NMC - Near & Middle Eastern Civilization Courses

A&S Near & Middle Eastern Civilization Course Descriptions



NML210Y - Beginner Standard Arabic
Lecturer: Prof. Abdel-Khaleg Ali

Marking Scheme:Four term tests, each worth 20%. Assignments were 10% and general class participation 10%.

I absolutely loved the course. I took it in the summer, and found it was a heavy course load because everything was crammed in, but during the year it wouldn't have been bad at all! The professor is so knowledge-able about the details of the language. He's really nice and available for individual consultation anytime. He's definitely my favourite professor at UofT! If you're going in not knowing the alphabet at all, it might be a bit hard, but there is just so much support that you won't regret it at all! You'll cover the alphabet, how to write it, simple sentence structure, pronouns, definite & indefinite-ness. There is a lot of audio and visual interactivity as well.

Rating: 5/5

NML310Y - Intermediate Standard Arabic
Lecturer: Prof. Abdel-Khaleg Ali

Marking Scheme: Four term tests, each worth 20%. Assignments were 10% and general class participation 10%.

The tests get a lot more difficult than NML210. We delve into really specific details of the language. The professor will give a lot of readings, and its really important to do the readings beforehand. The readings come straight out of the textbook but they are very difficult. Still you will go over the entire text with the professor in class. You will have to do a lot of writing. I found the TA that marked was really nice but was insensitive to the fact that we didn't know which sentence structures worked. For example, for some of my items, she would write that the sentence made sense in english but was awkward (not phrased that way) in arabic, and I had no way of knowing. She would still dock marks

Nonetheless, it was a really enjoyable course and I learned a lot! You'll cover the i'rab, which is the markings on each word in proper standard arabic which is extremely difficult, but again the professor will give a lot of practice!

Rating: 5/5


NML410Y - Advanced Standard Arabic
Lecturer: Prof. Abdel-Khaleg Ali

Marking Scheme: Four term tests, each worth 20%. Assignments were 10% and general class participation 10%.

I found the course pretty good, but it wasn't like the previous ones. Most of the course was spent going over texts, deciphering them, analyzing them to the details. It was hard-core grammar. There was not a lot of audio and visual activity, but when there was, it helped us understand the material way better. Unlike NML210 and NML310, this course lacked an oral class, so we didn't get to practise our oral skills much. So you'll end up knowing how to write the language properly and effectively, but it will be hard for you when it comes to actual communication. I still enjoyed the course, and I think my Arabic significantly improved 

Rating:  5/5