Sabeen

DUDE! as salaamu 'alaykum.
I've just read some of your recent posts - are u at the al-fajr centre in egypt? can i ask how you got there? lol..sounds like a weird question but,like..i'd appreciate it if you post a bit on what made u apply, the application process, how u got there, living arrangements, teaching arrangements etc.
jazaakillaah khair :D

Wa 'alaikum assalam!

"Can I ask how you got there?"..hehe! Course u can. Well I graduated in May 2005 Alhamdulillah. After my graduation I was planning on doing PGCE in primary teaching alongside part time Classical Arabic classes. Wanted to learn Arabic as its the language of the Qur'an and its just a don language on the whole. Anyway, there were some issues with me applying for PGCE so that got delayed by another year. I then decided I will study Arabic full time. I began by searching on the Internet for courses available in London. I found a course at SOAS but unfortunately it was costing like £8000, yeh thats right! The course was a year long and a diploma. I knew I couldnt afford such money and had no means of getting a halal loan. Whilst sitting at the computer one day, I saw a link to studying Arabic in Egypt. I thought, why don't I just check how much it would cost for the fun of it. I calculated roughly the full cost of studying Arabic in Egypt (including flight, rent, food, shopping etc etc), it came to like half the price of what I would have paid at SOAS - I was really only doing these calculations for the "fun" of it. However, Miss Sabeen Sharif was just getting over excited, like her parents were gonna give her permission to go abroad - haha! I spoke to my brothers and sisters, they said "stop being a hero"...lol! So one evening I decided to be a "hero" and ask my parents whilst watching tv. My dad said "we'll see". I went red, coz that would usually mean I had a chance of convincing him. The next day, my parents said YES to me - Woohoo, I couldn't believe it, but as I started to collect all the information my parents were changing their mind in the mean time. :o( In the end I managed to convince them, booked my flight quick time and flew out to Egypt via Al-Italia (such a pathetic airline).

Now here I am in Egypt. Been here since September 5th. You wanted some details on Al-fajr centre. I got all my info from the website and I was aware of someone who had studied at this centre previously. The application process is very simple. They have classes starting every 5 weeks so you can more or less come anytime of the year. They also provide students with other services, such as airport pick-up service, accomodation service bla di bla. Since I was coming alone and didn't know anyone here, I requested for some of these services. Now, I am living in a reasonable apartment sharing with another sister, rent is roughly around £65 per month (rent can vary depending on where u stay) which is affordable Alhamdulillah. Food is pretty cheap down here but not everything is of high quality like England. I guess I need to drill it in my head that this is Egypt not England. Teaching is pretty kewl at Al-fajr but whilst being here, I have come across (not personally), have heard of teachers outside of Al-fajr that are really good and cheaper. If theres anything else you would like to know, let me know and I will fill you in with the details inshaAllah.

By the way, are you plannin on coming to Egypt??

Thanks for the info! Studying Arabic is abit of a life-long dream of mine...nay, AIM! InshaaAllaah, I hope 2 study it fulltime [are u learning the sarf + nahw etc?) one day, preferably immersed in a proper Arab environment, ie. an arab country innit. i heard rave reviews of al-fajr which is why i got so excited wen i realised u were there.
it'll probbaly be a mission convincing my parents 2 let me go - i'm a first-year uni student..no idea wot i wana do with my degree [probably teaching]..and anyway, they wouldnt want me travelling alone. i might be able 2 convince one of my bro's to come along with me....if not, i'll have to wait till i'm married or something:P

so, like..is it like an actual uni? they teach in english, yeah? do they provide u with all the books etc? how long's ur course? [ur prolly doin the winter intensive innit]. do u feel u can understand arabic now and speak it fluently?

sorry for all the amateur questions...just wana kno all this stuff from sum1 who;s actually there,rather than the website..
:)

jazaakillaah khair!

