSA and add a dialect from A2 or B1. If you mainly want to talk with people, you can also start with a dialect and catch up on the script later. Egyptian and Levantine Arabic reach the most listeners through films, series and music, and a Gulf dialect suits work in Saudi Arabia or the Gulf states.

A conversation course in a dialect needs a teacher from that region. Ask in advance which dialect the teacher speaks, because the dialects differ clearly from each other in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.

Online Arabic courses need two tools that European languages can do without. You need an Arabic keyboard layout on your computer and phone, and the teacher must be able to see your handwriting, for example through a photo or a digital whiteboard. A digital whiteboard is a shared drawing surface inside the video room.

A live group class once or twice a week plus short writing exercises on the other days gives you a rhythm that covers both script and speaking. Apps with speech recognition check throat sounds and emphatic consonants but often fail with dialects. For conversation in a dialect, a teacher from the region remains the most reliable source.

Online Arabic courses for children serve two groups. The first group is children without an Arabic-speaking family, the second is heritage speakers. A heritage speaker is someone who learned a language at home and never studied it in school.

Children from Arabic-speaking families in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada or Australia often speak their parents' dialect fluently but read very little. A heritage course therefore does not start with greetings. It trains reading and writing, introduces the MSA of books and builds on the vocabulary the child already knows from home. Adult heritage speakers find similar courses, often as one-to-one lessons.

Children without any Arabic start with the alphabet, just as adults do. Choose short sessions for younger children, because writing the joined letters demands a lot of concentration. A textbook for children prints the vowel marks throughout, like children's books in Arabic-speaking countries.