Two courses in the Arabic language will be offered at Kansas City Kansas Community College this fall.
“Arabic is one of four languages the U.S. Government is promoting as critical, especially for those in the military and business,” said Tamara Agha-Jaffar, dean of humanities and fine arts at KCKCC.
The classes are Arabic I, which will be offered as a three-credit hour class Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and Conversational Arabic, a three-hour class offered Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m.
Destined for students with little or no previous instruction in Arabic, Arabic I will enable students to attain a basic competency in all language skills: speaking, listening, reading, writing and culture.
Conversational Arabic is designed for students who want to acquire a speaking knowledge of the language. “It will be very helpful for those interested in traveling to an Arabic-speaking country, people who deal with the Arabic-speaking community or those who want to enrich themselves by learning a foreign language,” Agha-Jaffar said. Some of the countries where Arabic is spoken are Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The Conversational Arabic class will be divided into three five-week segments and persons taking the class for no credit could attend one, two or three of the segments. Each segment will deal with a different subject but all will focus on communication, comprehension and cultural information about the Arabic-speaking world and its people.
Enrollment will be held Aug. 14 at the Leavenworth Center and Aug. 15 on the main campus with classes beginning Monday, Aug. 20. Tuition is $59 per credit hour for Kansas residents; $157 for non-residents.
