I observed a beginner’s Arabic BUILD class. There were two students. The class consisted of various activities. The first was recapping the Arabic alphabet by asking students if they had any questions about them. The teacher made relevant associations to English sounds to describe sounds that didn’t exist in English such as “foggy glass H” and “hairball H”. He also showed the IPA for the letters on the computer school. The next activity had a list of soda names that in are similar sounding between English and Arabic. Students had to figure out which sodas there were on the paper. Then they discussed the two different writing systems for numbers in Arabic. He then explains that in Arab countries they have funny commercials during Ramadan much like our Super Bowl commercials. They then discussed what is Ramadan and the cultural importance of the holiday. He then played the Pepsi and Coke Commercials. He then handed out a list of restaurant vocabulary and a restaurant menu for the students to see what they could identify. Lastly, a list of numbers was provided and the restaurant vocabulary and the numbers were repeated by the students.

Reflection:

I like the cultural aspect and lessons that were incorporated into the lesson. The identifying of vocabulary before the lists were provided was also nice and used the alphabet to challenge students appropriately. I only wish there had been more time and classes per week for students to have more oral production.