We hope this will be a better resource for everyone interested in the Center’s classes in Arabic, French, and English.

Our course is designed to ensure that students enjoy their ARABIC  classes as much as they enjoy the rest of the course programme. Classroom activities are therefore varied and where possible involve tasks or games that make the learning process interesting and fun.

The aim of the course is to develop the students’ language skills in all areas but the emphasis is on developing speaking and comprehension skills, so there are a lot of practical activities that involve a great deal of  interaction. As we have students from very many nationalities, it is relatively easy to ensure that everyone uses ARABIC  to communicate.

We also try to ensure that students get the most out of their visits to places of interest in and around Tunisia  so some class time is devoted to project work focused on the social programme activities.

Broad lines about the Institute:
Our institute is located in a very good area in Tunisia, if not the best, in the level of geography, history and security, as Side Bou Said is located on the Mediterranean coast. The President’s palace is in Sidi Bou Said, and there are many traditional industries and markets as well, besides the centre of ِArab and Mediterranean music. Side Bou Said shares a border with Carthage, where the presidential palace is besides several areas of important cultural heritage, like the Romanian theater, the ancient city of Carthage the Phoenician, Carthage International Museum, and other monuments.
On the other hand, the institute has all the requirements for efficient and quick learning, thanks to the excellent geographical location on the one hand, and the availability of teaching materials and curricula which implement the most important methods in teaching languages, in addition to the necessary scientific equipment such as computers, display screens. All this makes the teachers do their job well, and the students enjoy the unique learning atmosphere.
As for learning Arabic, the subject of our letter, there is a group of teachers from Tunisia, Syria, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia teaching in the institute. They are expert teachers of Arabic, with special skills in teaching Arabic to Americans, and with long experience in the best institutes of teaching Arabic to non-Arabic speakers.
The academic season runs throughout the school year, and we address the special needs of students wishing to take short courses for a month or two weeks, in addition to the flexibility in choosing the lesson times whether in the morning, afternoon or in the evening.
As for the materials we have adopted, these materials we chose contains a variety of topics to meet the needs of students and researchers of different levels and specialties, including but not limited to:.
* Our curriculum, and it includes a variety of materials and books in the fields of Arabic, Islamic History, Islamic belief, Hadith, Literature, and the Sciences of Holy Quran, besides others.
* “Teaching Arabic to non-Arabic speakers” by Mahmoud Al Batal, Christine Brostad, Abbas Al Tounissy.
* A substantial amount of press articles from various newspapers, magazines, and Arabic websites.
* Audio-visual materials for training to improve the pronunciation of the letters and to distinguish between them, as well as training on listening comprehension.
* Training materials on the special skills, like giving presentations, applying for jobs, and communication skills in the Arab world, etc.
* Academic, cultural and recreational activities, including workshops to develop the students’ language skills, besides training courses in the area of audio and visual media, as well as inviting experienced teachers in many fields to give talks and meet with the students, in addition to recreational and cultural clubs like lute club, cello club, cooking club, and cinema club.
HOUDA HAMDI AL RIHAOUI
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

CENTRE SIDI BOU SAID DE LANGUES ET D’INFORMATIQUE
4, Rue Abou El kacem Echebbi-Sidi Bou Said  Tel :71 981 776 E-mail: cbousid@yahoo.fr / c.l.i@hotmail.com