Find an Arabic tutor near me in Leeds

Arabic lessons in Leeds: find a tutor

In secondary and higher education, there is a general trend in the UK in the choice of modern languages: Arabic is often overlooked by students, who have to study French or Spanish, or even opt for Chinese or Japanese courses.

It's a pity – it must be said that Arabic civilization has had bad press for a few decades, but the Arabic language holds many wonders.

Knowing how to read and write in Arabic gives access to Arabic language and culture, and to understanding the sacred liturgy of Islam – the Holy Koran – to all Islamic civilization since its ancient origins.

Linguistics, Arabic literature, philosophy, mathematics, medicine, geography…there are many legacies left by Arab civilization throughout European history.

Want to know more about Arabic culture, or to read, write or speak in Arabic? Great, you're in the right place! Superprof is here to present our Arabic courses in Leeds.

Some general things to know about the Arabic language

Arabic is a language with ancient origins that are two millennia old. The language spread over several continents – such as Asia, Africa and Europe – and today it’s one of the most widely used languages in the world.

Arabic: an ancient Semitic language

The Arabic language is easily recognisable to a novice: the difference of reading and writing from right to left, the guttural pronunciation, the triliterate consonant system, and the complex Arabic calligraphy are all clues!

The Arabic alphabet derives from Aramaic, which was inherited from the Phoenicians – a vast ancient empire (1200-300 BC) that reigned over the Mediterranean and gave birth to the Hebrew, Greek, Cyrillic, Latin and Arabic alphabets. It is descended from the first known writing system to date, the Protosinetic alphabet, which dates back to around 1500-1000 BC.

In the Arabic writing system, there are 28 consonants and very few vowels. Learning the Arabic alphabet consists of studying an abjad, a consonantal grapheme alphabet.

The vowels are implicit, and the root of Arabic words is often made up of three vowels, like the word ‘kitab’, which means book, consisting of the three consonants k-t-b (كتاب).

The last important thing when learning to read and write in Arabic is that there are 28 letters in the alphabet, and each letter takes a different form depending on the place it occupies in the Arabic word.

This means we have four different forms per letter, 112 characters to memorize, plus the Hamza, which represents the glottal stop.

An international and influential language

Nowadays, Arabic is the official language of: 

• 25 sovereign states 
• 538 million people across the world

The Arabic language is therefore the fourth most-used language in the world, in front of Hindi and French, and is the mother tongue of people from a vast geographical area, from North Africa to the United Arab Emirates.

It is also an official language in several international and intergovernmental organizations, such as the Arab League, the African Union and the United Nations.

As a result, it’s a highly influential language of communication since it is spoken in countries where global geopolitics is played out (Iraq, Syria, Israel, United Arab Emirates, etc.).

Learning Arabic can therefore significantly boost your career and professional skills!

An important diglossia of the Arabic language

An important diglossia characterizes the Arabic language. This is subdivided between a written lingua franca and a vernacular language, which is mainly oral.

Literary Arabic was standardised and unified in the 20th century so that people of all Arabic countries could understand each other.

It is said that Arabic is an umbrella language, that is, a standard form with a general language level and a few variants and dialects with different idiomatic expressions.

In every country in the Arabic world a specific dialect is used: this is termed dialectal Arabic, which is not understood by all Arabic speakers.

This means there is, for example, a Moroccan Arabic, known as Darija, as well as an Egyptian Arabic and a Syrian Arabic.

Thanks to our tutors in Leeds, you’ll not only be able to learn literary Arabic, but also the Arabic dialect from a native teacher of the country where it’s spoken.

Why learn Arabic in Leeds?

As a Semitic language with ancient origins, Arabic is also the language of the Prophet Muhammad. Koranic Arabic has therefore been used since the origins of Islam, teaching religious practices to anyone who wishes to read the Koran or learn about Islam.

Some good reasons to learn Arabic

There are a thousand and one good reasons to learn the Arabic language!

Becoming an Arabic speaker means you can communicate and connect with a potential audience of the 538 million people who speak Arabic as their mother tongue or second language.

Learning the language of the Maghreb countries and perfecting your oral expression via private lessons allows, even at a beginner level, a language exchange.

Increasing your linguistic skills also makes it possible to boost your career: speaking Arabic fluently makes you an invaluable professional and social asset in terms of connecting with the Arab world.

Formerly regarded as developing countries, the countries of the Arab world certainly have deep economic and social differences in terms of distribution of disposable income, but they are becoming more and more a hub of international trade: tourism, manufacturing and hydrocarbons are all great reasons to study Arabic.

Increasingly more direct investments abroad, commercial and financial projects, and economic and diplomatic partnerships are taking place between the West and Arabic countries. Work your way into these areas by becoming an Arabic speaker!

With Superprof, an intensive refresher course could be a great way for you to become a private tutor for a beginner-level audience.

You might also want to learn Arabic for cultural reasons, to discover the Arab and Muslim world. For example, most of the feudal texts have not been translated and therefore require Arabic language in order to understand.

Taking Arabic classes at home can also be useful if you are preparing a trip to a Maghreb country, such as Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia.

Arabic: a rich historical and cultural language

Arabic emerged from the 2nd century AD in the Middle East, in present-day Syria and Iraq in the Arabian Peninsula, and its written traces were first found in Syria in the 6th century.

It very quickly spread to be spoken by many non-Arab nomadic people, such as the Berbers of North Africa.

Arabic became the mother tongue of Muslim writers and scholars who, in the 7th century, helped spread the values of the Middle East and Islam to Spain and Septimania (now the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France).

Becoming the sacred language of the Koran, Arabic slowly crossed the seas and deserts and conquered the world, gaining a presence in Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, the Balkans, and North Africa.

In fact, the domination of successive empires, such as the Umayyad, Abbasid and Ottoman Empires, permeated throughout Europe, and means that the West has great linguistic and cultural proximity with the Arabic language today.

Arabic lessons with Superprof in Leeds

In such a vibrant and multicultural city, the dilemma lies in the choice of a good teacher

And there’s no miracle recipe: you have to try and test your options to find what’s right for you.

The first thing to factor in is the hourly rate of the Arabic course. In Leeds, it varies between £8 and £30 per hour, and the average price for an hour’s private session is £15.

These course prices are great value for money, and much more affordable than tutoring in other major cities around the UK.

Our courses are adapted to all levels, and all the fields of the Arabic language are available to study, such as literary Arabic, dialectal Arabic, Koranic Arabic, conversation classes, pronunciation training, and grammar exercises.

Our teachers don’t all have the same profile: some are native to an Arab country, whereas others have been trained in the best Arabic-speaking institutions.

Some teach Arabic as a complementary subject to another, and others are specialists in Arabic as a mother tongue or second language.

Furthermore, our tutors must have at least a further three years of practice than the student.

In fact, if you’re already at an intermediate level, find yourself a native teacher or one that is highly qualified in languages (such as a masters or doctorate).