By The Arabic School
How you study matters as much as what you study. The classical madrasa developed habits that turned students into scholars. At The Arabic School we formalise the habits of the Dars-e-Nizami classroom as the Triple-T Method.
The Triple-T Method
Taḥḍīr: preparation
Read the matn before the lesson. Mark the words and lines you do not understand. You arrive with questions, and the lesson answers them.
Taqrīr: restatement
After the lesson, explain it back in your own words, aloud or in writing. If you cannot explain it, you have not learnt it.
Takrār: repetition
Repeat paradigms, definitions and verse until they sit on the tongue, not just in the memory.
Study each matn with a teacher
A science rests on rules, and a rule misread at the start costs months later. Classical texts are best taught as seminars: the student reads, the teacher corrects and explains, and the class discusses.
Memorise the core
Memorise the paradigms of Ṣarf, the definitions of Naḥw, and short versified texts such as ash-Shabrāwiyyah. Verse is easier to keep, and a versified matn gives you the whole science in a few lines.
Balance rules and reading
Keep the systems and the skills in balance. A student who only studies rules will understand but not read fluently. A student who only reads will read fluently but make errors of iʿrāb.
A sample week for an intermediate student
Each day has about 45 minutes of systems work and 30 minutes of skills work.
- Monday. Naḥw lesson with taḥḍīr and taqrīr. Read two pages of a graded reader.
- Tuesday. Ṣarf paradigms: takrār and a written drill. A listening task and your vocabulary log.
- Wednesday. The iʿrāb of five lines of the Qurʾān or ḥadīth. A speaking session.
- Thursday. Naḥw lesson with taḥḍīr and taqrīr. Dictation and a writing task.
- Friday. Look up five roots from the week in the dictionary. Memorise two lines of poetry.
- Saturday. Review all the week's notes. Write a journal entry.
- Sunday. Rest or catch up. Free reading.
Measure your progress
Every few weeks, take a short unvowelled passage and read it aloud. Then parse it. The two tasks show you whether your reading and your grammar are moving together.
Study with The Arabic School
All our courses are built around this method, with recorded lessons, notes, and a teacher to correct your taqrīr. See our Arabic Intensive or private classes.
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.