Third Year Arabic I · Middle Eastern, South Asian, And African Studies
I learned intermediate-advanced level arabic.
In terms of skills, I learned a lot of grammar and reading skills. The class also discussed a lot of sub topics about Arabic literature or topics relating to the Arab world such as Orientalism, of which I learned a lot from a perspective not usually found in a Western classroom.
The course allows you to keep working on Arabic with more nuanced grammar, new vocabulary, etc. It opens the possibility of dealing with more interesting topics.
I learned to think about the structures of both Arab and "western" society and compared views, mostly how some Arab thinkers view literature, poetry, language, community, representation and modernity. I learned to produce short articles and lengthy presentations on these topics. I combined advanced level grammar rules and expressions to develop my speech and writing.
Some grammar and some vocab, some cultural elements as well. Lack of speaking and writing. Nearly no feedback all semester, so hard to know what was correctly learnt.
Arabic is a lot of work in general, so it would be difficult to recommend to a friend, unless they were very invested in the subject as a whole. That being said, I think Prof. Faraj is an excellent prof. to take this class with. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2021 Course: MDESGU4210_001_2021_3-THIRDYEARARABICI : MDESGU4210_001_2021_3 - THIRD YEAR ARABIC I Instructor: Reem Faraj-Kanjawi
Advanced Arabic grammar such as ﻭﺣﻧ and ﺏﺍﺭﻋﺍ
Arabic poetry, history, and current issues
Listening to Arabic videos and writing about them
I would not recommend Arabic to anyone who isn't ready to dedicate serious time to the course. At five credits it takes up a lot of your time and energy. With that being said, if they were to take arabic I would want them to take it with Prof. Nouhi