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Programmes and resources for teaching Arabic

Textbooks for learning Arabic

Published textbook series and single textbooks for teaching Modern Standard Arabic to non-native speakers, from Saudi Arabia and beyond. Each entry gives the publisher, editions, levels, audience, language of instruction, components, and published evaluation studies.

A listing and description only, not a judgement of quality: we give the facts and do not rate the books; the studies cited are their authors' views. What we could not confirm is marked "not known".

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Adults and universities22

University students · 4 books

Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'Arabiyya

الكتاب في تعلّم العربيّة · Georgetown University Press · United States

Built on Modern Standard Arabic, but the third edition's video dialogues also use Egyptian and Levantine Arabic.

  • Editions: From 1995; third edition 2011–2014
  • Levels: 4 books: Alif Baa, then parts 1–3, beginner to advanced
  • Language of instruction: English
  • Components: Student book, answer key, audio and video, and a paid online platform
Studies about it (2)
  • Awad, M. (2005), review of the second edition, LINGUIST List (review)
  • Coffin, E. (2006), review of Part One (2nd ed.), MESA Bulletin (review)
For sale From the publisher Publisher's page
University students · Two volumes

Ahlan wa Sahlan: Functional Modern Standard Arabic

أهلًا وسهلًا · Yale University Press · United States

  • Editions: Third edition 2021
  • Levels: Two volumes: beginners and intermediate
  • Language of instruction: English, then Arabic only from lesson ten
  • Components: Letters-and-sounds book, student book, audio and video, and a teacher's edition
For sale From the publisher Publisher's page
University students

Arabic for Life: A Textbook for Beginning Arabic

العربيّة للحياة (ييل) · Bassam Frangieh, Yale University Press · United States

  • Editions: 2011
  • Levels: One volume for beginners, reaching early intermediate
  • Language of instruction: English
  • Components: The book, with more than 80 videos and 100 audio files
For sale From the publisher Publisher's page
General · Two volumes

Mastering Arabic

إتقان العربيّة · Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar, Bloomsbury · United Kingdom

  • Editions: Fourth edition 2024
  • Levels: Two volumes (beginner and intermediate), plus a grammar book and a workbook
  • Language of instruction: English
  • Components: A full-colour book with free online audio and video
For sale Secondary source
University students · Elementary

Elementary and Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic

العربيّة الفصحى المعاصرة (سلسلة ميشيغان) · Peter Abboud et al., University of Michigan, later Cambridge University Press · United States and United Kingdom

  • Editions: From 1971; an advanced volume in 2023
  • Levels: Elementary (two volumes), intermediate and advanced
  • Language of instruction: English
  • Components: Student books and audio recordings
For sale Secondary source Publisher's page
Adults · 6 books

Lughatuna al-Fusha: A New Course in Modern Standard Arabic

لغتنا الفصحى · Samia Louis, AUC Press · Egypt

  • Editions: 2010–2015
  • Levels: 6 books, beginner to advanced
  • Language of instruction: English
  • Components: Student book and interactive online exercises
For sale Secondary source
Adults

Al-Kitab al-Asasi

الكتاب الأساسي في تعليم اللغة العربيّة لغير الناطقين بها · ALECSO, later AUC Press · Tunisia and Egypt

  • Editions: Cairo edition 2008–2009
  • Levels: 3 volumes and a companion dictionary
  • Language of instruction: Arabic
  • Components: Student books, audio CD and a companion dictionary

Sources differ on its authorship.

Studies about it (1)
Out of print Secondary source
University students · Two volumes

Méthode d'arabe

منهج العربيّة (دوهوفلس) · Luc-Willy Deheuvels, L'Asiathèque · France

  • Editions: 2022; preceded by Manuel d'arabe moderne from 1993
  • Levels: Two volumes: A1–A2, and B1–B2 in preparation
  • Language of instruction: French
  • Components: Student book, free audio, two glossaries and answers
For sale From the publisher Publisher's page
University students · Two parts

Lehrbuch des modernen Arabisch / Standard Arabic

كتاب العربيّة الحديثة (كرال ورويشل وشولتس) · Günther Krahl, Wolfgang Reuschel and Eckehard Schulz · Germany

  • Editions: From 1976; English edition by Cambridge, 2000
  • Levels: Two parts
  • Language of instruction: German, and English in the Cambridge edition
  • Components: Student book and keys
For sale Secondary source
Adults

Arabic Reading for Muslims

سلسلة القراءة العربيّة للمسلمين · A team led by Dr Mahmoud Ismail Sini, Librairie du Liban, Beirut · Lebanon

  • Editions: Part one 1991
  • Levels: Several parts of 30 lessons each
  • Language of instruction: Arabic
  • Components: Texts with comprehension, vocabulary and grammar exercises; answers and a glossary at the end of each book

For reading religious texts. From the author's own guide to Arabic teaching series.

