Additionally, MEIS works individually with students to match them with existing language programs anywhere from Egypt to Lebanon and Morocco, either for a summer or for a semester or two. Again, students are encouraged to make an appointment with an MEIS advisor to explore these opportunities.
The listings below are meant to help students research available programs by country. The list is not exhaustive, but meant to get you started.
Please Note: Due to COVID-19 many of these study abroad opportunities are on hold.
CASA -- Center for Arabic Studies Abroad
- Deadline: Annually early January*
- Location: American University in Cairo, Egypt
Description: All CASA programs provide intensive language, culture, and specialized area studies training at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. The program entails 12 to 20 hours of classroom instruction per week plus of homework. Applicants 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. A series of lectures, tours, and visits to places of historical interest form an integral part of the CASA programs. Efforts are made to provide opportunities for CASA participants to interact with their Egyptian counterparts and experience life in Egypt and Syria to the fullest extent.
*Note: CASA application process is very extensive and requires ample time for preparation.
ALI -- Arabic Language Institute
- Deadlines: usually January, March, and September dates
- Dates: Summer, Fall, and Full year
- Location: Cairo, Egypt (The American University in Cairo)
Description: Each year, more than one hundred students travel from dozens of countries around the world travel to Egypt to enroll in AUC's Arabic Language Institute. Their backgrounds and interests are as varied as the countries they represent. However, they share one common desire - to learn Arabic in the best possible setting with the most qualified instructors.
AMIDEAST -- America-Mideast Educational and Training Services
- Deadline: March for fall semester
- Location: Cairo, Egypt
Description: AMIDEAST’s Modern Middle East/North African Studies Program in Cairo offers students an opportunity to study in the center of Cairo, to learn both Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Arabic and to study with some of Egypt’s top young faculty. Classes are held at AMIDEAST’s facilities in Dokki on the west bank of the Nile and students are housed in shared apartments in Dokki and neighboring districts of the Egyptian capital. Students in the Modern Middle East/North African (MENA) Studies Program carry a 16 credit hour load per semester. All students enroll in Modern Standard Arabic, Egyptian Arabic, “Contemporary Issues in Egypt and the Arab World,” and two electives from offerings in Modern MENA Studies in a variety of disciplines.
Hedayet Institute for Arabic Studies
- Location: Maadi, Egypt
Description: The Hedayet Institute for Arabic Studies is one of the pioneer Arabic institutes devoted to the teaching of Arabic as a foreign language in Egypt. Hedayet Institute has a world class reputation for serving students visiting from abroad and the larger expatriate community in Egypt. It has offered Arabic language and Arabic related studies to students from across the globe since 1994. Hedayet Institute is also a renowned centre for teaching teachers of Arabic as a foreign language (TAFL). The program offers both MSA and colloquial Egyptian Arabic at various levels.
Rothberg International School (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
- Location: Jerusalem, Israel
Description: Rothberg International School offers a wide variety of class that encompass language, history, culture, and politics. In addition to intensive Hebrew and Arabic (MSA) courses that encompass elementary, intermediate, advanced, and colloquial levels, the school also offers courses on conflict resolution, Arab-Israeli conflict, Middle East history, Jerusalem, Jewish mysticism, and a summer internship.
University of Jordan (CIEE)
- Deadline: Varies
- Dates: Fall, Spring, Summer
- Location: Amman, Jordan
Description: Presently, CIEE offers 8 courses of Modern Standard Arabic for beginner, intermediate, advanced, and superior levels. All four levels are offered regularly and concurrently during the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Their courses also include 6 levels of colloquial Jordanian Arabic classes, as well as Arabic classes in various disciplines (i.e. literature, politics, media, etc.).
AMIDEAST -- America-Mideast Educational and Training Services
- Location: Amman, Jordan
Description: AMIDEAST offers two 5-week summer sessions, which include beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels of Modern Standard Arabic. Students who have completed the coursework for MSA may enroll in courses teaching the Jordanian Arabic dialect.
Qasid Institute for Classical and Modern Standard Arabic
- Location: Amman, Jordan
Description: The Qasid Institute has quietly developed a reputation as one of the leading centers in the Middle East for Arabic language learning. A comprehensive curriculum taught over five distinct levels takes a student from the proper pronunciation of letters to a level of mastery. Graduating students who have applied themselves will find understanding an all-Arabic university course to be within reach, and translating general texts to be manageable.
