ArabicOnline.eu

What it is

ArabicOnline.eu is a self-study course platform for Modern Standard Arabic, built for learners who want to work on their own schedule rather than join a class. The home page puts the promise simply: "Study Arabic at your own pace, any time, anywhere," with courses for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners. The contact details in the footer name Pendragon Education in Torquay, United Kingdom, and the site says the courses were "Developed with the support of the Lifelong Learning programme of the European Union." A German sister site runs at arabiya.de. The stated mission is "to prove that Arabic is an accessible language," and the home page sets out to dispel the myth that Arabic is difficult. Beyond individual learners, the same courses are offered to companies that want to teach Arabic to their staff, and the footer lists an Arabic course for schools.

The courses, level by level

The site describes itself as "a library of courses": a learner enters, picks the level and course they feel confident with, and works through it. A free placement test is offered for anyone unsure where to start, and the levels follow the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).

Level A1, Complete Beginner, opens with three short courses. Essential Arabic is a set of flash cards: listen to the word, look at it in Arabic script, say it, then turn the card for the translation. Easy Arabic covers introducing yourself and others, formal and informal greetings, asking someone's name and where they come from, and saying goodbye, through mini-dialogues and interactive exercises. A third unit explains the Root and Pattern System, which the site calls "a key element of the Arabic language."

Level A2, Beginner to Intermediate, is where most of the study time sits. The core program, Hayya bina (Let's Go), is described as "over 100 hours of study" across 15 interactive units with audio dialogues set in typical everyday situations. Learners can study with Arabic script or with Western script (transliteration), and the units include vocabulary practice, an introduction to reading the Arabic alphabet, role plays with voice recording, language and grammar notes, and cultural notes on what to do and what not to do. Three supporting courses sit beside it:

• Arabic Grammar Explorer, an interactive online grammar covering how to express the verbs to be and to have in the present, past and future, and how to say that you can, must, want to or would like to do something.
• Arabic Conversation Practice, 17 modules of interactive role plays, each with more than sixteen steps of content, built around situations such as ordering food, asking for the bill, shopping and inviting a guest to dinner, with voice recording to practice new phrases.
• Word Trainer Arabic, 26 modules covering 156 everyday words with clear audio from native speakers, exercises and a recording function for pronunciation. The site says it counteracts traditional rote learning by guiding each word through its sound, pronunciation, meaning and spelling.

Advanced Arabic covers levels B1 and B2 and is "Designed for learners who have studied Arabic for at least two years and can read and understand Arabic texts." The pitch to this group is deeper knowledge and a connection with the rich cultural heritage behind the language. Premium is the complete package, with "Full access to all our online Arabic courses" plus tests and certificates for levels A1 to B2.

Study tools and downloads

A good share of the value is in the support material. A subscription includes the eBook A Guide to Writing Arabic, a workbook that takes the learner through each letter of the alphabet, both in isolation and in words, for instant download and self-printing. Printable worksheets let learners trace key vocabulary from the course and then write it on the lines unaided. All of the course dialogues can be downloaded as mp3 files for offline listening, with spoken English translations after each Arabic sentence and relaxing background music that the site says was composed by "Avicenna" for the purpose. A glossary lists the key words and phrases of each unit in Arabic script and in transliteration, with English translations.

The site also puts weight on how learners organize themselves. Before starting, a learner downloads a Learning Guide that helps plan the time needed. Before each unit there is a Study Plan with a detailed breakdown of how long to spend in each session and which tasks to do in which order; the site recommends studying unit 1 exactly as described and repeating the process for every unit after it. A Learning Diary keeps track of progress. For an adult teaching themselves a new script, that scaffolding does much of the work a teacher's syllabus would.

Free lessons

Before paying, learners can try four free lessons from the first-steps page. Easy Arabic (level A1) and Try Arabic (level A1, taken from the company's Arabic course for schools) come in mobile versions. Numbers in Arabic (level A2+), on using and writing numbers, and a Beginners Arabic lesson from the Beginners to Intermediate course (level A2) run as desktop versions. The footer also links a Free Arabic Taster Course. These are sample lessons rather than a free plan: the full courses sit behind a subscription.

Prices and certificates

Prices are published in pounds sterling, with a note that they are converted to the visitor's local currency:

• Beginners to Intermediate Arabic costs £99 for a one-year subscription covering levels A1 to A2. The subscription does not renew automatically, which the site pitches as "The perfect option for those who prefer a commitment-free learning plan!"
• Premium costs £169 for 12 months, with access to all the Arabic courses from beginner to advanced levels and "tests and certificates for levels A1 to B2 of the CEFR."

Renewing after one year brings a 30% discount. Payments go through 2checkout.com, and subscribing takes two steps: complete the registration form, then enter payment details.

Certificates come with Premium only. The site frames them as recognition ("Get recognition for your learning with Tests and Certificates") and says its courses follow "a recognised International curriculum" and are built "to internationally recognised standards." The first-steps page also calls the courses a winner of the European Language Label Award.

For companies and schools

Business Arabic is the organization version: "Arabic courses for companies that wish to teach Arabic to staff," which "Includes integrated LMS, reporting and monitoring." A training team gets the same course library with a learning management system and progress reporting attached. The footer also lists Corporate Programmes and Arabic for schools, and one of the free lessons comes from that schools course. The home page says the courses are "Trusted by schools, universities, businesses, NGOs, and families worldwide," and quotes Lydia Collins, Arabic Language Coordinator at the University of Cambridge, on an interactive course "which combines the three important skills in language learning: Reading, listening, and writing." The site publishes no price for the business version.

Help for every customer runs through a help desk with support tickets, an FAQ and a contact page, and the site promises support for any technical issues.

Who it suits

ArabicOnline.eu suits self-directed adults who want Modern Standard Arabic, which the site notes is "spoken throughout the Arab world," and who like a plan to follow. Travelers get everyday dialogues and conversation role plays about restaurants, shopping and hospitality; professionals get a route up to B2 and certificates in Premium; learners nervous about the script can begin in transliteration and move to Arabic letters with the writing guide and worksheets. The one-year, non-renewing price makes the cost easy to judge up front, and the free lessons and placement test let a learner check the level and the style first.

The courses are self-study, built around interactive exercises, voice recording and downloads, so learners who want live conversation with a tutor will need to add that separately. The site mentions learning about Arabic dialects, but the program is built on Modern Standard Arabic rather than one spoken dialect, which matters for someone moving to a particular country. Companies and schools that want staff or pupils on the same material get a version with an LMS, reporting and monitoring.