Fareeha
I
came to study this summer (2003) in Cairo in part due to the
encouragement of certain professors in my department at the University
of Michigan. Instead of arriving at the usual destinations for graduate
students in Near East Studies (such as the CASA program at the American
University of Cairo) I decided to attend a summer intensive program at
the **** Center for Arabic Language. I found the summer program to be
beneficial, but I felt the need for added focus on listening
comprehension and conversation skills. I had heard many good reviews
from students who had been attending the program at AL Diwan, so I
decided to sign up for conversation lessons at this center.
SubhanAllah, from the very first day I noticed a marked difference from
the other center I had attended. The atmosphere at Al-Diwan is very
casual, and because of this the teachers, staff, and students all can
interact in a comfortable manner, while still being within the confines
of proper Islamic adab*. Such interaction is quite beneficial for the
nervous student who still hesitates to converse freely in Arabic. Also,
though Al-Diwan does have a set curriculum, they do not enforce this
curriculum on their students in a rigid manner, so that (for example)
if a student comes in needing work only on conversation, they are very
willing to accomodate. Lastly, the teachers I worked with at the Diwan
were brilliant and clearly knew the material well. There was no doubt
in my mind that these instructors had truly devoted their lives to
learning and teaching the Arabic language.
Fareeha
U.S.A (2003)
___________________________________
**** : AL Diwan Webmaster
apologizes to ommit the
name of another institution as it appeared in Ms. Fareeha's letter.
It's our code of online publishing not to mention any other institution
name in such contexts. Thank you for understanding.
* : adab = manners in Arabic
