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Arabic-L: Fri 04 Jan 2002<br>
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<div>1) Subject: School in Kuwait reply</div>
<div>2) Subject: School in Kuwait reply</div>
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<div>2)</div>
<div>Date: 04 Jan 2002</div>
<div>From: Davidson MacLaren <davidson_maclaren@hotmail.com><br>
Subject: School in Kuwait reply</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>A lot of information about studying Arabic in Kuwait-<br>
<br>
The Kuwait University Language
Centre(http://www.kuniv.edu.kw/langcentre/), located at the Shuweikh
Campus of Kuwait University, used to offer intensive Modern Standard
Arabic classes. I imagine it still does. Classes met for
four hours daily, five days weekly. If I recall correctly, there
were four levels of instruction - elementary, lower intermediate,
upper intermediate, and advanced - and each level was designed to be
completed in a semester's study. These courses were part of the
Arabic as a Foreign Language Program and required for all Kuwait
University students who were non-native speakers of Arabic.
However, when I attended the Centre in 1996-1997 few of my classmates
were degree seeking students at the University; the majority were
European and Asian students who were recepients of an Arabic language
scholarship that provided for tuition, room, board, and living
expenses for one or two years; some were expatriates living in Kuwait
who had ample leisure time and savings to attend the lessons.
For information on the scholarship I recommend you contact the Kuwaiti
Embassy in Italy. During the 1996-1997 academic year an Italian
student enrolled at Kuwait University on just such a scholarship, but
left only weeks after his arrival, distressed, I think, by culture
shock. This would suggest, though, that the Embassy in Italy is
familiar with the scholarship and can assist you.<br>
<br>
If you already have plans to live or work in Kuwait and cannot commit
yourself to an intensive language learning program, Kuwait University
also used to offer a variety of evening-scheduled, non-intensive
Arabic courses for non-native speakers through the Office of
Continuing and Adult Education. In 1996-1997, the Office was
located at the University's Khaldiya Campus, but may have moved if the
University's grand construction plans have been completed.<br>
<br>
Perhaps I should mention one last thing: an admonition. Based on
my experience studying Arabic in Kuwait - and the experiences of
others I know whom studied there - Kuwait was a poor environment in
which to learn the language well. Kuwait University is an
English speaking environment: many but not all classes are taught in
English. Moreover, living at the University one discovered that
the dormitories were lived in not by Kuwaitis, but by University
students from a variety of African and Asian countries, almost all of
whom did not speak Arabic as their first or even second language,
making English the lingua franca of the dormitory. Those Arabs
that did live in the dormitories, mostly Omanis and Bahrainis, spoke
English so fluently that they preferred to converse intelligently with
foreigners in English rather than listen to someone struggling to
express themselves, simply, in Arabic. Outside of the
University, one also found that interaction with Kuwaitis and other
Arabs was limited. Most of the people one would meet in the
street, people working at stores and restaurants for example, are
Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, European, or Filipino, not Arab.
In Kuwait, one is not immersed in the same rich Arabic speaking
environment found in Yemen or Morocco.<br>
<br>
All the best,</div>
<div>Davidson MacLaren<br>
</div>
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<div>Date: 04 Jan 2002<br>
From: Mutarjm@aol.com<br>
Subject: School in Kuwait reply</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1">Greetings.<br>
<br>
Recommendations can vary according to the time and energy you can
invest in an in-country program and what are your interests and
intended uses of newly-acquired skills in Arabic and a regional
dialect.<br>
<br>
o Kuwait University has some sort of program, but that may
be along the order of social/courtesy/familiarization for expatriates
who are resident in the country.<br>
<br>
o A commercial/private school (might be based in UK)
reportedly offers customized instruction in Arabic at a location in
Kuwait, maybe in Safat, Al-Jahra, or near Kuwait City.<br>
<br>
<br>
May one suggest that, due to the congestion in Kuwait occasioned by
the incoming U.S. military presence and expanding build-up as those
units arrive there, you might better consider another suitable source
of Arabic instruction down in the "lower Gulf region, such as in
UAE, where several post-secondary and commercial institutions offer
various courses in Arabic for foreign students.<br>
<br>
Hope this helps.<br>
<br>
Regards from Los Angeles,</font><br>
</div>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1">Stephen H. Franke</font></div>
<div><br></div>
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