1. Trading Places: Arabic
2010 Mid-Year Seminar
Trading Places: Arabic
George Mattar-Amakusa City Board of Education: Ushibuka

2. Introduction to Arabic:
Ranks sixth in the world’s most widely spoken languages (280 mil speakers spoken in 22 countries)
Language of the Qur’an (Islam)
Belongs to the Semitic group of languages including Hebrew and Amharic

3. History of Arabic:
The Arabic script evolved from the Nabataean Aramaic script. It has been used since the 4th century AD, but the earliest document, an inscription in Arabic, Syriac, and Greek and dates from 512 AD. Arabic is spoken in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Palestinian West Bank & Gaza, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

4. 3 Divisions within Arabic:
-Classical Arabic-language of the Qur’an-dialect of Mecca and modernly known as Saudi dialect
-Modern Standard Arabic-used in published and audio/video media, in education circles, and political discourse
-Local Dialects-vary between region and continent (Middle East and Africa). Egyptian and Lebanese dialects are the most widely spoken and used in Pop Culture and Media and taught in Universities abroad.

5. Is Arabic Difficult?
Arabic words are constructed from three-letter "roots" which convey a basic idea. i.e. k-t-b=ketab=book,etc.
European languages contain words which resemble English. Arabic has very few-mostly derived from French.
Arabic has many regional dialects-i.e Alexandrian and Cariean dialect-i.e. pronunciation of ‘rain’
Distinguishment of masculine & feminine objects-similar to French and Spanish
There are 28 consonants and three vowels – a, i, u – which can be short or long. Some of the sounds are unique to Arabic and difficult to pronounce exactly

6. Arabic Lesson Adapted from New Horizon 1 Textbook pg.10-1 1

7. New Horizon Lesson Greetings –Sabah el Noor Ostaz Mattar
-Warm-up Activity: Simon Says
Stand up ,Sit down ,Quiet Please, Repeat after me, Say that again, What?
Review of Vocabulary
Sabah-good
Noor-morning
I-Ana
George Mattar
Ana Ismi-(I’m/I am)
Sabah el Noor-Good morning
Repetition of vocabulary and target grammar
Interactive dialogue with classmates

8. Other Useful Classroom Arabic
Greetings:
Sabah El Noor-Good Morning
Sabah el Keih-Good Afternoon
Sabah el Leiil-Good Evening
Conditions:
Ana Quais-I am fine
Ana Tab’aan-I am tired
Ana andi Zudah-I have a headache
Ana mish batal- I am not bad
Self Introductions:
Ezayak(m)/Ezayik(f)-How are you?
Ana _________ -I am __________(condition)
Ana Ismi _______ (My name is _______)
Ma El Salam-Goodbye
Ah-Yes La’aah-No
Ana mish fahim-I don’t understand

9. Comprehension What did you understand? What did you not understand?
What methods were effective in helping you understand/feeling clueless?

10. Discussion Prompt
Using the total linguistic immersion model for a basis of teaching English and considering students perspectives when first exposed to a foreign language, what methods can we come up with to effectively create more interactive and production based approaches (think Exemplar knowledge) in learning environments for students?

11. Points of Improvement: Taken from Discussion Prompt
Make an association with new vocabulary
Use gestures to make meaning clearer
Students tend to catch on later with meaning of context as lesson progresses
Different learning styles/levels with immersion-be aware that all students learn at different levels with this method
High energy helps bring kids attention back to the lesson
Writing things down: some students are better visual learners
Classes are dependent on each other to help increase the standard of understand
Important to change interactive learning to more activity based learning