Arabic language development alongside cross-cultural growth
“Advanced High” test score
Shababeek helped my wife and I achieve our long-term goal of reaching Advanced High on the ACTFL OPI Speaking Evaluation!
Your journey through our five-phase program starts with simple activities to develop comprehension and conversation skills.
Phase 1
FOUNDATIONS
Learn the physical world around you. Using pictures, objects, and puppets, collect the most essential vocabulary through seeing and doing.
Phase 2
VISUAL STORYTELLING
Learn how to build simple stories in the present and past based on your developing vocabulary. Picture books are used as visual aids in storytelling.
Phase 3
SHARED STORIES
Learn how to build simple stories in the present and past based on your developing vocabulary. Picture books are used as visual aids in storytelling.
Phase 4
DEEP UNDERSTANDING
Gain deep insights and new perspectives on local life and culture. Your nurturer will share their life story and societal values with you, allowing you to discover the culture around you at a deep level.
Phase 5
ARAB DISCOURSE
Expand your ability to participate in natural settings. Audio and visual resources intended for a Jordanian audience develop your understanding when participating in a group of native speakers. Activities are structured to help you speak and act like a native.
Frequently Asked Questions
As many as you can. It takes around 1500 hours of sessions to build a vocab of 10,000 recognizable words. This is when we start to understand most of what we hear around us. We recommend taking 20 hours a week.
Ask yourself the question: “How long do I want to wait to know people and be known by locals?” The more hours you are participating daily, the faster the “wall of noise” around you will come alive and the more you’ll feel a sense of belonging.
In his book, Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell highlights a study originally published in the “Harvard Business Review” The general premise has become known as the “10,000 hours to become an expert rule”. In the book Gladwell explains the research behind the notion that true expertise is achieved after an individual has invested 10,000 hours in learning or practicing a skill. This may be a sport, a musical instrument or the study of something.
There are many ways to define “fluency”. If, for the sake of argument, we consider fluency to be the same as being an “expert” in speaking a language, then a learner may well invest 10,000 hours in their language studies to attain fluency.
Instead of asking “How long does it take to become fluent in another language?”perhaps a better question is:
“How do I get my 10,000 hours of study and practice to become fluent in a new language?”
For more information on this topic, check out this article.
At Shababeek our efforts are focused on helping you quickly understand the world around you and develop relationships in it. We focus on practical skills you need rather quickly, like reading sight words on signs and text messaging your friends.
We follow the same natural progress you took in your native tongue. In first grade you began learning to read and write the words that were already familiar. In the same way we want to build a first grade vocabulary before learning to text message our friends.
All you need is a recording device and both ears. You can purchase one (Sony digital flash recorder or Olympus recorders are both good) or use your phone or tablet/ipad.
Our participants enjoy the following apps:
Voice Record Pro
Hi-Q MP3 recorder for Android
Voice recorder and audio editor for iPhone
To arrange transportation from the airport to your doorstep, contact Engaging Cultures Travel.