8/10/2019 How Much Time for Learnign Arabic

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How Much Can I Learn?

We are often asked by prospective students how much Arabic they can learn with us or how good their Arabic will be aft

two years.

Measuring ability in a language can be a bit subjective but the ILRand ACTFLscales are helpful and are shown below.

But before we go any further, a word of warning. There are Arabic language programs which claim that a student can bfluent in Arabic after 3 months study and even quoting students who have done this. The results of research from the

U.S. Governments Foreign Service Institute (FSI) as shown in the chart below show clearly that this is not a realistic

claim.

The data here are cited by Judith E. Liskin-Gasparro in ETS Oral

Proficiency Testing Manual, Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing

Service, 1982. The data were obtained from LinguaLinks

Language Learning Bookshelf.

The FSI has classified languages according to the difficulty factors

for native English speakers. Group 4, the most difficult are shown in

the chart above.

If you compare the graph above with the table below you will see

that the FSI considers it would take an average language learner

between 100 and 150 weeks at 30 hours per week to attain

superior status (3 to 3+) which is the lowest level most of us would

call fluent. This is a bit more than the 3 months quoted by some

programs! However, if by fluent you mean level 1, it may be

possible. Beware of programs who play with words to get your money, the only way to get a good standard of Arabic is

time and effort and a good program.

So where would you be on the scale below after studying with us? Well, assuming you have average aptitude for learnin

language and you study for the full two-year course and, of course, you will fulfil the course requirements by completing

homework assignments and mixing with local people on a regular basis, then you will attain the same level that our two

year students normally do. That is, you would be about a 2 on the scale below - Able to satisfy routine social demandsand limited work requirements. Our full-time two year program is around 75 weeks in total, if you compare the length of

our program with the graph above then you will see that even this is a bold claim but we see average students on our

course attaining this regularly.

Those with a gifting for language may be able to reach about a 3 Able to speak the language with sufficient structural

accuracy and vocabulary to participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations.

ILR

Scale

ACTFL Scale Definition

5 Native Able to speak like an educated native speaker

4+

4

Distinguished Able to speak with a great deal of fluency, grammatical accuracy, precision of

vocabulary and idiomaticity

3+

3

Superior Able to speak the language with sufficient structural accuracy and vocabulary to

participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations

2+ Advanced Plus Able to satisfy most work requirements and show some ability to communicate on

concrete topics

2 Advanced Able to satisfy routine social demands and limited work requirements

1+ Intermediate High Able to satisfy most survival needs and limited social demands

1 Intermediate Mid

Intermediate Low

Able to satisfy some survival needs and some limited social demands

Able to satisfy basic survival needs and minimum courtesy requirements

0+ Novice High Able to satisfy immediate needs with learned utterances

0 Novice-Mid

Novice Low

0

Able to operate in only a very limited capacityUnable to function in the spoken

language

No ability whatsoever in the language

w Much Can I Learn? gulf arabic programme http://gapschool.net/faq/how-much-can-i-learn/

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8/10/2019 How Much Time for Learnign Arabic

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w Much Can I Learn? gulf arabic programme http://gapschool.net/faq/how-much-can-i-learn/

2 8/24/2014 3:20 PM