Ouijdane Absi

This is just a summarized version of my Vergil course review: This course covers chapter 1-4 of Al Kitaab 2 and additionally has a heavy focus on Grammar and writing outside of the textbook. It builds off some more introductory Arabic grammar (Like different sentence structures and different forms of verbs like the active and passive participle). There is also a focus on reading, where we will go over readings at home and then together in class, and this helped develop reading skills. Additionally, there was also grammar introduced and practiced every unit. Ouijdane is a very approachable teacher and is very receptive to individual students needs. She also gives clear explanation of grammar rules while encouraging you to do your own thinking. She holds students to a standard of completing their work on time and well, but you can always communicate with her for issues. She is also very energetic and playful! She speaks English for a lot of the course, and the course itself is heavy on grammar and lighter on speaking. How you feel about that is personal preference.

Ouijdane is terribly unorganized !! This class was unfortunately one of the painful classes I took at Columbia. We usually have a HW that would take 3 hours to finish in the middle of the week and sometimes no HW over the weekend, which can absolutely screw the students who have work for other classes. SHE IS A TERRIBLE PROFESSOR , DO NOT TAKE HER SECTION.

Ouijdane absolutely deserves the gold nugget. Arabic is a difficult language but she took the time to make sure we really understood what was going on, and because of that my class succeeded in grasping difficult grammatical concepts. She is friendly, approachable, and down to earth, and I would highly highly recommend everyone who is thinking about Arabic to take her class. It won't be easy, but with Ouijdane you will look forward to coming into class every day.

I solidified grammar from Second Year I, learned vocab and grammar from the first 4 lessons of Al-Kitaab Book 2, practiced writing and learned how to write essays using an Arabic keyboard.

My above assessments need not be qualified, but I overheard some "criticisms" that were neither constructive nor fair that I wish to dispel here. I am not in the habit of minimizing anybody's experience at all, but as a student who is simultaneously a learner of a foreign language and a tutor of his own native language, I feel uniquely positioned to evaluate many of these claims. 1) The choice to study Al-Kitaab is made at a departmental level and is taught in every class. The textbook's shortcomings have nothing to do with the professor. 2) When radio silence pervades much of our class time, it is not unjustified for a professor to permit high-achieving students to contribute more to the class than others. The only way to have a more balanced classroom discussion is for students to do their homework and come to class prepared. Expecting a professor to spoon-feed her class almost every answer to every question does not assist the collective learning goals of the entire group. 3) There will always be a group of unappeasable students no matter what the professor does or how the course is designed. Given that our end goal is "intermediate fluency", any pedagogue will use an appropriate English-Arabic ratio throughout the course of her teaching. After two years of observing changes in that ratio, I can assure students at the beginning of their Arabic-learning journey that Professo…

Taking this course was one of the best things that ever happened to me at Columbia no joke 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2021 Course: MDESUN1210_002_2021_3-FIRSTYEARARABICI : MDESUN1210_002_2021_3 - FIRST YEAR ARABIC I Instructor: Rym Bettaieb

(Arabic II) I have taken many Arabic courses in my time and have found it hard to get a teacher with enough knowledge of both Arabic and English to help with learning the grammatical rules of this language (an important factor since second year Arabic requires the teacher to be able to explain nuanced points--most likely over and over). Ouijdane (Wijdan) was absolutely perfect for this as she was able to explain these finer points with relative ease and she was even able to provide simple ways to help remember such rules. Always willing to help after class and go over points even after you have forgotten them. She is, however, impatient with unresponsive students in class--so raise your hand and answer questions. Other than that I found her to be pleasant (some found her tough, but usually directly associated with them not participating in class).

The first issue is that the assignemnts are not given back on time. The professor takes weeks, and even months, to correct written assignments, preventing effective feedback. She is also not available when students ask to review their assignments and tests with her. Second, the Professor mostly caries out her class in English, rather than in Arabic -even when she is not speaking about grammar, which could be explainable for that case only. This is a major issue, as the course, which fosses on Litteral Arabic, is already not focusing on speaking. Third, the Professor skipper 6 classes this semester, for which she did not organize any make up class, and did not give more than a one hour notice when she was absent.

If you are serious about learning modern standard Arabic (fusha) and ready to put in lots of time. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this for the casual learner trying to strengthen a dialect or cross a language requirement off their core list. It is difficult and demands real attention and a minimum of 1-2 hours per day. Including weekends. The amount of vocab and grammar rules cannot be understated. If you aren't ready to put in lots of time to where it pulls focus from other classes you will have difficulty getting a good grade and and truly learning the language. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Spring 2024 Course: MDESUN1211_002_2024_1-FIRSTYEARARABICII : MDESUN1211_002_2024_1 - FIRST YEAR ARABIC II Instructor: Reem Faraj-Kanjawi

I really enjoy learning the intricacies of Arabic grammar, however it's not for the faint of heart and you will not learn to speak Arabic by taking this class, unfortunately.