Arabic Weekend Course in Berlin

Absolute beginners without any previous knowledge who want to learn Arabic from scratch – for work, travel or out of interest in the Arab world.

You start with the Arabic alphabet and learn to read the 28 letters in their different forms (isolated, initial, medial, final) and to write from right to left. You distinguish short and long vowels, sun and moon letters, and practise the Arabic guttural and emphatic sounds. Using simple nominal sentences – Arabic works without the verb “to be” – you introduce yourself and describe your surroundings. You will master your first everyday situations such as greeting, thanking and shopping in Arabic.

Learners with a solid foundation who have mastered the Arabic script and now want to systematically expand verbs, sentence structure and everyday vocabulary.

You discover the heart of Arabic grammar: the root system, in which usually three consonants carry the core meaning (k-t-b → to write, book, office). You conjugate verbs in the perfect and imperfect and thus talk about past, present and future. With the idafa construction you form genitive phrases, and alongside the dual you get to know the most common broken plurals. You handle everyday conversations about family, work, housing and travel with increasing confidence.

Intermediate learners who can already communicate in everyday situations and now aim for more complex grammar and more fluent speaking and reading.

You get to know the derived verb forms with which Arabic unlocks entire fields of meaning from a single root (to write → to correspond, to dictate, to enrol). You form relative clauses, negate with precision using لم, لن and ليس, and connect sentences into coherent narratives. You read shorter news items and simplified literature with growing independence – even without vowel marks. Along the way, you develop an awareness of the difference between Modern Standard Arabic and the regional dialects.

Upper-intermediate learners who want to hold more demanding conversations, understand media Arabic and increasingly use the language professionally.

You discuss social, cultural and professional topics spontaneously and justify your point of view in detail. The Arabic of news and newspapers becomes familiar: you understand the essentials of reports from broadcasters such as Al Jazeera and analyse press texts. You master passive constructions, conditional clauses with إذا, لو and إن, and the finer points of case endings. You write structured, stylistically appropriate emails, statements and essays.

Highly advanced learners who speak Arabic fluently and want to further refine their language for university, work and demanding texts.

You understand longer speeches, debates and specialist presentations at natural speaking speed and read demanding non-fiction and literary texts in the original. You recognise rhetorical devices and stylistic registers – from press language and formal speech to modern literature. In negotiations and specialist discussions you express yourself precisely, idiomatically and convincingly. Your repertoire of set phrases, proverbs and cultural references allows natural, nuanced expression.

Learners at the highest level who use Arabic practically effortlessly in university, work and everyday life and want to master the final subtleties.

You understand practically everything you hear or read – from fast debates and regional colouring to classically influenced literary texts. You summarise complex information from different sources and present arguments in a structured, incisive way. Your expression is spontaneous, highly fluent and differentiated; you handle fine shades of meaning, irony and cultural allusions with confidence. At this level you move through every situation – from everyday conversation to specialist conferences – as in your native language.