By The Arabic School
A committed student can become a functional, intermediate reader of classical Arabic in about two years. Mastery takes longer. The key is to know where you are, what to read next, and how to keep the skills and the sciences moving together.
Skills and systems
The learner of Arabic faces two kinds of work. The skills (الْمَهَارَاتُ) are reading, listening, speaking and writing. They grow through practice. The systems (الْأَنْظِمَةُ) are sounds, vocabulary, morphology, syntax and rhetoric. They are learnt as rules, then applied to texts until the rule becomes instinct.
The classical curricula of the Indian subcontinent, al-Azhar and the Arab and African world are strong on the systems. Modern language teaching is strong on the skills. A complete programme joins the two.
The levels
We use the CEFR levels, adapted for Fuṣḥā, so that every text has a level and every level has an outcome.
A1 Starter
You can read vowelled script aloud, know the parts of speech and build short nominal and verbal sentences. Texts: Sullam al-Durūs al-ʿArabiyyah, ash-Shabrāwiyyah, al-Muwaṭṭaʾ fil-Iʿrāb, and Matn al-Amthilah or Ṣarf-e Bahāʾī. Skills: al-ʿArabiyyah Bayna Yadayk, Book 1.
A2 Beginner
You can parse simple sentences, conjugate the sound verb in all its forms and read short graded stories. Texts: Mīzān uṣ-Ṣarf and Munshaʿib or Matn al-Bināʾ; al-Ājurrūmiyyah; Mulḥat al-Iʿrāb or Naḥw Mīr. Reading: al-Qirāʾah al-Wāḍiḥah, Zād uṭ-Ṭālibīn and graded readers.
B1 Intermediate
You can read vowelled classical prose with a dictionary, give the iʿrāb of most words and handle weak verbs. Texts: Irshād uṣ-Ṣarf, Applied Ṣarf, al-Mutammimah, Naẓm az-Zawāwī, Hidāyat an-Naḥw. Reading: Qiṣaṣ an-Nabiyyīn, Mufīd uṭ-Ṭālibīn, Madārij al-Qirāʾah.
B2 Upper intermediate
You can read unvowelled text with fair accuracy, parse a full paragraph and use the classical dictionaries. Texts: Taṣrīf al-ʿIzzī with al-Maqṣūd, Qaṭr un-Nadā, Taysīr al-Balāghah or Durūs al-Balāghah, al-Balāghah al-Wāḍiḥah. Reading: Nafḥat al-ʿArab, al-Naẓarāt of al-Manfalūṭī.
C1 Advanced
You can read classical works independently, explain rhetorical choices, and write and speak with control. Texts: Lāmiyyat al-Afʿāl, Shadhā al-ʿArf, Shudhūr adh-Dhahab, Qawāʿid al-Iʿrāb. Reading: Lāmiyyat al-ʿArab and Nahj al-Burdah.
Place each skill on its own
Reading and parsing rarely sit at the same level. A student who reads unvowelled text but cannot parse it starts Naḥw at B1, whatever their reading level. Each area is placed separately, and a placement test sets the starting point.
Choose one route
There are two well-trodden roads to reading classical Arabic: the Ajami Method, based on the Dars-e-Nizami, and the Arab Method, based on the Azhari and African curricula. Choose one and stay on it. Mixing the two in the early stages wastes time. Our article on the two routes explains the difference.
Keep the four skills running
The sciences make you a reader. Listening, speaking and writing need their own weekly time, in Arabic, with feedback. Our Arabic Journey programme builds all four skills over six levels.
Study with The Arabic School
Not sure where you sit? Tell us your goal and your level, and we will point you to the right first course.
For the full map of the sciences, the two classical routes and the texts for every level, download the free guide, Learning Arabic: Skills and Systems. You can also see all our courses and prices or book a one-to-one class.