What are online Arabic classes?

Online Arabic classes are typically one-on-one sessions between a student and teacher/tutor through an online video chat. Essentially the teacher and student do everything they would do in an in-person tutoring session, the only difference being that it's online. 

An example of an online Arabic class with an advanced student

Why should you take online classes?

It's ridiculously convenient 

The beauty of taking online Arabic lessons is their sheer convenience. You don't have to spend time traveling to your tutor, or having your tutor travel to you. You could literally throw on a shirt and have an impromptu class in your bedroom if you wanted. 

This also makes scheduling a lot easier. With multiple tutors to choose from, each with their own schedule, it's not that difficult to accommodate even the strictest of busy schedules. 

For a local tutor or teacher you're looking at paying at least $30 per hour, though you might get lucky and find an international college student who will tutor for cheaper.

The price for online Arabic teachers can vary greatly but it's very common to find a highly experiences and credentialed teacher for $15 per hour (sometimes even less).  

Without further adieu, let's take a look at some of the premier online options for Arabic students!

What makes Preply different?

Preply is a site for finding tutors for almost any subject (not just foreign languages). More than just Arabic you can use the site for learning other subjects centered around math, science, and technology. 

Pros

Many Arabic teachers to choose from

In terms of numbers, Preply has the largest selection of teachers. There are over 200 on the site. 

Great option for Quranic Arabic

If you're looking to learn Quranic (aka classical) Arabic then Preply is probably your site. Many teachers on Preply specialize in Quranic Arabic and teach Tajweed and Quran memorization. 

Cons

Outside of Quranic and Egyptian Arabic there isn't a lot of variety. 

Arabic dialects vary widely and often aren't mutually intelligible. Thus which teacher is right for you will largely be determined by the dialect you're learning. Egyptian Arabic, because of its proliferation,  is the most common dialect to be learned. 

The majority of the Arabic teachers on Preply teach Egyptain and or Quranic Arabic. There are some teachers of other dialects (most notably Levantine), but not many.

Also Preply makes no distinction between Arabic dialects when listing its teachers. If you use the site be sure to double check with the teacher to make sure they teach the dialect you're learning.  

*Use this link to purchase a minimum of $20 (US) of Italki credits and receive an extra $10 free! (Bonus added after completion of 1st lesson)

What makes Italki different?

Even though it's second to Preply in terms of how many Arabic teachers it has, Italki is the largest site overall for learning foreign languages. There are 40 languages taught on the site.

At the time of this article Italki has well over 100 Arabic teachers on the site, making it numerically smaller than Preply but still a notable option. 

One unique thing about Italki is that it makes a distinction between community tutors and professional teachers. Other sites don't do this. 

 Typically a professional teacher has teaching experience and some sort of verified degree or certification. A community tutor doesn't have to have anything except a high level in the language. 

Professional teachers are usually more expensive but they will provide all of the guidance and learning materials for your lessons. All you have to do is show up to their lessons and trust their method. 

A community tutor is cheaper but doesn't usually provide learning materials or direction for the lesson. When you use a tutor it's on you to decide what to practice. 

I've found that tutors are great for speaking practice and independent learners. 

 An intro video for one of Italki's community tutors

Pros

While the number of teachers for specific dialects can vary greatly, Italki offers tutors for Egyptian, Gulf, Levantine, Modern Standard, and Maghrebi Arabic.  The site also lists teachers under each dialect so it's easy to tell who teaches what. 

You have to pay for a lesson with a teacher or tutor on Italki, but there are also a number of free features available on the site that you can use to help you learn Arabic.

Some of these are: a virtual notebook where you can write in Arabic and be corrected by native speakers, a language exchange where you can help Arabic speakers with their English while they help you with their native language, public discussion forums, and an Arabic learning blog. 

Cons

Quality differs from teacher to teacher

The methods and quality of teachers and tutors varies on Italki. The site features a review system where past students rate their experience with their teachers. 

Still it's important to note that there will be a large difference in between cheaper community teachers and more costly professional teachers. 

Italki won't offer you any free lessons with its tutors and teachers, but upon making a free account you will be given 3 trial lessons. Each trail lesson will allow you to take a 30 minute lesson with a teacher at a discounted rate. 

Teachers choose whether or not they want to accept trial lessons. They also choose how much the discount will be. The size of the discount varies between teachers, but it's no uncommon to see trial lessons for 90% off a teacher's regular price. 

*Use this link to purchase a minimum of $20 (US) of Italki credits and receive an extra $10 free! (Bonus added after completion of 1st lesson)

A tour of Verbling's exceptional user interface

Course packages

Verbling also allows you the option of buying lessons in bulk through course packages called "classes".

Usually a class is made of several lessons with a teacher, all of which work together to cover a specific topic such as survival phrases, beginner modules, or even Quran recitation and tajweed.  

Verbling's packages offers a unique way to purchases Japanese classes online

Cons

Smaller Selection

Selection is where Verbling falls short. At the time of this article there are less than 30 Arabic teachers on the site. There are some different dialects available but most offer Egyptian Arabic.

Higher prices

Teachers on Verbling usually cost more than on other sites, mainly because they tend to be more professional and experienced. That being said you can still expect to find a good teacher for $15 or maybe even $10 per hour. 

Conclusion

Between these 3 sites there are literally hundreds of Arabic teachers for you to choose from. Though each site has some inherent strengths and weaknesses, it's important to remember that at the end of the day it's the individual teachers themselves who really make the difference.

I recommend browsing through each site to see if there are any teachers that specifically stick out to you. If you find a teacher you think could be a good fit, then sign up for a class with them!

Arabic isn’t usually the most popular foreign language for English speakers to learn. A lot of Arabic courses range from bad to mediocre. The language usually comes off as an afterthought for language learning companies and as a result the quality suffers.

