Due to COVID-19, there are not a lot of language centers in Amman left where you can study Jordanian Arabic. Misbah Center is one of them. Located in Jabal Al Weibdeh, it has a clear pricing scheme and a variety of tutors, ready to teach you colloquial Arabic in the office or via Skype. There are topics for daily survival, as well as related to office life.
What attracted me:
Teachers are using Growing Participator Approach, developed by Greg Thomson. GPA has terms as “growing participator” instead of a language student, and a “nurturer” instead of a teacher. The whole program, so called Six-Phase Program (SPP) takes about 1,500 hours of special-growth activities, led by a dedicated native speaker. I’m currently a fan of Total physical response (TPR), and Teaching through Storytelling method (I have a crush on Stephen Krashen as well), and so far I haven’t seen a school where there similar methods were used, so I’m happy that it exists in Amman.
I’m currently a fan of Total physical response (TPR), and Teaching through Storytelling method (I have a crush on Stephen Krashen as well), and so far I haven’t seen a school where there similar methods were used, so I’m happy that it exists in Amman.
As it’s based on Six-Phase Program (SPP), their courses vary, they have a whole set of materials related to Jordanian Arabic, 5 courses in total. I find it comprehensive and somehow satisfying, as there are many basic books that teach you the alphabet and the basic vocabulary, yet there’s no further movement: a couple of dialogues and after that somehow there’s not enough demand for intermediate Jordanian Arabic and it becomes too chaotic.
What I didn’t like much:
There are no shorter lessons, and I think it’s hard for a complete beginner to have 2-hour lesson with a tutor, it’s exhausting. I understand that most of the schools are trying to earn money, yet it’s an approach that should be reconsidered, as it’s everywhere. It’s not possible for a full-time working adult to study a new language on such a pace.
How Much is Arabic Lesson?
As in many language schools in Amman, Misbah Center offers packaged offers a flexible pricing system, it depends on intensity of your classes and the duration. I suggest you can try their trial Arabic class (2 hours), every Saturday, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM (Amman time), to see if it works for you or not (Fb link).
The prices vary from 6 to 9.5 JOD per hour, as there might be group, pair and individual classes for Jordanian dialect.
If you are not interested in your teacher, mostly it is going to be a waste of time, you have to become if not friends, yet people who are happy to see each other and learn from each other, a good teacher of Arabic should encourage you to ask questions and place you in language situations where you challenge yourself.
Good luck in your Arabic studies, and if you have other questions, you can always DM me in Instagram mylifeinamman!
If you know Arabic on an intermediate level, or you know Arabic alphabet already and willing to continue with your Jordanian Arabic, you can also check my free Arabic vocabulary course on Memrise.