Arabic is one of the major world languages, spoken across more than twenty countries and by communities on every continent. It is the primary language of government, media, and education in much of the Middle East and North Africa, and it is central to a rich written tradition that spans more than a millennium.
Arabic is also the language of a vast religious and intellectual tradition in Islam, in which scholars, poets, jurists, philosophers, and scientists have written works that continue to be read and studied today. Modern authors, filmmakers, and musicians draw on this heritage while also reshaping the language for contemporary purposes.
Modern Standard Arabic
In our program, students focus primarily on Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). This is the shared form of the language used in media, books, formal speeches, and much online communication across the Arab world.
In learning MSA, students:
- master the Arabic script and sound system
- build a core vocabulary that appears across many types of texts and situations
- develop a step-by-step understanding of grammar, as a tool that supports reading, writing, listening, and speaking
- learn to follow and produce short texts, take part in classroom conversations and presentations, and gradually tackle more complex materials, from news articles to literary and cultural sources.
Spoken Varieties
Alongside Modern Standard Arabic, students are introduced to spoken varieties of Arabic, such as Levantine or Egyptian Arabic. These varieties are used in everyday conversation, popular culture, and many films and songs.
While the main focus of coursework is on MSA, students:
- hear and practice common expressions in at least one spoken variety
- become familiar with how pronunciation and vocabulary can vary from place to place
- encounter dialects through audio and video materials and through interaction with our Language Associate, a visiting instructor from the Arab world.
This exposure helps students begin to navigate the diversity of Arabic as it is used in daily life.
How We Approach Arabic at Carleton
Studying Arabic at Carleton means working with a language that is at once classical and contemporary, local and global. Our approach emphasizes:
- steady progress in reading, listening, speaking, and writing
- an understanding of how Modern Standard Arabic connects to the broader Islamic, literary, and intellectual traditions
- awareness of regional variation and the roles played by different forms of Arabic in various settings
- close attention to real texts, media, and spoken interaction, from premodern writings to current news and cultural production.
We aim to give students both the practical tools they need to use Arabic and the historical and cultural perspective to understand how the language has developed and how it functions today.