Intensive Arabic Programs In Palestine (1-13 Weeks)

I knew Hebron before I came. I lived there for a few months before and was enjoying meeting people. Unfortunately, my Arabic, that I started learning really late in university couldn’t allow me to engage further more with the friends I made here. Therefore I decided to take classes in Excellence Centre. The result is fantastic!

Benefiting from one-to-one classes, I could learn a lot. My teacher is amazingly hardworking. She always adapts to any of my demands. I was trying to acquire knowledge that would be useful in my daily life as much as in a professional context and she was always planning classes according to my objectives. From literal Arabic to dialect, we went through texts, dialogues, and videos or any media that could improve my overall skills. Moreover, the centre was a place where I could receive help in any situation. I also enjoyed sharing lunch with all the teachers and volunteers.

Excellence Centre is more than a centre it’s a big family honouring the traditional hospitality of the city of Abraham.

Paul Elek

Learn success has a lot to do with what you make it, so as the son of an jordanian father, raised by a german mother in Germany, I will never be satisfied by my arabic skills, compared to those of my jordanian siblings. However, having had access to the language before, and not beeing a youngster anymore, it was all up to me, and my excellent teacher was ready to try any approach I would choose. The human factor in Palestine of course plays into their cards within the school or outside, so the staff is lovely, but, of course, there are conflicts. People from all over the world come together and not only the women participants wonder why they have to be back home with their families at early hours while the guys come and go as they please. And they would not only ask why the girls are not invited to the traditional meals in Ramadan, they would demand it. Not an easy job for the staff to explain the extraordinary conservative environment in Hebron, on which, probably, the schools mere existence depends. I would encourage them to try hard and make the decisions as transparent as they can and not just blame far away boss Rafa. So there are long faces, and there are frustrated ambitions, but it is all a necessary part of the process. My experience was all great and I definitely want to and will repeat it. The whole region is one of the most fascinating of the world. It is not only al Quds, I travelled all of Palestine and crossed over to Israel and Jordan for a surprise visit to my family at the end of Ramadan. All of this provides a lot of mixed feelings and crossing borders is definitely a very special experience! In Hebron I was sharing a rather downbeat flat with students from all over the world, and we became a part of the neighbourhood in no time, being invited to meals, singing, dancing, political meetings and much more. (They immediately stopped using our yard as a waste dump and I am pretty confident Rafa will shell out some real beds next time.) To sum it up, it definitely was an unforgettable experience and I would encourage anyone to try it.

What I expected when I came to Hebron was a week of Arabic lessons, a place to sleep, and a few excursions. What I got when I came to Hebron was a second family. Not only was my host family quick to adopt me - by my second day, they were calling me their new daughter - but the Excellence Center itself, staff, students and volunteers, felt like a big, chaotic, warm family. Everyone eats breakfast together in the morning, works or talks or drinks sweet tea and bitter coffee in the kitchen between duties, and cooks a communal dinner together on Thursdays. The students and volunteers come from all over the world - during my time here, I met people from Australia, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the USA, and Mexico - and all of them have interesting stories. Equally, all of the Palestinians I met were incredibly welcoming, and happy to be able to show visitors their country.

I have studied Arabic for three years, including a year living and studying in Amman, Jordan, so this wasn’t my first experience in the Middle East. From my previous experience, I can say that the teaching at the Excellence Center is of a high standard. With my teacher Afnan, I studied both Palestinian colloquial and Modern Standard Arabic. We looked at a wide range of material and topics, from rap songs to poems to newspaper articles, jokes and comic folktales to documentaries. I really appreciated her calm and patient approach, as well as her ability to be flexible and adapt to what I wanted.

Outside of lessons, I got to see much more of Palestine. In Hebron, we visited the Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque, as well as excursions to see local industry, such as glass-blowing, pottery, and leather workshops and the factory which makes the Palestinian keffiyeh. Outside of Hebron, I went with the center to visit Ramallah and Jericho: we visited sites including the Mar Saba monastery and the new Yasser Arafat museum in Ramallah.

Additionally, I really benefited from the time I spent with my host family - being able to immerse myself entirely in spoken Arabic in a home environment was challenging but has proven really rewarding. It wouldn’t have been possible without their amazing hospitality. Practising my Arabic with the staff and teachers at the center outside of lessons was a great opportunity as well. I also appreciated getting to know the other volunteers, and the experience of being among only a few native English speakers in a place where English is the lingua franca has been eye-opening.