Well I really do think that it is a beautiful dream to study Arabic and trust its worth it. Im not gonna deny that I find it hard but at the same time it is exciting when u pick up knew words. Your right, it is definately prefferable to be surrounded in an environment such as Egypt. You get to practise stuff when u go out however unfortunately the public doesn't speak Fushah, they speak Modern Arabic.
Hmmm well Al-fajr is definately not a bad place to study. However, there are many teachers available outside of fajr that offer private lessons at good prices. Im studying private at fajr, which means one-on-one tuition. The reason being is because pivate tuition allows me to work at my own pace, I can take days off whenever I like and study more than just 3 hours a day if I want. Since Im only here till June, I gotta try n study as fast as possible, so as long as I have all the tools I can come back to London and work on them to improve my Arabic.
Their are mainly 2 books that are taught in Egypt. The one that I am studying invloves more references to the Qur'an and Hadiths than the other. Depends on what you prefer. Yeh I have just started studying grammer and yessss its tough, its confusing but at the same time very challenging (Side point: I like challenges). They DON'T teach in English, but that's what makes it don coz you pick up much more than you would if you were getting taught in English. The course consists of 12 levels starting at level 0. I am currently on level 4 Alhamdulillah. I can hold a conversation in Arabic and course I started off by knowing nothing. Actually I could read and write but couldn't understand hardly anything. I mean I have improved but 9 months is tooooo short to learn any new language and coming back to Arabic, its hard! Yea im on the Winter Intensive at the moment so studyin 6 hours a day, o my word, it tires me out. I "sleep Arabic, eat Arabic and drink Arabic" :oP
Nah Al-fajr is nothing like a uni, its smaller than a primary school. I thought it was going to be like a proper school but nah I was wrong. Its segregated so they have a separate building for the men.
hmm yeh my parents also didn't want me to travel alone but then they thought I was confident enough so had the courage to give me permission. Ask me whether I was confident? hehe. Well the only thing I will say to you is that theres no harm in trying to ask your parents, InshaAllah Allah will do what is best for you so if it means ypu study Arabic after you get married then let it be but I will say this that if you do ever have the opportunity then grab it like you've never seen something like it before :oD
By the way don't be sorry for asking me questions, anytime mate :oD, InshaAllah I get some reward for helping ;O).
Anyway what are you studying at uni and which uni u at if u don't mind me asking?

were u confident? hehee..

i'm at aston uni, doin human biology..bit of a bore, but what the heck..i'm passing time.. :P

6 hrs of straight up studying...IN ARABIC?! woah..sounds tough..especially 4 sum1 who's never understood arabic at all b4! altho, ur right, the positives prolly outweigh the negatives innit.

yeah, i think i'll finish up with uni and stuff first; then inshAllaah, i'll ask me parents but 4 now, i'm gona keep hinting at them that i wana go egypt or sumwhere and study arabic..
i kno a lil bit...done arabic for 5 years @ skool, then i went to classes here n there..sarf+nahw...ur right, its rock solid but it is SO cool :D

anyways...i'm quite surprised abt the smallness of the centre..thoughjt it'd be this huge building on a 500 acre land or summat...lol.

jazaakillaah khair for all yer help, mate, if i need any more info/tips/whatever about arabic in egypt, i'll kno where to go ;)

Nice!! Anytime mate, ask me whatever u like.

Was I confident? Well it was an on and off thing. As the days got closer to flying out, my confidence level was sinking but Alhamdulillah its all good now.

Im studying Nahw right now, I think sarf doesn't start till level six inshaAllah. I got an exam tomorrow and...and...well im not in a very good state. Everything is kinda spinning like a frizbeeeee in my head. Apparently bilagha is meant to be quite kewl. All the teachers get well excited by just mentionin the word - their eyes just light up. I think you study the style of constructing sentences.

You studying Human biology to pass time? lol.

nah! not to pass time..lol..that prolly made me sound like sum genius geek (which i am not, i suure you). well, me 'rents wanted to me to do medicine (like all parents..), i didnt get the grades...so here i am with human bio..next best thing, as far as my grades went:P plus, as long as my parents are happy, i'm happy :)

bilagha..lol..sounds interesting. do let us kno how it goes when u begin studying it..and tell us wot exactly made the teachers' eyes light up at the very mention of the word :D

good luck with yer exam...hope you ace it, inshAllaah!

*'suure' = assure

my fingers tend to work faster than my mind sometimes :P

lol...ur a joka! well I hope you enjoy the rest of the time studying Human Bio. Sounds too much for me, Science was never my thing, actually was there anything that was my thing? hehe.

Alhamdulillah exam went okay, just some silly mistakes as usual. I read 'Ali as 'Ala..lol..that obviously changed the grammer for it..dumbass me!

Yeh def will let ya know about the bilagha when I get to it inshaAllah.