Arabic for Beginners Course – Gateway to Arabic Level 1

Arabic follows clear, logical patterns. Once you crack the code, those mysterious letters start making perfect sense. We’ve helped many go from “this looks impossible” to reading their first Arabic words in hours.

You don’t need years of study or expensive tutors. You don’t need extra hours in your packed schedule. What you need is the right approach that respects your time and shows you exactly how Arabic works.

Whether you want to understand prayers in their original language, connect with the Quran’s true meaning or to interact in Arabic, you’re in the right place.

Students Will Learn

• The Arabic alphabet and how to correctly pronounce each letter.
• Basic reading and writing skills, including forming simple words and sentences.
• Fundamental listening and speaking skills for practical communication in Arabic.
• How to combine reading, writing, listening, and speaking to form a solid foundation in the Arabic language.
• Essential vocabulary and phrases for beginners to use in real-life contexts.

This course provides a clear and structured approach to learning Arabic, ensuring that students gain the confidence and proficiency needed to use the language effectively in daily situations.

Why Learn Arabic?

For Islam

Arabic opens the door to understanding your faith in its purest form. When you read the Quran in Arabic, you’re connecting with the exact words revealed over 1,400 years ago. No translation barriers, no lost meanings.

Every Muslim knows the feeling. You recite verses during prayer, but the deeper meaning stays just out of reach. You rely on translations that never quite capture the full beauty and precision of the original text.

Rich Cultural Heritage

Arabic isn’t just a language, it’s your gateway to civilisation, poetry, and scholarship that shaped our modern world.

Think about it: whilst Europe was in the Dark Ages, Arabic scholars were advancing mathematics, medicine, and philosophy. Their works laid the foundation for the Renaissance. When you learn Arabic, you’re tapping into this incredible intellectual tradition.

From the poetry of Imam Sahfie to the philosophy of Averroes, from the histories of Al-Tabari to the travels of Ibn Battuta, it all opens up when you can read the original texts.

Global Opportunities

Over 400 million people speak Arabic across 22 countries. That’s massive career potential, travel opportunities and business connections waiting for you.

The Middle East and North Africa represent some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Companies desperately need employees who can bridge the language gap. Whether you’re in business, journalism, international relations, or academia, Arabic speakers are in high demand.

Who is this course for?

People who want further Islamic knowledge

This course is perfect for Muslims who want to study their faith at a deeper level. You’ll finally read Islamic texts, scholarly works and classical commentaries in their original language.

You’ve probably hit that wall before. You want to go beyond basic Islamic knowledge, but every advanced book references Arabic terms you don’t understand. Classical scholars like Al-Ghazali, Ibn Taymiyyah and Al-Tabari become accessible only through simplified translations.

Travelers

If you love exploring the Middle East and North Africa, Arabic transforms your entire travel experience. You’ll connect with locals, navigate confidently, and discover hidden gems tourists never find.

Heritage learners

You grew up hearing Arabic at home, but reading and writing still feel like a mystery. This course bridges that gap, connecting your spoken knowledge with proper literacy skills.

It’s frustrating, isn’t it? You can follow family conversations and understand your grandmother’s stories, but put an Arabic newspaper in front of you and you’re lost. You feel disconnected from your own culture’s written tradition.

Meet the Arabic Beginner’s Course Instructor

Ustadh Abdulwahid Stephenson is the instructor for this course and brings over 15 years of experience teaching Arabic. He has lived in the Arab world and studied at the prestigious University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, spending years fully immersed in the Arabic language. This depth of experience makes him especially well-suited to teaching beginners.

He has delivered talks and taught students across the world, from the West to the East, including at universities and educational institutions. His approachable teaching style and practical methods have helped hundreds of students build confidence in speaking, reading and writing Arabic.

Here’s what the instructor has to say to those considering the course:

“Being from a non-Arabic background, I struggled when I first started learning Arabic, so I know how challenging it can feel. That’s why I’ve designed this course to make things simple and achievable.”

– Abdulwahid

After Completing this Course

After completing this course, you’ll be able to read Arabic, pronounce words and sentences correctly and understand their meanings. You’ll finish with a strong foundational grasp of the language and a significant boost in confidence.

From there, you’ll be fully prepared to move on to Arabic Gateway Level 2, which builds directly on what you’ve learned. By enrolling in this course, you’ll also gain access to the other courses in the Arabic Gateway series. By the end of the series, you’ll be able to go out there and have conversations and understand Arabic texts.

Arabic Course FAQ

How long is the course?

The course’s total length is 1 hour and 49 minutes. This does not include the practice and revision you do. Expect to be proficient in what this course teaches in just 24 hours total. Making this course very efficient for anyone trying to learn Arabic. By spending less than 1 hour a day going through this course and you’ll be fluid in just a month.

I’ve tried learning Arabic before and failed, how’s this different?

This is a very basic beginner course. You’ll start with the alphabet first and progress piece by piece, step by step.

Do I need any prior experience?

No prior experience is needed to enroll in this course.

What does a lesson look like?

It’s a video you follow along with where the teacher, Abdulwahid Stephenson is teaching you Arabic. Breaking things down into bite size pieces for anyone to understand. There’s also a feature to take notes inside the course. The course is self-paced, you learn at your speed and what you’re comfortable with doing on a given day.

Will I learn to write Arabic by hand?

You can print out the practice PDF provided which is something we highly recommend.

What’s the time commitment?

Since this is a self-paced course, you decide on the time commitment. You can spend an hour a day or an hour a week. Whatever fits your schedule and desire to learn.