Pimsleur Arabic courses aren’t much different. Though in true Pimsleur fashion they are better than mediocre, they just don’t receive the same quality care and attention that other Pimsleur courses do.

Over all the Pimsleur method is a tried and true method for learning to speak a language through audio lessons. We take a closer look at the method and its strengths and weakness in our Ultimate Pimsleur Review.

This review is for the 3 Arabic courses offered by Pimsleur: Eastern, Egyptian, and Modern Standard. We’ll point out what makes these courses different from Pimsleur’s other products; and how these differences relate to learning Arabic.

Is Arabicpod101 right for you?

Even though most of the content on Arabicpod101 is for beginners we don’t recommend it unless you have some experience with Arabic. The episodes feature 3 different dialects of Arabic (Modern Standard, Moroccan & Egyptian), and there’s no way to tell which lesson deals with which dialect. This could be frustrating for a new student because there’s a significant difference between each one.

Arabicpod101 is best used by intermediate students who are at least somewhat familiar with the difference in dialects. Advanced students may not get as much out of the site because the majority of the lessons are for beginners.

If you are learning Modern Standard, Moroccan, or Egyptian Arabic then Arabicpod101 can be a good way to develop your listening skills. Courses for Moroccan Arabic can be especially hard to find so there is some real value if you’re learning that dialect.

The site also has a mobile app which allows you to listen to lessons on your phone. If you want a way to study Arabic from your phone then you may want to check it the Arabicpod101.

Features

Podcast episodes

Podcast episodes are fixed around an Arabic dialogue between two native speakers. The conversation usually includes the use of a specific piece of grammar, a useful Arabic phrase, or a cultural topic. Each episode can run from 5 to 15+ minutes (typically) and is introduced by two hosts who also explain the lesson.  

Real world situations

The Arabic dialogues are always centered around a scenario that could happen in the real world. It may be two friends chatting in the car or a couple walking in the street. This helps keeps the vocabulary relevant, so that you learn Arabic that you can use with real people.

Episodes feel like a podcast

Though some episodes are better than others, generally the hosts of each episode try to keep things interesting by making personal comments, sharing experiences, or making an occasional joke. This keeps the lessons feeling more like a podcast and less like an audio textbook.

Tools & Resources

Arabicpod101 does provide some bonus materials to help you on your Arabic learning journey. Among other tools you can find a dictionary, word lists, grammar charts, and pronunciation helps. Nothing special with these features. It’s cool having them in one place but there also other sites out there who provide similar resources for free. 

Three tools that do stand out are Arabicpod101’s Flashcards, playback, and transcript features.  

Flashcards

Similar to Anki and Memrise Arabicpod101’s flashcards run off a spaced repetition system. You can build your review deck from any word you come across in the podcast. The decks are easy to make. You can build up a good sized one in a minute or two.

Playback

Arabicpod101 allows you to select words from the podcast conversations and play them back at a slower speed. You also playback at regular speed if you want. This is ideal for picking out the intonation and pronunciation of spoken Arabic. It’s also useful if you’re practicing your listening skills.

Transcripts

Arabicpod101 has made full transcripts of their lessons so you can follow along to the conversations or use the transcripts to review later and create your own study tools. 

Price

Subscription

Arabicpod101 comes in 3 monthly subscription plans: basic, premium, and premium plus. The more months you decide to purchase at one time the less you end up paying for each month.

The basic level only includes the podcast episodes. For a single month it costs $8. Per month price goes as low as $4 if you purchase 24 months. 

The premium level includes full access to the podcast in addition to the full array of tools and resources. A single month at the premium level is $25. Per month price goes to $10 if you get 24 months.

The premium plus level includes the same content as the previous two subscription levels along with the added help and recommendations from an Arabic tutor. Premium plus is $47 for a single month. Per month price goes down to $22.88 per month if you buy 24 months. 

Best subscription

The cheapest subscription gives the most value. Truth be told, you don’t need more than the basic level to improve your Arabic. The added tools in premium are good but only if you plan on using them regularly. The premium plus’ expensive price makes its the least valuable option. For $47 you could purchase a basic subscription and then find a real tutor on Italki.

Arabicpod101's shortcomings

No separation of dialects

Arabicpod101 has lessons available in 3 dialects of Arabic but doesn’t give any way to let you know which lessons are in which dialects. Given that Arabic dialects can differ dramatically this is a huge problem for the beginning Arabic student and a frustration for other learners. 

Inconsistent lesson quality

Some lessons are newer than others and there’s often a clear difference in quality between new and old lessons.

You don’t actually have to speak Arabic

Arabicpod101 is purely an audio course. So like other audio courses you can’t depend on it to meet your need for speaking practice. If you choose to use the podcast make sure you also take time to talk with native Arabic speakers.

Best way to use Arabicpod101

Study & review

Think of Arabicpod101 as an extra tool in your bag of Arabic learning tricks. It can be useful to practice Arabic one episode at a time at a set time everyday. The podcast is also good for practicing throughout the day (in the car, walking, work, etc).

Depending on which dialect you're learning the site can also be useful for pronunciation and listening practice. Try following along to a dialogue with the transcripts and then without. Also try playing back each Arabic word slowly and mimic what you hear. 

Rocket Arabic

Conclusion

Arabicpod101 is close to being a great tool for learning Arabic. Unfortunately its lessons differ widely in quality and don’t distinguish between the 3 Arabic dialects used in the lessons. Beginners in Arabic should probably look elsewhere. Intermediate students may still find the site useful for grammar, accent reduction, and vocabulary. 

At the basic subscription level Arabic isn’t a horrible deal, even with its flaws. The site has a one week free trial offer (you don’t need a credit card). Best to use the site for a little while and see if you like it before buying.