Alex from USA, an English Teacher for Sudanese Refugees
“I’ve been studying at UCAN over a year, and I’ve been grateful for the ways that as I’ve increased in my language skills.”
Alex shares about the importance of simply starting to learn the language when moving to Cairo. Just begin.
What inspired you to start studying Arabic?
I decided to learn Arabic for a very practical reason: because I would be living in Cairo. Thus mostly as a way to actually meet people and communicate with them. I had heard about UCAN from some friends who recommended studying the Egyptian dialect there.
What has your experience been like at UCAN?
My experience with UCAN has been very good. The kindness and welcome of the staff and particularly the teachers has definitely encouraged me in my studies at Arabic. I’ve been studying at UCAN over a year, and I’ve been grateful for the ways that as I’ve increased in my language skills, they have continued to create curriculum and lessons to help me continue to improve my speaking, reading, listening and writing skills.
Tell us one of your favorite experiences or memories at UCAN?
I think one of my favorite experiences at UCAN has been learning phrases or proverbs. My teachers every so often would focus on different sayings, and we’d practice them in class. Then it was a lot of fun to go and try out the sayings with other friends who live around me. They would always bust out laughing that the foreigner knew the saying. And so I really appreciated UCAN helping me build deeper connections with local friends through something as simple as learning that the monkey in the eyes of his mother is a gazelle.
How has this program impacted your daily life or career?
I have learned a new language which is an incredibly useful skill no matter where I go. Both the patience and perseverance needed to learn a new language are life skills that are useful for any new skill one is learning. I learned a great deal about the culture. Classes not only provided space to learn the language, but also the culture of Egyptians. And this was very helpful in navigating Cairo and relationships with friends here with greater confidence. I am also a language teacher for English, so learning a foreign language myself has allowed for greater compassion for my students as well as seeing what techniques and methods teachers at UCAN use to help students with a new language. Thus, my own experience of language learning and watching other foreign language teachers helps me be a better teacher.
What would you tell someone who is considering studying at UCAN?
What should other potential students know? First, I would highly encourage people to study at UCAN, but also know that ultimately all language learning is dependent on the person’s own desire and effort in learning outside of class. No one ever learned a foreign language in a classroom, but UCAN provides a very helpful support structure to build one’s language skills. So I would encourage people to not just commit to class time, but also the time outside of class to learning Arabic. Second, if there are others who you can study with, I think that definitely helps during the plateau seasons of language learning.
I wasn’t able to study with others due to my schedule, but I think that studying with others creates a small community between the students and the teacher and provides accountability and support to continue learning even when the language learning process gets a bit dry. However, one thing I did appreciate about UCAN was their flexibility. As I wasn’t able to study with a group because of my schedule, I was still able to do one-on-one classes. So no matter what your situation/schedule may be, I found UCAN really trying to work with people’s schedules to help them in their language learning. So if you have questions or concerns, reach out to them.
