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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 universities8

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
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
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

Children and teenagers1

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

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.