Graduate Student Samee Sulaiman improves Arabic fluency as a foundation to upcoming field research

This Summer, I focused on language study to improve my Arabic fluency by taking an intensive Summer Arabic Course at Georgetown University. I also intended to to travel to Lebanon for limited research but due to unexpected personal circumstances, I was unable to travel to conduct this research. However, I did successfully improve my Arabic fluency. I was placed in the advanced Arabic course with three other students and together we worked through the third volume of Al-Kitaab. The program required substantial hours of classwork and homework everyday. The course focused on reading, writing, listening, speaking, grammar, and vocabulary. I made substantial improvements in all of the above categories of language study. I was especially pleased with my cementation of important grammatical concepts and the expansion of my available vocabulary. This was an incredibly important step in my graduate education will be an important foundation for my coming year of field research. I will use these language skills to conduct archival, ethnographic, and observational research. Thank you very much to the Center for Middle East Studies and their generous contribution. Its support was immensely important for funding this language training.