The language of spoken Arabic is derived from the classical written language of Arabic, called fous7a, but is diverges widely in regards to grammar, pronunciation and spelling (check our Arabic language links page for more information).  For this reason it is difficult to progress steadily in both spoken and written Arabic at the same time.  Simply put, they are different languages.  The four major spoken dialects differ from classical Arabic as much as French or Italian differ from Latin.  Check our "About the Arabic Language Page" for more details.

Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), emerged around 1900 as a slightly updated version of classical Arabic, and is currently the language of books, media and politics thoughout the Arab world.  We teach MSA using the al-Kitab curriculum, the most widely used in Western Universities.

You can expect a basic level of MSA proficiency after 80 hours of study, meaning that you will get the gist of Arabic texts.  To become more confident in your understanding of authentic texts and ability to compose basic communication, a minimum of 180 hours of study is necessary.

If you are studying according to our Pragmatic Arabic curriculum it takes somewhat longer to become proficient in MSA because speaking ability is emphasized, especially at the beginning levels.

As any Arabic schollar, and even Arabs themselves will tell you, it takes years of study to become an adept user of the written Arabic language.