L2L Curriculum

Course

Level

Hours

Description

Survival Arabic

Beginner

2-4

A brief introduction to Arabic pronunciation and greetings and practical phrases designed for short-term visitors to the country.

Letters & sounds

Beginner

30-40 

Students learn the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet, focusing on all four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and progress to multiple syllable words. This course is generally studied in tandem with Mara7bé fi Tunis.

Mara7be fi Tunis*

Beginner

30-40

The goal of MFT is to get new Arabic learners to communicate as quickly as possible.  Students study dialogues involving common communicative scenarios.   Vocabulary is presented in context and grammar is learned inductively.  Transliteration and translation are employed to facilitate immediate communication.  Grammar learning objectives focus on the basics of noun-based sentences (without verb conjugation). Typically, students study Arabic letters and sounds simultaneously with MFT.

Tunisian Door

Elementary

100

Tunisian Door is a modified, structured GPA level 1 vocabulary-builder course which introduces students to 800 common Tunisian words.  Often this course is studied in tandem with Salem 1 and 2.

Salem 1*

Elementary

40

Like Marha7be Fi Tunis, Salem 1 utilizes dialogues about common communicative scenarios.  The crutch of transliteration is removed, but repetition of content from MFT helps the student transition to reading Arabic script.  Grammar content introduces verbal sentence structure using regular, form 1 present tense verbs.  

Salem 2*

Elementary

40

Like Salem 1, Salem 2 utilizes dialogues about common communicative scenarios, although with increased complexity.   Grammatically, this book teaches more complex verb sentence structures (including relative and subordinate clauses), some ways to formulate present continuous ideas, as well as the active and passive participles.   

The Bridge 1

9ontra 1

Pre-Intermediate

80

The Bridge Books begin to transition away from dialogues and introduce longer passages of text.  These books are also in Arabic only, with no translation or transliteration. The texts are utilized for both listening comprehension and reading practice.   Passages generally explain aspects of society and culture or tell traditional folk stories.  Lessons include vocabulary, new grammatical structures, and discussion questions.  From a grammar standpoint, Bridge completes the student’s understanding of basic verb tenses and forms.  It introduces past simple, past continuous, and future tenses; irregular form 1 verb conjugation (weak middle, weak ending, and double geminates) and the other most common verb patterns (forms 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, and 4 letter roots).  The bridge course is often supplemented with GPA Level 2 & 3 activities.

The Bridge 2

9ontra 2

Pre-Intermediate

80

Salem 3 Books 1-5

Intermediate

125

Salem 3 includes 5 separate books, similar to the Bridge, but with longer passages and greater complexity.   This curriculum presents more complex grammatical features such as Tunisian discourse markers, special auxiliary verbs, and conditional sentences.  Salem 3 is often supplemented with GPA Level 3 & 4 activities.  

Salem 4 Prophet Stories & Cultural Stories

Advanced

80

The student studies the stories of several prominent prophets as they are presented in the Qur'an and Islamic religious tradition.  The focus is on developing religious vocabulary. This course extends student’s awareness of aspects of the culture using more complex vocabulary than before.

Nes Methura

(ناس مأثورة )

Advanced

40-50

This course introduces the student to impactful or well-known people in Tunisian history.  The main grammar focus is reinforcement of the past tense forms. It also includes a review of additional grammar structures found in 9ontra.

Tunisian Sitcom or TV Program

Advanced

60

In this course, the student watches a popular local television series with the teacher and they identify new vocabulary and expressions.  The focus is on comprehending native-to-native speech and learning to use idiomatic expressions.  Essentially these are GPA level 5 exercises.

Tunisian Novel

Advanced

40-80

Using a novel of the student’s choice (most likely written by either Faten Fazaa or Tahar Fazaa), the student and teacher will read in Derja.  This course can focus on reading fluency, gaining new vocabulary, listening comprehension, and/or reading comprehension depending on student interests and needs.