AMIDEAST -- American-Mideast Educational and Training Services
- Dates: Fall and Spring
- Location: Kuwait (American University of Kuwait)
Description: Students in AMIDEAST’s Education Abroad Program in Kuwait will study at the American University of Kuwait (AUK), a private Kuwaiti liberal arts institution on the American model of higher education that enjoys a close relationship with Dartmouth College. They will live with Arabic speaking Kuwaiti families. Students in the AMIDEAST Education Abroad Program in Kuwait enroll in courses totaling 16 credits. All students enroll in Modern Standard and Kuwaiti Arabic and select other electives from offerings in Gulf Studies in a variety of disciplines.
CAMES -- Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies Summer Arabic Program
- Location: Beirut, Lebanon (American University in Beirut)
Description: The Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies at the American University of Beirut is a leading center for the interdisciplinary study of the Middle East and of the Arabic language, attracting a diverse group of students and scholars from around the world. Placement exams will be administered to all students at the beginning of the program in order to assess the level best suited to their Arabic language ability. Each level provides a six 1/2-week total immersion into the Arabic language that consists of 30 hours a week of intensive classroom instruction. Colloquial Arabic in the Lebanese dialect is integrated in the program. The program combines classroom instruction with 5 levels of intensive Arabic courses with cultural field trips within Beirut and around Lebanon.
Arabic Language Institute in Fez (ALIF)
- Dates: Every Semester
- Location: Fez, Morocco
Description: The Arabic Language Institute in Fez (ALIF) offers three and six-week courses in all levels of Modern Standard Arabic and Colloquial Moroccan Arabic throughout the year. ALIF also has an excellent reputation as the preeminent institution in the Maghreb for the teaching of Arabic as a foreign language. Housed in a large, shady villa, ALIF provides an ideal setting for studying in Morocco's "intellectual capital", and for exploring the historic medina of Fez, one of the world's few remaining medieval cities. ALIF resources include an extensive library collection focusing on Arabic linguistics, the Maghreb, Islamic Art and Architecture, and Islam. In addition to language courses, ALIF offers cultural tours, lectures, and classes on Maghrebi literature, media and Islam. Private courses in any number of subject areas can be arranged.
Al-Akhawayn University
- Dates: Summer Sessions either May - July or June-July
- Location: Irfane, Morocco
The ARANAS program offers 4-week and 8-week sessions in the Arabic language at all levels. The principal strength of the Arabic and North African Studies (ARANAS) program is that Al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI) is a Moroccan public university and as such offers the only Arabic language program in an Arab country where international students are fully integrated into the social, academic and cultural life on campus equally with 600 Moroccan students attending the regular summer session of AUI. It is the policy of AUI that international students must be placed with a Moroccan roommate. AUI has a number of exchange and study abroad agreements and hosts 70-80 international students each regular fall and spring semester. Language acquisition is enhanced through authentic language use and daily practice with Moroccan peers, but more importantly, international students begin to understand the wide diversity of opinion on a range of topics and gain insight into the issues that concern university-age Moroccans.
AMIDEAST Summer Intensive Arabic in Rabat
- Location: Rabat, Morocco
Description: The AMIDEAST Education Abroad Program in Rabat offers a Summer Intensive Arabic Program that focuses on Modern Standard Arabic at the beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. Students in the program live with Arabic-speaking Moroccan families and attend classes at AMIDEAST’s facilities in the bustling Agdal area of the city. The program offers two 5-week sessions, allowing a student to move through two levels in one summer.
AALIM -- Arab American Language Institute in Morocco
- Location: Meknes, Morocco
Description: AALIM is the Arab-American Language Institute in Morocco, a private language institute based in Meknes, Morocco, with US offices in Virginia. AALIM is accredited by the Moroccan Ministry of Education and offers all levels of Arabic study throughout the year as well as cultural tourism and special programs for people over 18 years of age. AALIM consists of 4, 6, 8, and 10-week courses.
Bourguiba Institute of Modern Languages (Tunisia)
- Dates: Summer, Full Year
- Location: University of Tunis
Description: Six-week intensive summer program in Modern Standard, all levels. Dormitory housing available.Full year program in Modern Standard and Tunisian Colloquial also offered.