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Middle Eastern Studies

Middle Eastern Studies

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Middle Eastern Studies Program
Department of Modern and Classical Languages
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Houston, TX 77204

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Links and Resources

Arabic Resources

  • – Arabic Collections Online (ACO) is a publicly available digital library of public domain Arabic language content. ACO currently provides digital access to 10,042 volumes across 6,265 subjects drawn from rich Arabic collections of distinguished research libraries. Established with support from NYU Abu Dhabi, and currently supported by major grants from Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin, and Carnegie Corporation of New York, this mass digitization project aims to feature up to 23,000 volumes from the library collections of NYU and partner institutions. These institutions are contributing published books in all fields—literature, business, science, and more—from their Arabic language collections.
  • – a great archive of illustrated children’s books in Arabic for simple, fun reading.
  • – a great resource for students with basic Arabic grammar explanations for students new to the language. Authored by renowned Arabic grammarian Antione El Dahdah.

  • An excellent and highly recommended resource for all students of beginning Arabic. Features several videos of real Arabic speakers from various countries introducing themselves that include translation, transliteration, and transcription you can follow along with as you listen.

  • The Arabic word for “It’s possible”, this site shows you how simple and fun learning Arabic can be, and features a large collection of Arabic learning videos for all levels from beginner to advanced.

  • Features video bios of speakers of Arabic as a second language from around the world and an annual contest to submit your own!

  • This site is a continually updated dictionary of Arabic including Modern Standard, Egyptian Colloquial (Masri), and Syrian Colloquial (Shaami). Therefore a great companion to the Al-Kitaab textbook series!

  • Provides an introduction to Arabo-Islamic art and lets you create some of your own.

  • An interactive short online course that provides a simple review of everything you need to know about the Arabic alphabet.

  • A multimedia blog of resources and advice for Arabic learners.

  • An online magazine devoted to the latest trends and issues across all 22 countries of the Arabic speaking world, including sections on lifestyle, culture, economy, politics, and technology. Is continually updated and features a variety of photojournalistic articles written in accessible language. A great resource for reading practice in Arabic.

  • This website is devoted exclusively to “listicles” in Arabic, and they cover a seemingly limitless variety of topics. Another great resource for reading practice in Arabic.

  • A website dedicated specifically to listening practice in Levantine (Shaami) Arabic, featuring numerous videos of native speakers discussing various aspects of daily life in Syria/the Levant region. Each dialogue also includes a scripted translation available for download.

  • A new and growing collection of interactive modules that introduce the learner to Arabic language by focusing on specific aspects of popular culture. Includes modules on food, soccer, music, and other topics.

  • A high quality blog containing numerous Arabic lessons, covering both formal Arabic and dialects. Lessons cover current events and popular culture material from the Arab world.

  • An Arabic Interactive Storybook. Includes both formal and colloquial Arabic and several useful practice drills.

  • Online version of Hans-Wehr Arabic-English Dictionary searchable by root. Includes several other scholarly Arabic – English dictionaries as well.

  • A comprehensive website created by Al-Jazeera for adult learners of Arabic as a foreign language that uses current Arabic news items and forms interactive lessons around them. Focuses mostly on formal Arabic and is most appropriate for intermediate and advanced students.

  • A searchable Arabic corpus that lets a student search a wide body of fictional and non-fictional Arabic texts for real-world occurrences and usages of a target Arabic word. Registration is required but free of charge.

  • A large selection of Arabic songs by various famous Arab musicians along with the translation of their lyrics to English and some cultural explanations.

  • A website dedicated specifically to listening practice in Arabic, featuring a variety of authentic video clips.

  • A website that reviews the all-important 10 verb patterns in Arabic, including their pronunciation and a concise explanation of their respective meanings and the relationships they bear to one another.
  • – A non-profit dedicated to Arabic teaching and teacher professional development.
  • – An Archive of Arabic Language Teacher Chat on Twitter.
  • – A large archive of streaming Arabic movies.
  • - An expansive online dictionary of Arabic searchable by word and by root. For each word, numerous examples of actual uses in various modern Arabic texts are included, along with their translation into English. Ideal for students at any level.