This review is of the Arabic Language Institute at the American University in Cairo's Summer Program. This does not apply to the CASA program offered by the same university or the full year intensive arabic program.
I attended the ALI Summer Program in 2007. Here are my positive and negative comments about my experience.
Positives
- They do a great job of choosing a diverse group of students for the program. Many are from the top U.S. universities and their experience ranges from full-time professionals, to undergraduates to graduate students. There were also a few non-US students as well.
- They organize a full schedule of great trips. We had a number of one day excursions to areas around Cairo plus 3 weekend trips to Alexandria, Sinai (sharm and St. Catherines) and a Nile Cruise. All of the accomodations on their trips are top notch and they keep you very busy with meals, history and site seeing. These trips are a lot of fun.
- Of course one of the best reasons to be in this program is the chance to live and study in Cairo.
- They offer two tracks, one in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) only, and the other in both MSA and Egyptian Arabic (ESA).
Negatives
- Communication is really bad. Do not expect them to tell you what you need to know, you need to know what you need to know and ask them about it. The program's structure is not very clear, I recommend that new students first figure out what they want from the program, then make sure they give it to you. If you don't ask, nobody will offer it even if it exists. The whole issue with communication, especially around registration time, for nearly everyone I spoke with.
- The quality of instruction varies greatly depending on your instructor and because the size of the program is limited, there is only one teacher for each level.
- Many students in student housing complained of the "prison" like restrictions on guests and drinking etc.. This is due to local culture, but something to consider if those things are important to you.
All of the details on the program are on the ALI Website.
Comments
ALI is kinda cool if you
ALI is kinda cool if you have a lot of money to throw away. Classes are small (at least when I was there in 2003) and the teachers are hardcore and make sure you know your stuff. there are homework everyday in addition to quizes and games in class. they also take students on day trips to coffee shops, market, stores, restaurants to make sure we practice Arabic in a normal setting. So, that was good. I also think the placement tests are a waste of time because you are going to get shuffled around anyway once class starts because there is always someone who needs to be upgraded or downgraded as the classes progress. However, they organize too many trips, have to cancel classes and make-up for it, and all these "discover cairo" entertainment actually takes away from the seriousness of the program and the need to focus on mastering Arabic. A little less entertainment, and more focus on lessons will be more beneficial to everyone involved.