Muscat: An Omani holder of the Sloan fellowship in Leadership and Strategy from the London Business School, along with his friend, also an Omani, has come up with an innovative idea to teach non–Arabic speakers the language.
The two have launched an easy-to-navigate and interactive website: (http://bestarabi.talentlms.com/) for non-Arabic speakers, who want to learn Arabic free of charge.
“In the first phase, we launched the online platform for beginners’ level. Any person can sign up for free using social media and access a free 90-minute interactive course to learn Arabic. It will help non-Arabic speakers develop basic Arabic speaking skills needed during day-to-day life,” Aadil Al Saadi told the Times of Oman.
**media[362713]**
Launched last Thursday, the website has so far got 53 registrations from Europe, the United States and Oman. In the beginners’ course, the learner will learn basic greetings in Arabic, how to address family members, food, jobs and furniture vocabulary.
The teaching materials combine flash, YouTube videos, pdf vocabulary lists and small quizzes. In addition, an optional live session with a course instructor is available for practising pronunciation, and summarising the course models.
**media[362712]**
“In the coming days, we will launch the front-end of the platform to give users full interactive access to the full courses catalogue. We will also launch intermediate and advanced level courses and will arrange tutors’ live streaming classes for learners,” Al Saadi said, adding that those who want to complete the course will also be given a certificate. Al Saadi has already formed a group of volunteers who will tutor for the live streaming classes.
“Whether you want to blend in the Arabic-speaking community, need Arabic to do your job better, or simply travel to an Arabic-speaking country, there is always a need to learn Arabic. It will also equip people for professional growth. This has led me to launch this kind of a website,” Al Saadi added. He also has plans to launch special Arabic courses on the same platform for bankers, doctors and diplomats very soon.
“Work is on. We will be launching special packages for the above said professionals,” Al Saadi said, adding that he will be tying up with some good Arabic teaching colleges as part of enriching the course materials and level of studies.