Availability not known From the publisher
Adults · 6 parts

Arabic of the Quran

عربيّةُ القرآن · Mahmoud Ismail Saleh and colleagues, Arabic without Boundaries · South Africa

  • Levels: 6 parts: 50 lessons each in the first four, 25 in the last two
  • Language of instruction: Not known
  • Components: Texts and exercises on Quranic vocabulary, structures and styles, with Quranic reading passages

For reading and comprehension only. From the author's own guide to Arabic teaching series.

Availability not known From the publisher
Adults · 7 levels

Teach Me Arabic

علّمني العربيّة · Islam Presentation Committee, Kuwait · Kuwait

  • Levels: 7 levels
  • Language of instruction: Not known
  • Components: Vocabulary and structures for daily life and dealings

For new Muslims and resident communities.

Free Secondary source
Adults · 5 parts

The Road to Arabic

الطريق إلى العربيّة · Fanar Qatar Islamic Cultural Center, Doha · Qatar

  • Levels: 5 parts
  • Language of instruction: Not known
Free Secondary source
University students

Полный курс литературного арабского языка

الدورةُ الكاملة في العربيّة الفصحى · Vladimir Lebedev, VKN, Moscow · Russia

  • Editions: Final stage 2017
  • Levels: Successive stages; the last in two volumes
  • Language of instruction: Russian
  • Components: Authentic texts and exercises
For sale Secondary source
University students · Alatul for beginners

Alatul / Mabruk

Alatul وMabruk · Victoria Aguilar and colleagues, Herder and Diego Marín · Spain

  • Editions: 2010 and 2014
  • Levels: Alatul for beginners, Mabruk for A2.1
  • Language of instruction: Spanish
For sale Secondary source
University students · 3 parts

Comunicare in arabo

Monica Ruocco and colleagues (University of Naples L'Orientale), Hoepli · Italy

  • Editions: 2022–2024
  • Levels: 3 parts: A1–A2, A2–B1, B1–B2
  • Language of instruction: Italian
  • Components: Dialogues, texts, grammar and audio

Includes cultural notes on dialects; its basis is Modern Standard Arabic.

For sale From the publisher Publisher's page
University students · Two parts

Grammatica teorico-pratica della lingua araba

نحوُ العربيّة النظريُّ والتطبيقيّ (فيتشا فالييري) · Laura Veccia Vaglieri, Istituto per l'Oriente, Rome · Italy

  • Editions: From 1937; tenth printing 2006
  • Levels: Two parts: morphology and basic syntax, then exercises
  • Language of instruction: Italian

A teaching grammar with exercises.

For sale Secondary source
University students · Two parts

Yallā: A Textbook of Modern Standard Arabic

يلّا (Yallā) · Shukri Gohar and David Nanskivell (McGill University), Cambridge University Press · Canada and United Kingdom

  • Editions: 2023
  • Levels: Two parts: beginner to upper intermediate
  • Language of instruction: English
For sale From the publisher Publisher's page
Adults · 4 levels

At-Takallum

التكلّم · Saber al-Meshrefy, Suad al-Khouly and Abu Owais Mahmoud; Dar al-Burj, Cairo, with a Bosnian edition by El-Kalem · Egypt and Bosnia and Herzegovina

  • Levels: 4 levels: A1, A2, B1, B2
  • Language of instruction: Arabic
  • Components: Student book and workbook per level, and a picture glossary
For sale Secondary source Publisher's page
University students · Single book

Учебник арабского языка (Kovalev & Sharbatov)

كتابُ العربيّة (كوفاليف وشرباتوف) · A. A. Kovalev and G. Sh. Sharbatov, Vostochnaya Literatura, Moscow · Russia

  • Editions: First edition 1960, third 1998
  • Levels: One volume, beginner to intermediate
  • Language of instruction: Russian, comparing the grammar of both languages
For sale Secondary source
University students · Single book

Corso di arabo contemporaneo

Olivier Durand, Angela Daniela Langone and Giuliano Mion, Hoepli · Italy

  • Editions: 2010
  • Levels: One beginners' volume with exercises
  • Language of instruction: Italian
For sale Secondary source

A listing and description, not a judgement of quality. Inclusion rule: an identifiable publisher, a published series or single book, and Modern Standard Arabic. We link only to official pages; a book without one is listed without a link. Most details of the Saudi series come from the 2020 guide to Arabic teaching series published by the King Abdullah International Center for the Arabic Language.