Finally, I have one piece of advice for anyone planning to come to the Excellence Center, whether to study or to volunteer: you really do get out what you put in. It might seem exhausting (I know it has been for me!), but if you try your best to participate, help out, and talk to people whenever possible, you will find you learn as much outside your lessons as you do in them, not to mention the real friendships you will create. I wish I could have spent longer than a week in Hebron, and I’m definitely hoping to come back in the future - inshallah! (“If God wills,” a phrase anyone studying Arabic will learn to use often...)

My name is Laura, I am from Melbourne, Australia. I have a Bachelors Degree in International Studies. During my time in Hebron, I completed a one-month intensive Arabic course at The Excellence Centre. The intensive Arabic course helped me to improve my Arabic, by working one on one with my teacher. My teacher was highly skilled, professional, and provided a supportive and flexible approach to learning.

During my time at The Excellence Centre, I also participated in a number of excursions provided by the centre, including day trips to Bethlehem and Battir. The excursions were a great opportunity to explore Palestine, meet local people and learn more about Palestinian history. I was also able to visit a ceramic and glass factory and the old city.

The staff members at The Excellence Centre were welcoming, helpful and make a consistent effort to ensure I was happy and comfortable during my time there.

During my time in Palestine, I stayed with a local family, who were supportive and friendly during my stay. They were happy to introduce me to their friends and family, and I was even able to attend a Palestinian wedding.

The most enjoyable experience was a visit with my teacher to the Hebron Governate to meet with government officials. During this visit the officials discussed current government initiatives and programs such as women’s programs, youth programs and financial aid programs.

The most challenging aspect to my stay was the weather, visiting between November and February saw very cold weather, and it is important to be prepared for buildings with low insulation. A good quality sleeping bag or a hot water bottle is recommended for visiting in the colder months.

This is my first longer visit to Palestine. I am a 52 year old teacher from Passau, Germany and studied catholic theology from 1985 until 1991 and in these years I learned some basic Arabic for reading the Quran and to compare with Our Christian Bible. As a master of theology I teached the Old Hebrew language of the bible for some years at the University of Passau and at the Catholic University of Linz, Austria. Because of the many contacts with refugees during and after the refugee crisis I have many friends now from Syria and Iraq which speak Arabic and now learn German. For improving my contacts I now learn Arabic and did so for 2 weeks at the Excellence Center here in Al Chalil Hebron.

I learned at the Excellence Center in Hebron Arabic and travelled with the staff to many locations in Palestine to meet Palestinian people and discover the interesting country. Starting with Jerusalem on my way from the airport to Hebron by Bus and Taxi everyone was nice and gave me a friendly welcome. I remember Betlehem at most, because I am a Christian and teacher of Christian children in Austria. But also the national ecological garden in Battir was a very good experience when walking around and see the nice locations around the roman bath there and on the hills. Even the town of Hebron with the Ibrahimi mosque and the Suq was a very interesting visit. In Betlehem even the wall and the political background was of interest as was the refugee camp nearby called xxx. We will visit on my last day Jericho and Ramallah and I am looking forward to this warm and healthy places now in winter with 22 degree!

My Arabic lessons were an extraordinary experience, because my teacher Sazmaa forced me to immerse into the Arabic language as I hoped to when booking this course. I asked her to study Fuscha, the traditional high level language of the books, and she engaged totally during every lesson within my 10 days of study to lift my level from reading holy texts to also be able to speak and to talk about the experiences. I never had such an inspiring course even in University and she used modern teaching methods which made learning an adventure and activated all senses to learn Arabic. I am really grateful about this. I will try to write some Arabic at the end to show the effords I made with my teacher.
The hospitality of the people at the ME is really great and the mixture of students of Arabic and International volonteers helping Palestinian students to learn English by the help of native speakers was inspiring me even to learn some better English like I did before. Everyone is highly engaged in developing the education of the local people and the students and volonteers .
During my stay at the Excellence Center here in Al Chalil Hebron I lived with two other male students in an apartment with kitchen and 2 rooms where I as the oldest one could use one for me alone. The rooms are basic but comfortable and the cooperation in kitchen and when learning makes fun.
Safety had been guaranteed all the time at any area in Hebron. Even when walking around alone it was fun to be in contact very fast and feel a warm welcome everywhere. There was no security problem when I was visiting the mosque or Shahada street alone or when I went to the local barber. Everyone wanted to talk about Germany and the differences of my Christian faith and the Islam and the welcome of refugees in Germany which the Palestinian people appreciate and honor very much. I felt that it is a question of hospitality for any inhabitant in Hebron that I as the guest felt comfortable and of course secure at any time. Also when visiting alone Shahada street, the mosque or the suq I felt secure.. The hospitality when offering us local meals like maqluba or local Palestinian breakfast impressed me most, but also the historical places and the holy churches and mosques were amazing. Nature is nice even in winter.
When I arrived at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem early in the morning at 4 a.m. a nice guy started me speaking Arabic in front of bus 231 from al Quds to Betlehem, and the Arabic adventure begun in the first minutes. The first words I repeated and learned with him were the starting point of the studies here and this continued every day. The people here are kind and polite and I felt welcome all the time.
The tolerance between all the staff, the teachers, the volonteers and the students of the Arabic language was overwhelming (even jewish students could learn Arabic here during my stay).
I highly recommend the ME for studiing Arabic or volunteering and think about further chances to come to Hebron to continue my learning Arabic here. For older persons like me it might be of interest, that local hotels with a high standard of service might attract people which need a higher comfort.
انا درست اللغة العربية في المركز اكسلنس فالخليل من 27.12.2016-7.1.2017. انا احب هذا المدينة وكل الناس به. اليوم نحن درسنا كل العدد من 20 الى 20000. هذا كثير لي.
انا اريد ان ادروس لاستطيع لاقرا هذا اللغه الجميلة قي الكتب العربية

