Arabic Course Outline

The Cactus Course Outlines provide a learning framework for the Cactus Foreign Language Evening Courses. They are designed to provide you with a good idea of what you might cover over a 10-week period, and include typical themes, grammar and vocabulary fields. They are flexible rather than prescriptive, in that our teachers may decide to adapt their learning plans to the specific level, aims and interests of their classes. Use the tabs below to view the relevant Arabic course outline for your level.

Beginner 1

Topics & Vocabulary
  • Basic greetings and introductions
  • Countries and saying where you are from
  • Describing things
  • Ordering drinks and snacks
  • Describing where things are
  • Describing characteristics and places
  • Asking for directions and transportation
  • Talking about yourself and your family
  • Counting numbers from one to ten
  • Talking about Jobs and occupations
Grammar
  • Plurals
  • Using adjectives
  • Feminine and masculine usage
  • Possessive attached pronouns
  • Nouns in definite and indefinite form
  • Simple questions What’s this? Whose is it? Where is …
Cultural Content
  • Introduction to Arabic culture in relation to:
  • People at home and in public places
  • Everyday polite language, everyday religious expressions
  • Arabic as an international language and dialect
  • Food and culture
  • Arabic Hospitality
Skills Work
  • The Arabic alphabet, reading and writing
  • Special emphasis on unfamiliar sounds, weak and strong, short and long sounds
  • Joining letters to make up words and phrases
  • Listening comprehension
  • Practical drills to learn reading and writing and the alphabet

Beginner 2

Topics & Vocabulary
  • Extensive revision of previous level but in more elaboration including:
  • Greetings
  • Masculine and feminine words
  • Singular pronouns
  • The family
  • Jobs
  • Describing things and adjectives
  • Positions
  • Describing places
  • Counting; express how much and how many
  • Shopping and using different Arabic currencies.
  • English words in Arabic
  • In the market
  • What is it made of?
Grammar
  • Attached pronouns (possessive endings)
  • Asking questions with yes or no answer
  • Plural and dual
  • Word order and sentence structure
  • Using adjectives
  • Plural and singular rule with numbers
  • Sentence Negation
Cultural Content
  • Use cultural expressions in a variety of contexts
  • Further etiquette in private and public places
  • Deeper insight into difference between Modern Standard Arabic and regional dialects
Skills Work
  • Practical drills to master reading and writing
  • Listening comprehension
  • Write simple sentences using the Arabic script
  • Communicative role plays
  • Practical assignments and tasks.

Beginner 3

Topics & Vocabulary
  • Colours (masculine and feminine)
  • Plurals
  • Describe what happened yesterday
  • Dictionary work
  • Preparing and shopping for a birthday party
Grammar
  • Arabic roots
  • Plural pattern 1 and 2
  • Broken plural
  • Using question words
  • Past tense verbs
  • Use 5 question words
  • Joining sentences together
  • Masculine and feminine numbers
  • Word order in a verbal sentence structure compared to a nominal sentence.
Cultural Content
  • Use cultural expressions in a variety of contexts
  • Further etiquette in private and public places
  • Deeper insight into difference between Modern Standard Arabic and regional dialects
Skills Work
  • How to use a dictionary using the root of a word
  • Practical drills to master reading and writing
  • Listening comprehension
  • Write simple sentences using the Arabic script
  • Communicative role plays
  • Practical assignments and tasks.

Elementary 1

Topics & Vocabulary
  • Talking about the weather
  • Writing a letter or an email
  • Talking about a vacation
  • Days of the week
  • The cabinet
Grammar
  • Plural pattern 3 and 4
  • Plural pattern 5
  • Singular and plural verbs
  • Numbers from 11-100
  • Idafa
  • Sentence structure
  • Hemza as a root letter
Cultural Content
  • Use cultural expressions in a variety of contexts.
  • Further etiquette in private and public places
Skills Work
  • Practical drills to master reading and writing
  • Listening comprehension
  • Write simple sentences using the Arabic script
  • Communicative role plays
  • Practical assignments and tasks

Book now

Elementary 2

Topics & Vocabulary
  • Revision
  • Telling the time
  • Talking about your everyday routine using present tense verbs
  • Using Negative statements
  • Education / school time table
  • Useful vocabulary used at the university
  • Forms of verbs
  • At the kitchen
Grammar
  • Present tense conjugation
  • Past negative
  • Verbs form 2, 3 and 4
  • Using (لم ) changes the verb case ending
Cultural content
  • Use cultural expressions in a variety of contexts
  • Further etiquette in private and public places
Skills Work
  • Practical drills to master reading and writing
  • Listening comprehension
  • Write simple sentences using the Arabic script
  • Communicative role plays
  • Practical assignments and tasks.

Elementary 3

Topics & Vocabulary
  • At the car rental office
  • Comparing past and present
  • Future plans
  • Months of the year
  • An international tour
  • The flying bicycle
  • Review and advice on further study.
Grammar
  • Comparative and superlative.
  • Future tense conjugation.
  • Using ‘’but’’ with attached pronouns.
  • Forms of verbs five and six.
  • Verbs form 7, 8 and 10.
  • Using (كان ) in a sentence.
  • Using ‘’since’’ in a sentence.
  • Hollow verbs, weak verbs, defective verbs
Cultural Content
  • Use cultural expressions in a variety of contexts.
  • Further etiquette in private and public places
Skills Work
  • Practical drills to master reading and writing.
  • Listening comprehension
  • Write simple sentences using the Arabic script.
  • Communicative role plays
  • Practical assignments and tasks.

