Language Family: West Semitic branch of Semitic group of Afro-Asiatic language family

Location:Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Syria, United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Yemen, Egypt and North Africa (Algeria, Morocco), Sudan, Libya.

Arabic speaking countries:

 

Algeria Lebanon Saudi Arabia
Bahrain Libya Sudan
Egypt Morocco Syria
Iraq Oman Tunisia
Jordan Palestine United Arabic Emirates
Kuwait Qatar Yemen

 

Modern Standard Arabic Language Fonts

Virtual Arabic Keyboard
Use your mouse for typing on this online Arabic keyboard. Then copy and paste into Google Search Engine.

Yahoo! Search - Free Language Sites
Because sites come and go on the Internet, the best resource for language fonts may be this Yahoo! Search "find it yourself" link.

Google search: Arabic Keyboard
Links to many free and commercial online keyboard offerings.

Google - Translated Search
How does this work? 1. Search for Dubai tours from English to Arabic. 2. We translate your query into "جولات دبي" and find Arabic web page results. 3. Finally, we translate the Arabic web page results back into English for you.

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Megasites

WWW Virtual Library - Middle East Internet Resources
From Columbia University, this mega-resource site offers links to Middle East Bibliographies, Libraries, News Sources, Regional and by Country Resources, etc.

DMOZ Open Directory - Middle East
Huge gateway to Middle East and individual countries, includes links to Interactive Portals, Music and Art, Country/Regions, etc.

BUBL LINK - Middle East
Selected Internet resources covering all academic subject areas from BUBL LINK Catalogue, the largest Internet portal in U. K.

Yahoo Regional Countries Links - Middle East
Excellent Yahoo search engine links to everything from Arts and Humanities to Travel and more.

Middle East, North Africa Internet Resource Guide
A solid resource guide by Joseph W. Roberts, Department of Political Science, Middle East Center, University of Utah.

4Arabs Search Engine
"Your source for Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern sites. You can find Arabic newspapers, Arabic tv, Arabic radio, Arabic music, belly dance, Arabic universities, Arabic culture, Arabic software, Arab countries and other Arabic links."

Albawaba.com
Large Middle Eastern resource portal with categories such as religion and philosophy, culture and society, and science and technology.

Arab Net
Primarily a news and culture resources site with social category links like Arab Dating.

Middle East Information Network
Very rich and deep site with links to newspapers, magazines, individual country governments, education, industry, etc.

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Professional Organizations, Online Journals and Library Consortia

ARABIC-L@LISTSERV - Archive
ARABIC-L is a mailing list for Arabic Linguistics and Arabic Language Teaching, sponsored by Brigham Young University, the Arabic Linguistics Society and the American Association of Teachers of Arabic. The list encourages contributions, squibs, queries and responses in those areas. The link above connects to, "a Mirror of the ARABIC-L List, which provides a web-searchable archive of the material posted there." If you wish to subscribe to ARABIC-L, please link here.

American Association of Teachers of Arabic
"The American Association of Teachers of Arabic (AATA) aims to facilitate communication and cooperation between teachers of Arabic and to promote study, criticism, research and instruction in the field of Arabic language pedagogy, Arabic linguistics and Arabic literature."

Middle East Studies Association (MESA)
From About: "MESA is a private nonprofit, nonpolitical organization of scholars and other persons interested in the study of the Middle East, North Africa and the Islamic world. MESA is dedicated to promoting high standards of scholarship and instruction, to facilitating communication among scholars through annual meetings and publications, and to promoting cooperation among those who study the Middle East."

National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC)
NMELRC at Brigham Young University, " seeks to coordinate efforts aimed at increasing and improving opportunities for learning the languages of the Middle East. The center undertakes and supports projects in areas such as teacher training, materials development, testing and assessment, integration of pedagogy and technology, study abroad, and K-12 programs. It works across Middle East languages to foster cooperation and joint utilization of expertise and resources."

European Association for Middle Eastern Studies (EURAMES)
"Eurames is the organizer of the European network of Middle Eastern Studies, an academic exchange or information concerning research on the Middle East. Eurames runs the Eurames Info Service via e-mail, and will host thematic working groups and links to European and other centres and university departments working on the Middle East."

Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft Vorderer Orient für gegenwartsbezogene Forschung und Dokumentation (DAVO)
"DAVO is a scholarly, nonpolitical and nonprofit-making professional association open to all persons interested in the Middle East. The main aim of DAVO is to improve the exchange of information on Middle East studies between its members and various national and international institutions."

British Society for Middle Eastern Studies
The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (popularly known as BRISMES) was established in 1973 to encourage and promote the study of the Middle East in the United Kingdom. It brings together teachers, researchers, students, diplomats, journalists and others who deal professionally with the Middle East. Membership is open to all the above, regardless of nationality - indeed regardless of where in the world you are based.

Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies
"The Nordic Society is an independent association for researchers in the Nordic countries who work on the Middle East and Islamic world. It covers all subjects in the humanist and social sciences, from antiquity to the present day."

National Council of Organizations of Less Commonly Taught Language
"The CouncilNet website is the hub of CouncilNet, the World Wide Web based network for organizations representing the less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) in the United States."

Middle East Virtual Library
"The Middle East Virtual Library (MENALIB) is an information portal for Middle East and Islamic Studies. It provides access to online information and to digital records of printed and other offline media and thus supports the concept of a hybrid library for Middle East and Islamic Studies."

NYU Library: Libraries and catalogs with major Middle East collections
A hyperlink directory of libraries in U.S. and abroad with important holdings in Middle Eastern studies.

NYU Library: Associations and Institutes of Middle East interest
The above list Professional Organizations highlights many of the associations and institutes on this extensive list by the NYU Library. Nonetheless, you may wish to examine it for additional entries.

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Universities, Programs and Centers of Study

STARTALK
STARTALK is the newest of the component programs of the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI) announced by President Bush in January of 2006. The initiative seeks to expand and improve the teaching and learning of strategically important world languages that are not now widely taught in the US.

The Language Flagship -- Arabic
Link to overall Arabic Language Flagship program. Individual links below highlight individual university programs.

Arabic Flagship, University Maryland
Undergraduate and graduate programs designed for students who wish to achieve advanced professional proficiency.

Arabic Flagship, University of Texas at Austin
"The Arabic Flagship Program (AFP) at The University of Texas at Austin offers a five year training program in Arabic language and culture for undergraduates and incoming freshman. Our Scholars receive the resources and training to reach superior level Arabic, ILR 3/3+, while pursuing an undergraduate major of their choice."

Michigan State University Undergraduate Program
"The philosophy of the Arabic Language Instruction Flagship (ALIF) program at Michigan State University is to form a partnership between the university and a K-12 school district in order to develop a national model for foreign language instruction that flows smoothly across all grades and builds on previous learning. Michigan State University has partnered with the Dearborn Public School District in order to achieve this goal."

Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA)
"CASA offers advanced level training in Arabic language and culture to qualified American students at its two locations at the American University in Cairo, Egypt and at the University of Damascus, Syria. Applicants to the various CASA programs must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and should have completed a minimum of 3 years of formal instruction in Arabic prior to joining CASA."

U.S. Institutions Teaching Arabic
From Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at the University of Minnesota. Select Arabic and search LCTL list of US schools and institutions of higher education offering instruction in the Arabic language.

LinguaVista - Arabic
"The LinguaVista website enables language learners to find high-level language programs in the US and abroad."

Arabic Language Study Programs
An extensive list of Arabic summer programs as well as major programs abroad from the University of Michigan.

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Language Materials

Arabic Language - Wikipedia
Along with this general article, Wikipedia provides separate, main articles on Arabic Phonology, Arabic Alphabet, and Arabic Grammar.

Omniglot - Arabic Writing System
Basic introduction to Arabic alphabet with collections of links to audio files and language related websites.

Arabic for Beginners
"A year long beginners Arabic program starting Jan 1, 2010 presented in a word-of-the-day downloadable Calendar format. Feel free to join any time."

Arabic Online
A "free website that aims to provide as much as possible comprehensive information on the Arabic language and its grammar."

Arabic Without Walls
15 Chapters: An introductory distance-learning Arabic course funded by FIPSE (P116B030526) and developed by the UC Consortium for Language Learning & Teaching, The National Middle East Language Resource Center at Brigham Young University and Near Eastern Studies Department at UC Berkeley.

News in Simplified Arabic
A project of the National Capital Language Resource Center: "The News in Simplified Arabic is posted to the web twice monthly and delivers a survey of the previous two weeks' news in simplified standard Arabic. Listeners of Voice of America's "Special English" broadcasts will recognize the slightly slower rate of speech and textual redundancy which characterize these webcasts."

LangMedia Arabic Materials
Description: The Five College Arabic Course Guides include study guides for students, guides for conversation partners, and links to supplementary materials. The guides follow the Al-Kitaab Arabic Series from Georgetown University Press. Also guides and audio and video materials for colloquial Levantine.

A Hundred and One Rules!
From above LangMedia site, a short Arabic reference grammar created by Professor Mahammed Jiyad of Mount Holyoke College; available for download in Word Doc or PDF Format (recommended!)

Arabic Digital Media Archive - LARC SDSU
"Language Acquisition Resource Center's Digital Media Archive (DMA) at San Diego State University. We hope that our growing database of language materials can meet some of your language teaching and learning needs. The goal of DMA is to provide fast, easy access to resources for teaching and learning languages."

