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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Children and teenagers8

Children · 7 graded books

Gateway to Arabic

بوّابة العربيّة · Imran Hamza Alawiye, Anglo-Arabic Graphics · United Kingdom

  • Editions: From about 2002
  • Levels: 7 graded books, extension books and a handwriting book
  • Language of instruction: English
  • Components: Student book, answer book and audio CDs

Mainly for children and teenagers and for Islamic schools in the West.

For sale Secondary source
School students · Volumes for beginners

Durus al-Lughah al-'Arabiyyah (Gontor)

دروس اللغة العربيّة على الطريقة الحديثة · Imam Zarkasyi and Imam Syubani, Pondok Modern Darussalam Gontor · Indonesia

  • Levels: Volumes for beginners
  • Language of instruction: Arabic, by the direct method
  • Components: Student book

Taught in Indonesia's modern Islamic boarding schools.

Studies about it (1)
For sale Secondary source
School students

Arapça Ders Kitabı (Turkish Ministry of National Education)

كتب العربيّة لثانويّات الأئمّة والخطباء · Turkish Ministry of National Education (MEB) · Turkey

  • Editions: Successive editions, last updated in 2026
  • Levels: One book per grade in middle and high school
  • Language of instruction: Turkish with Arabic
  • Components: Combined student book and workbook, and a teacher's guide
Studies about it (1)
Free From the publisher Publisher's page
School students · One book per grade

Buku Bahasa Arab (Ministry of Religious Affairs)

كتب اللغة العربيّة للمدارس الدينيّة · Ministry of Religious Affairs, Directorate General of Islamic Education · Indonesia

  • Editions: 2020, on the 2019 curriculum
  • Levels: One book per grade, primary to high school
  • Language of instruction: Indonesian and Arabic
  • Components: Student book and teacher's guide

State-owned and distributed free.

Free Secondary source
School students · One book per grade

Arabi, Zaban-e Quran (Iranian school books)

العربيّة، لغةُ القرآن (عربی، زبان قرآن) · Organization for Educational Research and Planning, Ministry of Education · Iran

  • Editions: Reprinted yearly
  • Levels: One book per grade, 7 to 12
  • Language of instruction: Persian
  • Components: Student book
For sale Secondary source
School students · 4 parts

Arabi ka Muallim

معلّمُ العربيّة (عربی کا معلّم) · Maulvi Abdus Sattar Khan; published among others by Qadeemi Kutub Khana, Karachi · India and Pakistan

  • Editions: Since at least 1945, still in print
  • Levels: 4 parts, with a four-booklet key
  • Language of instruction: Urdu and Arabic
  • Components: Student book and the Kalid-e Jadid key

For students of religious schools in the Indian subcontinent.

For sale Secondary source
School students · 3 parts

Al-Qira'a al-Rashida

القراءة الراشدة · Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi · India

  • Editions: Written 1942–1944
  • Levels: 3 parts
  • Language of instruction: Arabic only
  • Components: Graded reading texts

A graded reader for young students of religious schools rather than a full course.

For sale Secondary source
School students · Grades 10 and 11

Excelling Arabic

Kenya Literature Bureau · Kenya

  • Editions: On Kenya's new competency-based curriculum, 2025–2026
  • Levels: Grades 10 and 11
  • Language of instruction: Not known
  • Components: Student book and teacher's guide
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.