Arabic-L:PEDA:Intensive Arabic in Norway Jan-May 2001

[Dilworth B. Parkinson]

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1) Subject: Intensive Arabic in Norway Jan-May 2001

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1)
Date: 06 Nov 2000
From: Joseph Norment Bell <joseph.bell at msk.uib.no>
Subject: Intensive Arabic in Norway Jan-May 2001

FULL TIME BASIC ARABIC -  Jan. 15 - May 11, 2001; Exam late May to early
June 2001
Bergen, Norway

The University of Bergen is considering opening its full-time, intensive
basic Arabic course, taught in English, to students from non-Norwegian
universities and others with a college/university background who may need a
knowledge of Arabic in their work. Credit for full-time study for one
semester will be given (10 Norwegian credits, equal to about 15 American).

Tuition will be about USD 4000 for the semester, plus some nominal
registration fees. Students coming under exchange agreements from
universities that have such agreements with the university of Bergen will
not be charged tuition.

It is not yet certain that the course will be opened in January, but we
expect a decision reasonably soon. This message is being sent to give those
who might wish to attend the opportunity to begin planning.

The purpose of the course is to give a comprehensive overview of Arabic
grammar and as much written and oral fluency in the language as the time
limit of one semester allows. Beginning courses taught  at universities and
language schools in the Middle East tend to be less structured and teaching
is usually based on traditional Arabic grammar, which compounds the
difficulties of learning the language, since the student must at the same
time acquire the concepts and classificatory schemes of the medieval Arab
grammarians.

The Bergen course is specifically designed to help students who wish to
continue their study of  Arabic in an Arab country by giving them a
framework, based in part on familiar Western grammatical categories, to
which they will be able to relate the mass of new material with which they
will be faced when they begin studying in the Arab world. Ideally the
student should follow up the course immediately at a summer school in an
Arab country. It will also be possible to continue full-time study of Arabic
in Bergen in the fall of 2001 (Written Arabic, Spoken Modern Standard
Arabic, and the Cairene dialect).

The course consists of 12 contact hours per week over 14 weeks (total 168
contact hours) followed by a one-week reading period.

Full-time study in Norway is not defined in terms of contact hours at
present, and the number of contact hours is less, for example, than in a
normal American semester. Anyone interested in the course for whom this
might be a problem should contact us without delay, since the possibility of
increasing the number of hours exists.

The examination consists of an 8-hour written test towards the end of May
and a short oral examination (about 20 minutes) held early in June.

There are numerous holidays in Norway in May and early June, including the
Ascension, Pentecost (Sunday and the following Monday), and the colorful
Norwegian national holiday on the 17th of May. Between the end of teaching
and the examination, students should have an opportunity to experience some
of the most interesting facets of Norwegian cultural life and to see some of
the natural beauty of Western Norway. The well-known Bergen Music Festival
also takes place towards the end of May.

Anyone interested in participating in the course should contact Joseph N.
Bell by e-mail (joseph.bell at msk.uib.no) as soon as possible.

Joseph N. Bell
Professor of Arabic
University of Bergen
Section for Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Sydnesplass 12
N-5007 Bergen
Norway

tlf. +47 5558 2860
fax  +47 5558 9410
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End of Arabic-L: 06 Nov 2000