While many high schoolers hit the beach during the summer months, those attending the Advanced Studies Program at St. Paul’s School do not. Instead they are working diligently in the library, reading books and completing assignments. One particular class offered at ASP, Introduction to Arabic, is highly intensive and plans to teach its students to write, speak, and read the language by the end of the five week period.
The course was first introduced to ASP in 2011. Michael Ricard, the director of the ASP, had the idea to incorporate the course when he realized the “prominence of the Arabic language in American society.” He thought that the course would tremendously benefit the program “given the dynamics of our current global society, my belief was that adding the Introduction to Arabic Language & Culture course was not only extremely relevant, but critically important”. With twelve currently enrolled, he was soon to find that he was right.
According to Ricard, “St. Paul’s School would like to incorporate Arabic into its foreign language department but unfortunately the department is full.” Mohammed Defaa is the main instructor for Introduction to Arabic and has been teaching it since 2011. During the regular school year Defaa teaches World Languages at Merrimack High School in Merrimack, New Hampshire.
Since there are only twelve students currently enrolled, Ricard and others wish to see the class grow in the next couple of years. Hoping to reach out to a wider range of students, the curriculum balances all sorts of Arabian studies such as politics, culture, and social issues. According to Kim Delaney, a current student in Introduction to Arabic, “by the end of ASP, students are supposed to be proficient in the language but not fluent”. This she says, “is equivalent to a year and a half of college experience.”
Trying to learn a language is tough, but trying to learn a language in only five weeks is even harder. St. Paul’s students, whether in ASP or the winter school, are challenged to the best of their ability in all aspects. Students in Introduction to Arabic have a difficult time trying to balance both their academic and social lives. With an average of “forty five pages to read a night and twenty online exercises” it is no wonder why Delaney “averages only five and a half hours of sleep a night”. When students come to ASP they are greeted by a highly intensive course load that they are unaccustomed to. Along with their major course they have to juggle both a Writing Workshop class and a sport of their choosing. Delaney says “she spends all of her designated Study Hours plus more”. Although Introduction to Arabic is hard work, most of the students have the desire to learn more about Arabic culture and language and extend their studies through college. Emily Wilson, another student in Introduction to Arabic, says “I would love to study Arabic past ASP.”
Yes, ASP is a lot of work, but many students learn to appreciate it later. Wilson says “I have made many friends who share the same course load as me”. Although it is tough at first, most students learn to balance their schedules and allot specific times for their academic and social activities. Students must remember they came to ASP to step outside of their culture norm.
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