GLOSS/LingNet - Arabic
Product of Defense Language Institute: "All of the GLOSS lessons are categorized into one of three primary competencies: lexical (vocabulary), structure (grammar), and discourse (devices that bind texts, conversations, etc.). Additionally, all lessons address the socio-cultural competence through teacher notes and the like." Also from DLIFLC: Arabic Grammar Resources, and Arabic Weekly Training Events. For complete listing of DLIFLC language products, link here.

Wikipedia - Arabic Version
Arabic Wikipedia continues to grow at a steady pace. It now has over 80.000 articles.

Arabic Literature, Calligraphy and Numerals
Three extensively illustrated articles on Arabic literature, calligraphy and numerals from Aramco and Its World

MERLOT Learning Resources - Arabic
MERLOT is a leading edge, user-centered, searchable collection of peer reviewed and selected higher education, online learning materials, catalogued by registered members and a set of faculty development support services. Arabic language and culture resources for students and teachers - worth exploring.

Arabic Language Resources
Useful links from the Middle East Studies Center, Columbia University.

UCLA Language Materials Project: Teaching Materials for Less Commonly Taught Languages - Arabic
Outstanding site for both online and published resources - not just for teachers. Select "Arabic," "All Materials," and "All Levels" for full display.

Arabic Resources from Martindale's Language and Translation Center
An excellent resource site for online Arabic language courses, working aids, and more.

LanguagesOnTheWeb.com - Arabic
Large list of links to Arabic language and country/culture sites. Not all functional and not all free share.

I Love Languages.com - Arabic
A large collection of links to language and cultural websites.

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Arabic Dialects (also see individual country indices)

Varieties of Arabic - main Wikipedia article
Search for "Arabic dialects" in Wikipedia links to this article. Very detailed overview of topic with many internal and external links.

Arabic Dialect Tutorial
Tutorial provides basic background information for working with Arabic and its dialects.

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Online Dictionaries

YourDictionary.com - Arabic
Large dictionary portal offers general and specialized online dictionaries.

Sensagent
"Professional website translation into over 140 languages"

Arabic ~ English ~ Arabic ~ Multilingual Online Dictionary
Dictionary Sakhr. Tests well for basic vocabulary.

Arabic Wiktionary
Like the English Wiktionary, which aims to describe all words of all languages using definitions and descriptions in English, this Wiktionary uses Arabic. More than 10,000 entries.

Google - Translate Text or Webpage
Enter webpage URL or text, then select "from>to" languages.

Google - Translated Search
How does this work? 1. Search for Dubai tours from English to Arabic. 2. We translate your query into "????? ???" and find Arabic web page results. 3. Finally, we translate the Arabic web page results back into English for you.

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Arabic History, Culture, Islam

Arab - Wikipedia
Search for "Arabic History" leads to this main article. Link here for extensive list of additional Wikipedia articles related to Arabic topics.

Arabic Islamic History - Al-Bab
"Al-Bab aims to introduce non-Arabs to the Arabs and their culture. Western explorers of the 18th and 19th centuries portrayed the Arab world as a strange, exotic and sometimes terrifying place." Arabic-Islamic History offers a detailed overview of subject through a collection of hyperlinks to writings by specialists.

Middle East History - Complete list of Yahoo links
The title says it all - links to more than 120 sites dedicated to Middle Eastern History.

Islam - Wikipedia
Main WIkipedia article on the Islamic faith.

Islam - Resources
Mega-resource site from Middle East and Islamic Studies Department, Columbia University Libraries.

Islam, the Modern World, and the West
Extensive resource site by Professor Alan Godlas, University of Georgia.

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Arabic News Media

Kidon Media - Pan Arabic
Large media portal with links to Al-Jazeera, CNN Arabic, and other news outlets.

Kidon Media - Asia
Above portal with links to news media of individual Middle Eastern counties.

Kidon Media - Africa
Links to Arabic North African online newspapers, magazines, TV and Radio stations.

Alhurra
"Alhurra (Arabic for “The Free One”) is a commercial-free Arabic language satellite television network for the Middle East devoted primarily to news and information... Alhurra is operated by non-profit corporation “The Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc,” which receives this funding from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent and autonomous federal agency.

Deutsche Welle - Arabic
"Deutsche Welle is Germany’s international broadcaster: online, on-screen and over the air. It provides a European perspective to audiences around the world and promotes intercultural dialogue."

BBC World News - Middle East
This link to BBC World News is preset to Middle East. Link here to Arabic Language Edition of BBC.

Arabic Media
Links to online newspapers, radio and TV, movies, video clips, songs, etc.

Arabic Websites
Arabic Speaking Countries