Intermediate 1

Topics & Vocabulary
  • Talking about oneself and the own childhood.
  • Family relations.
  • Describing different character types.
  • Different types of homes and their content.
  • Daily habits in work and household.
  • Talking about preferences in sports and hobbies.
Grammar
  • Question words.
  • Attached personal pronouns.
  • Causative conjunctions.
  • Building negative sentences.
  • Regular and irregular plural.
  • The accordance between nouns and adjectives.
  • Building sentences in the present tense, using temporal adverbs.
  • Deriving nouns from different verb patterns: verbal nouns, active and passive participles.
Cultural Content
  • Greetings on different occasions.
  • Famous writers and singers in Egypt.
  • Traditional houses in Saudi Arabia.
  • Egyptian, Saudi, Syrian and Moroccan dialects.
Skills Work
  • Comprehension: listening and reading.
  • Writing an advert describing a property for rent.
  • Writing short essays describing own home, daily habits.
  • Writing a CV.
  • Conversation: Making appointments, accepting and refusing.

Intermediate 2

Topics & Vocabulary
  • Describing the way, talking about points of interest in a city
  • Means of transportation.
  • Telling about a trip.
  • Talking about food: allergies, preferences, diets, measurements, cooking methods.
  • Modern and traditional clothes: colours, types.
  • Different types and phases of education, schools, subjects, expressing strengths and weaknesses.
Grammar
  • Revision of the past tense.
  • Using the verb “to be” in the past tense.
  • Patterns of verbs, verbal nouns, and active and passive participles.
  • Doubled verbs.
  • Weak verbs in the past and present tense.
  • Imperative case with regular and irregular verbs.
Cultural Content
  • The pilgrimage.
  • The fasting month of Ramadan.
  • Tunisian, Lebanese, Iraqi, and Algerian dialects.
Skills Work
  • Comprehension: listening and reading.
  • Writing a short essay about a trip.
  • Writing a complaint.
  • Conversations in shops and restaurants, buying food and clothes.
  • Giving advice.

Intermediate 3

Topics & Vocabulary
  • Media and Journalism: News, social media.
  • Climate and environment: weather conditions, tourism, processing food.
  • Health, body, and illness: bad habits and diet.
  • Cultural activities: Literature, Arts, and Cinema.
  • Technology.
Grammar
  • The three cases of nouns and adjectives.
  • Adjective comparison.
  • Complex sentences with „that”.
  • Future tense: positive and negative.
  • Conditional sentences in the future tense.
  • Passive voice in the present and past tense.
  • Adverbial phrases.
Cultural Content
  • Media in the Gulf region.
  • Dialect in Yemen, Emirates, Sudan, Palestine, and Jordan.
  • Water problems in Emirates.
  • Health problems in Sudan.
  • Palestinian literature.
Skills Work
  • Comprehension: Reading and listening.
  • Talking about weather, preferences in tourism.
  • Expressing habits in the past.
  • Reviewing films.

Understanding Language Levels

If you are taking a language course with Cactus you can find out more about our language levels and how you can track your progress using the ‘can do statements’ below. These statements outline the key things that you should be able to say and understand once you have completed each level. Can do statements are officially recognised as a set of performance-related scales describing what a learner is able to do in a foreign language, in accordance with the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) and the CEFR defined levels.

CEFR Levels

If you are taking a language course with Cactus you can find out more about our language levels and how you can track your progress using the ‘can do statements’. These statements outline the key things that you should be able to say and understand once you have completed each level. Can do statements are officially recognised as a set of performance-related scales describing what a learner is able to do in a foreign language, in accordance with the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) and the CEFR defined levels.

Beginner (A1)

  • You can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type
  • You can introduce yourself and others
  • You can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where you live, what you do, people you know and things you have
  • You can ask and give directions
  • You can order food and drink
  • You can make very basic travel and accommodation arrangements
  • You can have a basic conversation, provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.

Elementary (A2)

  • You can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas including basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography and employment
  • You can communicate in simple and routine tasks, requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters
  • You can describe, in simple terms, aspects of your background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need
  • You can comfortably ‘get by’ when visiting the country, albeit with some difficulty.

Intermediate (B1)

  • You can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.
  • You can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken
  • You can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest
  • You can describe experiences and events
  • You can talk about dreams, hopes and ambitions
  • You can briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans
  • You could consider working in the country using the language (e.g. bar/counter work, waiting service in cafes or basic office work).

Upper Intermediate (B2)

  • You can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in your field of specialisation.
  • You can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible, without strain for either party.
  • You can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue, giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
  • You can do business with speakers of the language in most run-of-the-mill situations.

Advanced (C1)

  • You can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning
  • You can express yourself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions
  • You can use the language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes
  • You can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, logical flow of text, and clear awareness of the audience.

Proficient (C2)

  • You can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read
  • You can summarise information from different spoken and written sources
  • You can reconstruct arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation
  • You can express yourself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely
  • You can differentiate finer shades of meaning, even in the most complex situations.

How to book with Cactus

Select language

Simply select which language you would like to learn and from the box below and click lets go.

Take level test

This is a quick test to help you find the right course for your current level of knowledge.

Book your course

Use our simple online booking system to select your course.

Take the test