My name is Elissa and I am from the US. I am a university student, and I study International Relations and Arabic. I was at the Excellence Center for one month taking Arabic language classes.

The Arabic lessons at the Excellence Center are incredible. I have taken Arabic as part of my degree at university for two and a half years and I have also studied abroad in Oman, but I have never learned so much so quickly as I have at the Excellence Center. All of the Arabic classes I have taken in the past have been Modern Standard Arabic, but I decided that during my time in Hebron I wanted an introduction to the Palestinian dialect as well. I was able to arrange this with my teacher and create a customised programme which allowed me to study exactly what I wanted. My first week, I didn't understand anything when my teacher or host family would speak to me in dialect. Now, almost three weeks later, I am able to understand much more than I was at the beginning. I am very pleased with the amount of progress I have made at the Excellence Center.

The environment at the Center has really added to my experience here. I have never been in a learning environment that felt so much like a family. Every week, everyone at the Center stays late and cooks and eats dinner together, followed by coffee, shisha, and long conversations. I am very comfortable asking any member of staff any question I have or about anything I need. They are very knowledgeable about the city and about travelling around Palestine, and everyone goes out of their way to make sure you are comfortable.

While I was in Palestine, the Center also arranged trips to Bethlehem and Jericho. We visited the dead sea and had a barbecue together, and on the way saw monasteries, historic sites, and lots of camels! We will go on another trip to Ramallah before I leave, and I am looking forward to it very much as I know I will be in good company.

On my own and with friends I made at the Center, I also took trips to Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jerusalem and Nablus. Travelling in Palestine has been very easy, and all of the people are very willing to help, even if they speak limited English. I was able to spend Christmas Eve in Bethlehem and Christmas Day in Jerusalem, which was an incredible opportunity. I also spent New Years with a Palestinian family who invited me to stay in Nablus with them. Every city is different, and I have loved experiencing each of them.

One of the main reasons I chose the Excellence Center was because of the opportunity to live with a host family. My host family became like my own family while I was in Hebron, and I was treated like one of their own daughters. It made me feel very safe to know that I had a family looking out for me, and they taught me how to safely get to and from the Center. Although I was warned about safety issues before coming, I have never felt unsafe during my time in Palestine. I feel more safe in Palestine than I do in large cities in the US and Europe.

My favourite thing about Palestine has been the people. Palestine is beautiful, but it is the people here that make it so special. Everyone I have met has welcomed me with incredible generosity and hospitality. I feel like I have many people who care about me and my safety, and who are looking out for me. When you are in a new place, there is nothing better than being welcomed so warmly and being told that while you are here, you are home and this is your family.

