Bayan offers Arabic lessons for expatsFatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — A new Arabic language Institute will open in Jeddah Saturday to teach the language to non-Arabic speaking communities living in the Kingdom and to expand the Arabic language competence among people who lack specific skills either in writing or speaking. The institute is authorized by the Ministry of Education. “The curriculum is helpful for both genders and also for all age groups. We started by initially establishing an institute for men and will soon have one for women," said the owner of Bayan Institute for Teaching Arabic, Mutair Husain Almalki. Initially the institute will welcome 100 students, but the number of students is expected to reach 1,000 after it gets the approval for affiliation with the Department of Arts and Humanities at King Abdulaziz University (KAU). “The idea came after realizing the number of individuals eager to learn the Arabic language and are surprised that they cannot find an Arabic language teaching institute specialized in expanding the knowledge of non-Arabic speakers," said Almalki. Almalki found out that Arabic instruction books in the market are not relevant to modern times and do not adhere to current language learning strategies. “The books in the market do not address the lifestyle of the people. It does not help them send SMS and emails or interact and communicate with others," he added. Almalki, who is an Arabic language and linguistics professor at KAU, created a new curriculum with assistance from specialists. The Arabic language is taught in six stages to help learners get to know how to read, write and speak the language. The new curriculum was finalized in two years and is now gaining popularity. “Universities in Tu rkey, Malaysia, Australia, China, Thailand, the US and New Zealand are contacting us for permission to use this curriculum to teach their students. Some universities in the Kingdom and the UAE are also hoping to use the new curriculum." The institute has branches in Jordan, the UAE and Malaysia. All branches target non-Arabic speakers who wish to learn the language and also Arabs who for specific reasons or circumstances tend to lack Arabic language skills. The curriculum is also available online: albayan-arabic.org
