Top 9 Websites to Learn Arabic for Beginners

By Ben Schmidt Aug 7, 2022

Arabic is the most widely spoken Semitic language and the fifth most widely spoken language in the world.

More than 467 million people speak Arabic, and its speakers are distributed in the Arab world, in addition to many other neighboring regions.

Arabic is an official language in all countries of the Arab world, in addition to being an official language in several other countries. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, and its International Day is celebrated on December 18.

Arabic is a beautiful but challenging language. One can feel pretty excited when they first start learning it, but they may soon begin to feel disheartened. There are too many grammatical rules, especially in Modern Standard Arabic, and some Arabic speech sounds are difficult to pronounce.

Fortunately, however, we live in the internet era. Any information is a few mouse clicks away.

Best Websites to Learn Arabic

Here are the best websites to help you learn Arabic:

Al Jazeera Learning Arabic:

Al Jazeera Learning Arabic is one of the most comprehensive and well-structured websites to learn Arabic from. The lessons include all levels, from beginners to advanced learners. They consist of well-written texts, which are sometimes accompanied by videos, followed by exercises.

One of the most remarkable features of this website is that it allows students to ask teachers questions about Arabic. Go to the Questions link in the top menu and ask whatever you want. You can also read what others have asked.

If you want to know your level in Arabic, Al Jazeera also provides tests to learn how far you’ve come in your journey. Moreover, you can browse it in English, French, Turkish, and Arabic.

Madinah Arabic:

Madinah Arabic offers free courses for beginners who want to learn how to read Arabic and memorize basic words. It also offers paid courses for $12 per hour.

They include Modern Standard Arabic, Quranic Arabic, and business Arabic. Madinah Arabic also has a special course that teaches how to speak Arabic fluently and confidently in a short amount of time. For Muslims, their Tajweed and Quranic Memorization courses are excellent and informative.

If you want to test your Arabic language skills, they have ninety quizzes that you can take.

Al Dirassa:

Al Dirassa is a learning center based in Egypt that aims to teach Arabic and the memorization and recitation of the Holy Quran. They have taught more than five thousand students, and the number is still growing.

While not all of their courses are for free, they let learners have a 30-minute free trial for paid ones. Then based on this trial, they structure the course to suit their level.

You can also find some valuable free courses on this website, and you can download books for free. The lessons are given over Skype or Zoom.

But what I think gives Al Dirassa an advantage over others is that the teachers are all qualified and have degrees in the areas they teach. You can take a look at their CVs in the About Us section to see for yourself.

Al Kunuz:

Like Al Dirassa, Al Kunuz teaches Modern Standard Arabic for all levels, in addition to Quran courses. It gives learners the option of learning through either private lessons or group lessons.

The groups contain five people at most. Before being assigned to a specific group, however, students have to take a test to determine their level.

As for the private lessons, students can choose their teachers and create their learning schedules based on their circumstances and preference. The website includes complete programs as well as courses focusing on specific areas, such as grammar.

Busuu:

Busuu is a language teaching website that includes many languages; fortunately, Arabic is one of them.

When you first register to this website, it presents you with several choices concerning your daily goal regarding the amount of time you will spend learning each day. They range from five minutes to twenty-five minutes. Setting easy goals is an excellent motivator for students because they give them a sense of achievement.

Speaking of motivation, Busuu also allows learners to add friends and be a part of a language community, which has many benefits. First, as humans, we prefer to do things with other people rather than alone. Second, being in a community allows one to learn from more advanced learners.

Lessons contain recordings of native speakers as well as written sentences, and exercises follow them to practice what you learn. Busuu also has a mobile app that you can download for free.

Goethe Verlag:

Goethe Verlag is one of the best-known websites for teaching languages in general. You’ll hardly find a list of the best websites to learn Arabic that does not contain Goethe Verlag.

They have a hundred short lessons that cover everything, from grammar to what to say in real-life situations. Each one consists of short sentences that are also recorded by native speakers.

It’s free to use, and they have an app that you can download from Google Play or the App Store.

Itaki:

Itaki allows learners to find teachers of the language they are learning. Then these teachers give them private lessons via Skype. They include more than 150 languages, and Arabic is one of them.

Learn Arabic:

This site teaches Arabic from scratch and helps learners get to proficiency. The lessons include videos as well as written materials. There are also games that make learning fun. Moreover, they know how to give learners motivation through letting them earn badges and berries.

Learn 101:

Learn 101 site teaches Arabic for free. It covers all the basics, including vocabulary, grammar, and common phrases. They also have a fun exam section to practice what you learn in Arabic. The site is well-designed and easy to use.