Arabic is a widely-spoken language with a rich history, and it certainly isn’t easy to learn! If you’re looking for a language app or course to help with your learning, you might be disappointed to learn that Babbel doesn’t have a course for Arabic.
Fortunately, there are still many other great options for learning Arabic. The following list will give you an overview of four of those options. And honestly, they might end up being better than Babbel!
Pimsleur
Pimsleur is a pretty solid course all around. With Pimsleur, you will get well-structured lessons that follow a logical progression. Each new lesson builds upon the previous lesson in an intuitive way that makes learning Arabic feel a lot less daunting.
Pimsleur also has a huge amount of oral language content. If you want to practice speaking Arabic then Pimsleur is the app for you! But, if you’re a stickler for grammar, it might not be the best choice as Pimsleur doesn’t focus much on grammar rules.
Sometimes it’s best to approach a language without getting caught up in all the rules right away. This is why Pimsleur is a great option for beginners. The app is also highly interactive; it’s full of imagery and interesting cultural references.
See our Super-Detailed Pimsleur Review
ArabicPod101
ArabicPod101 is a great place to start learning Arabic because it will provide you with tons of helpful listening content. The format of the course is reminiscent of a podcast, meaning you’ll hear a lot of conversation between two people.
The dialogue initially includes a lot of English but as you progress through the course you’ll hear less and less English. ArabicPod101 also does a good job of covering grammar rules, so it can fill in some of the gaps that apps like Pimsleur might leave.
That being said, the ArabicPod101 platform isn’t the most organized resource out there. The course pathways are a bit counterintuitive and are not always easy to navigate. There is some great material included but because of the structure of the course, it is recommended as a supplementary resource rather than a standalone course.
Also, you can use the code “ALLLANGUAGERESOURCES” to get 25% off a subscription of ArabicPod101.
See our Super-Detailed ArabicPod101 Review
Language Transfer
This course will teach you Egyptian Arabic.
One of the most obvious benefits associated with Language Transfer is that it is completely free of cost! But there are several other pros worth mentioning as well. For example, the course content is geared specifically towards beginners, making it one of the best options for those just starting to learn Arabic.
The Language Transfer platform is very easy to navigate, and you will have no trouble getting started. The lessons invite you to actively participate and engage with the material. You are encouraged to pause the lessons and practice speaking or answer the questions that are posed.
It’s important to note, however, that it would be hard to get a strong grasp of Arabic using Language Transfer alone. There is a serious lack of listening content and the teacher isn’t a native speaker.
See our Super-Detailed Language Transfer Review
italki
Italki is a little bit different from the other options on this list. It isn’t a course or an app — it’s actually an online platform that is designed to connect you with a language tutor of your choice. This is the perfect option for someone who wants to interact with someone else while learning Arabic.
Even if you are a total beginner, you’re guaranteed to find a tutor that matches your needs on italki. There are manytutors to choose from, and they range from professional language teachers to simply people who are native Arabic speakers.
You can learn more about the tutors by reading the reviews left by other learners. It’s a good idea to see if other people were happy with their lessons. Once you choose a tutor, they will tell you their rate and together you can schedule a convenient time for your language class.
Classes are usually between 30 minutes and an hour, and rates can vary a lot! If you are paying for a professional teacher you may pay up to $60 an hour, but rates can also drop as low as $4 an hour. The average rates are around $10 an hour.
See our Super-Detailed italki Review
We hope that some of these courses appeal to you and that you now feel confident pursuing your Arabic language goals. Choosing any of these apps/courses will get you started on the right track, and after that, it’s all up to you!
Hi Diedrus, thanks for your comments. We are definitely working on pages that are geared toward the senior segment, but not yet far enough to share anything with you. 🙁
I think iTalki is a great place for you, far better than the language-exchange type platforms. Check out our Arabic Apps ( https://www.alllanguageresources.com/learn-arabic-apps/ ) and Arabic Courses ( https://www.alllanguageresources.com/arabic-courses/ ) pages, too. Pimsleur may be a fine place, too, that it forces you to speak the language immediately, and the vocabulary it teaches tends to be more formal/polite. Good luck!
Information on various programs very helpful. Neither mentioned anything specifically geared towards a senior , so perhaps the Italki program with the one-on-one tutor would be best for me.
This is great information. I’m very excited about starting to learn my new languages. I will begin with Arabic because I plan to visit county that speak it in the very near future. Right now however I must decide which of these resources is best for me. I was looking for something in the narratives that was geared towards seniors , but I saw nothing. Perhaps Italki would be best because of the individulality involved (specifically a 1 on 1 tutor.