Find an Arabic tutor near me in Glasgow

Arabic lessons in Glasgow: find a tutor

As an old Arabic proverb goes: ‘He who learns without acting, plows without sowing.’

Just as working the land without planting is useless, we must be able to reap the benefits of linguistic competence when we begin to learn the Arabic language.

Has Arabic language and culture or Islamic civilization always attracted you?

As the largest city in Scotland and the fourth largest in the UK, Glasgow has a population of over 1.6 million – so you won’t struggle to find Arabic tutors.

Want to learn how to write from right to left, read Arabic and achieve impeccable oral expression without pronunciation errors?

Learning Arabic is a journey to an immensely vast Arabic culture steeped in history. The language has ancient origins: it is the language of Middle-Eastern arts and sciences as well as the language of Islam, allowing people to read the Koran.

15% of the Glaswegian population is made up of ethnic minority groups, of which over 5% are Muslim. This is why there’s such a large pool of potential Arabic teachers.

More than 15% of the Glaswegian population belongs to an ethnic minority group, and over 5% of these are Muslim or Arabic. This is why there’s a large pool of potential teachers ready to tutor you in Arabic.

Superprof is here to show you all you need to know about Arabic courses in Glasgow.

Some general things to know for learning Arabic

Although migratory movements of Arabic people in Europe are fairly recent, the Arabic language stems from the ancient world.

Learning Arabic is therefore like opening a door to the history and culture of the Arabic world.

Arabic: an ancient Semitic language

Arabic reading and writing goes from right to left, and the pronunciation of the Arabic alphabet is guttural, with the sounds coming from the throat.

It is a language with triliterate roots, meaning that Arabic words are essentially composed of three consonants.

Arabic is an abjad constructed with a consonant system (28 consonants, very few vowels) in the same way as with Hebrew.

The Arabic alphabet consists of 28 letters, and each letter of the alphabet has different forms according to their place in the Arabic word (an isolated, invariable form, an initial form, a median and a final).

To memorise the Arabic alphabet therefore requires you to learn 112 different characters.

It was the Canaanites in the Bronze Age who invented the very first writing system, the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet.

Over the course of history this evolved to produce the Greek, Cyrillic, Hebrew and Latin alphabets, followed by the Aramaic and then the Arabic alphabets.

The first ever Semite people – the Assyrians, Babylonians, Arameans, Canaanites and Phoenicians – spread their alphabet throughout the Near East and around the Mediterranean basin.

Since the second century, the Arabic language emerged in the Arabian Peninsula via linguistic and cultural inheritance of past civilisations.

Two millennia later, the Arabic language is among the most widespread on the planet.

An international and influential language

Speaking Arabic in a society marked by the globalisation of trade and the growing interdependence of economies is becoming a huge advantage, particularly compared to other language skills (such as English, German, Spanish or Italian).

Arabic dialect and literary Arabic are the official languages in 25 Arab countries. It is also the language used in several major international, supranational and intergovernmental organisations, such as the Arab League, the African Union or the United Nations.

In addition, no less than 538 million people on Earth have Arabic as their mother tongue or as a second language.

In fact, this language has been influential since the first ages of its existence, notably through the arts, such as Arabic calligraphy, sciences, medicine, geography, astronomy, physics, and Arabic literature.

An important diglossia of the Arabic language

It’s still necessary to know what kind of Arabic language to learn because there are many forms.

Arabic is an umbrella language, meaning that there is a standard common language that serves as a reference for many different dialects. Depending on the country and region, dialects vary and cannot be understood by all Arabic speakers.

Because of the territorial remoteness, Moroccan Arabic is different to Egyptian Arabic, which is different from Syrian Arabic.

Why learn Arabic in Glasgow?

So that the speakers of dialectal Arabic in different countries can understand each other, the term ‘literary Arabic’ has been standardised and unified to signify a common form of language.

This is known as is modern standard Arabic, the one most widely used and most commonly taught in schools.

Other variants of the Arabic language are added to this. For example, for learning the Koran an Islamic education is necessary, which entails lessons in Koranic Arabic (a classical Arabic as it was spoken in the Middle Ages).

If we take into account the importance of the Arab diaspora around the world – for example, Arabs who live outside the Arab League – we can’t neglect the importance of knowing how to speak standard Arabic.

In fact, 12 million Arabs live in Brazil, more than 4 million in France, 5 million in Indonesia, 3.5 million in Argentina and the United States, 2 million in Turkey and Israel, and many also in Colombia, Iran, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Australia, Chile, etc.

The Arab countries of OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar make oil a global geopolitical weapon – so speaking Arabic opens up the doors to the petroleum industry!

Becoming an Arabic speaker also opens the path to understanding Arab telecommunications, such as the Al Jazeera press group, and will get you up to speed with Arabic news and affairs.

What’s more, learning to listen, read and write in Arabic massively enriches your vocabulary and helps to improve your cognitive ability.

Learners who studies a number of modern languages acquire a global understanding of the world around them, and can more easily immerse themselves into different cultural situations.

In fact, you'll increase your language skills more rapidly as your brain has to make connections faster in order to move from one language system to another.

Finally, taking Arabic lessons at home is also a great way to prepare for a trip to the Middle East or North Africa, as the language basics will help you get by and speak to locals.

Arabic lessons with Superprof in Glasgow

The fateful moment has come: which certified Superprof Arabic tutor will you choose?

Will I find a teacher who can teach me Arabic grammar as well as to speak, read and write the Arabic alphabet, all while being kind a patient?

Of course! Dozens of tutors within a 15-mile radius of Glasgow trust us. Our courses are aimed at all levels and all our teachers give lessons at home.

With your particular teacher, native or graduate, you will be able to: 

• Learn the Arabic alphabet
• Learn to read Arabic (firstly through phonetic transcription) 
• Get used to the phonemes of standard Arabic 
• Understand Arabic grammar and conjugation
• Discover the culture of the Muslim world 
• Work on reading the Koran, if desired

Going from a beginner level to an intermediate or advanced level will require a lot of time, rigor and perseverance.

Without being discouraged, it will take between one and three years to really get comfortable with the language.

To know which teacher to pick, there’s no miracle recipe: you just have to try and see what works for you.

If you’re not sure where to start with your choice, here are some criteria to follow: 

• The hourly rate: in Glasgow, the average price for a one-hour lesson is £15
• The tutor's experience, i.e. the number of years of language practice 
• The tutor’s qualifications or training: check if they are native Arabic, bilingual or graduated from a recognised institute 
• The geographical area: if the tutor visits you at home, transportation costs may be added depending on the distance 
• The pedagogical method used by the teacher: what is their teaching style, how do they ease you in? 
• The content of their lessons: Arabic dialect, literary Arabic, conversation classes, advanced courses, introductory courses, Arabic writing courses – make sure you pick the right course for your needs