Studying Arabic can be challenging, but with good planning, you can set yourself up for success. Here are some helpful tips.

1. A Spoonful a Day
Don’t get overwhelmed thinking you need to spend hours a day on Arabic. If you can do that, great! For those that don’t have that kind of time, be consistent with getting in Arabic even if you only have 5-15 minutes a day.

2. Plan how to use a tutor
Think through how you want to use your tutor. Do you want to use them to teach new materials which you’ll practice afterwards? Do you want to do the learning and work beforehand, and just use them to check your work? Do you want to do both the learning and the practice all together with them? Each of these take different time commitments and a different focus. It’s important that you know how you want to want to use a tutor, and that you communicate that well with your tutor.

3. Communicate your goals to your tutor
If a tutor doesn’t understand why you are learning and what your goals are, they may struggle to help you. In your first meeting with them, clarify why you are learning and what you want to focus on. If they don’t know, they’ll fall back on what they know best. Clear expectations lead to successful tutoring; unclear expectations can lead to frustration.

4. Celebrate progress
It can be hard to see your own growth in Arabic. You need to celebrate your progress to give you motivation to keep learning! One idea is to record yourself doing a task, such as reading a text or speaking on a certain subject. In a month, record yourself doing the same task and note your improvement. Be creative in thinking of ways to celebrate how far you’ve come.

5. Get good materials
Think through what materials are available and how they might help you improve. Doing topical discussions or conversation classes will help you with fluency. Passive skills like reading and listening can help you with vocab, pronunciation, and flow of speech. Studying grammar helps you speak correctly. Choose from these or do a mix to improve on the areas you most want to focus on. Take your learning style into consideration as you choose, as well (do you learn best by listening, seeing, moving, reading/writing, alone, in a group?).