 Most important suggestion from my studies: focus on the duality of the language, العامیة as well as الفصحى  The situations in which each should be used  How it affects the mission of US military and other government forces  What can be done about it  Conclusion: what can be taken from this

 Studied 2 years of Arabic at USAFA prior to living in the Middle East  Travelled and studied for 6 weeks in Summer ‘09 with USAFA language immersion program in Amman, Jordan  Returned to study Arabic independently of USAFA with CIEE September ‘09-May ‘10  Surprise: inability to communicate until I learned the colloquial dialect

LOCAL CONTEXTPROPER CONTEXT  Dealing with the average person in ME society  When trying to win “hearts and minds” of the populace  When speaking to someone of high educational or royal status

 -Picture courtesy of Google Images

 Most importantly, infuse some form of colloquial Arabic into the curriculum  The presence of colloquial Arabic is more important than the particular dialects  Some are more feasible to teach than others due to available teachers and immersion locations