My name is Justin, and I am from the United States. I come from a city of about 200,000 near Texas, and my university degree is in Teaching English as a Second Language.
I began studying Arabic at the Excellence Center to improve my grasp of the language that I had not yet learned despite having already lived in an Arabic speaking country for the last 2 years. As I arrived to the personal warmth and welcoming atmosphere of the language school, it helped me deal with the chilly weather of winter in Hebron. The lack of central heating on an early morning at most buildings including the school is overshadowed by the heat in the kitchen coming from the tea kettle or the portable heater. Most volunteers and students crowd around these two spots to happily begin the day. Once classes begin, and I am comfortable with my glass of delicious sage tea, my teacher turns on the electric wall heater to begin the lesson. Arabic classes are personable with small sizes. Lucky for me, winter is usually low season for tourists learning a foreign language away from home, and I was able to get a one-to-one class with a teacher who had a degree in English. Lessons were low-anxiety and included communicative activities that specified task-based activities. These activities included role-plays between shop owners and customers, asking directions, writing stories, and even help with the local Palestinian dialect of Arabic. These lessons have made it much easier to live in the city and speak to the people. Because the Palestinians of Hebron are so welcoming and curious, it is easy to practice what you learn in class with the locals.
It seems to take a special kind of caring person to come work or study in Palestine in spite of all the rumors one might hear about how it is here. I have seen this special kind of caring in the actions of the volunteers coming to work at the Excellence Center from all different ages and countries. Working with them has been a very international story of travels and adventure.
During my time at the Excellence Center, there were always excursions to places in the city of Hebron and throughout the West Bank. We went to see Ibrahim's Mosque, one of the most well-known sights in the Holy Land and lies in the Old City of Hebron. From there, we went to Shuhada Street (Martyr Street) which used to be a bustling market place before the year 2000. On a Friday morning, a group of us with some of the staff from the Excellence Center took a trip to Jericho and the dead Sea. On the way, we stopped by Mar Saba Monastery of the Greek Orthodox Church near the beautiful Kidron Valley. After taking some amazing photos, we were on our way to the the Dead Sea, but suddenly our vehicle passed a herd of camels and their caretaker. We could not help ourselves but to ask our coworker to pull the car over for a few pictures. We ended up hanging out with the camels for 15 minutes as we spoke to the caretaker. It was amazing, and we had not even reached the Dead Sea yet. Upon our farewell from the lovely hump-backed animals, we drove another 5 minutes to our destination by the beach. Suddenly there was a view of a vast waveless body of water that stretched from Palestine across to the Kingdom of Jordan. It was the Dead Sea and we were ready to test the rumor that you float in the water. Well, the rumor was true, and we also learned not to put our heads under the water because it is so salty that it can burn your eyes for a while. I also learned about how very salty water keeps clothes wet. My blue jeans stayed wet for 5 days after the trip before I finally washed them. The trip to the Dead Sea was capped off by some amazing barbecuing by our Palestinian coworkers. Palestinians sure know how to cook, and the kebabs were plentiful. It was one of the most interesting excursions I had ever taken, and you should definitely plan to do it when you come to volunteer or study at the Excellence Center.
Traveling around the city alone can lead to interesting places, but I would not recommend walking alone in the Old Town alone after the sun goes down. The narrow corridors of ancient streets make for darkness and spooky experiences, so make sure you are with a group.
No tale would be holistic without mentioning the people and more about the food. My overall impression of people here has been positive. People will go as far as to invite you for a tea in their home. As a man, this has been a good experience to know a bit more deeply about the Palestinian families. I would not, however, recommend doing this if you are a female volunteer being asked by a man to come to his home. This is not a norm here in Hebron, and every Palestinian man knows it. The restaurants are mostly quaint and give a homely feeling. Choices of cuisine include delicious friend chicken, excellent shawarma, falafel, and popular Palestinian rice dishes called maklouba and mansef.
If you decide to make the trip to Hebron and volunteer or learn with the Excellence Center, I believe you are making the right choice. The food, the people, and the culture make it all worth your time.

A week ago I arrived in Al Khalil. A Dutch girl living in Denmark, teaching young refugee children from Syria and there for trying to learn some Arabic. Arriving with no knowledge of the Arabic language and the Palestine culture.. now leaving with warm feelings towards the people in Hebron and being able to understand and participate in simple conversations.

Besides from interesting, useful, motivating and inspiring Arabic language lessons, the people from the Excellence center showed me a warm, loving, safe, historical culture and city. Unfortunately a week's visit was too short and I will have to come back some day to meet my friends again.

No where before have I only met a generous and warm staff, caring and loving for all volunteers, students and teachers. If you would ask me what I enjoyed most during my stay in Hebron, I would not be able to answer. Ibrahimi mosque, the old city, Masqubije, Bethlehem. Not even to mention my stay with the loving host family, who introduced me to their everyday lives, to their families and friends, to their children, to their city and to their culture.

I will miss my host family, I will miss the kind staff at the Excellence center, I will miss the joy of learning new Arabic words and sentences.. but most of all, I will miss the delicious foods like humus and the best falafel in the world.

Not only will I recommend any body to travel here and stay for a longer period of time, I will also look forward to visiting Al Khalil again myself.