This week marked the conclusion of most of the JICC’s Hebrew and Arabic language courses for 2009-2010. The Hebrew-Arabic Study Center provides languages courses in Hebrew and Arabic to promote efficacious and positive communication between Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem.
The Hebrew-Arabic Study Center programming is made possible through the partnership of the Jerusalem Foundation, and thanks to their support our courses are offered to the public at a heavily subsidized rate.
This year we held five Arabic courses (Palestinian dialect) for Hebrew speakers: two for beginners, two intermediate level groups, and one for advanced learners. Demand for Arabic language courses is high in Jerusalem; all of our courses operated at capacity this year, with 13-15 students in each course.
This demand is sparked in part by the unique approach of our programming – intensive language acquisition with an emphasis on the needs of professionals working with Arabic speakers in the city – answering an increasing demand for Arabic skills. The high quality of our two devoted teachers, Suha Kadri and Saida Rubhi, is another primary reason for courses’ success. Registration for 2010-2011 is already almost full …
Final Field Trip of the Advanced Arabic Course
At the same time, the JICC, together with the Kesher organization, provided Hebrew instruction for Arabic speakers. Our Hebrew language course was the first of its kind specially tailored to meet the unique requirements of parents of special needs children. Today, Jerusalem-based institutions providing medical and support services to special needs children are very Hebrew-centric. These parents joined this adapted course to help ensure that they could properly communicate with their children’s Hebrew-speaking medical professionals and caregivers and access the best possible services for their families.
