Arabic is a Semitic language spoken by about 422 million people worldwide who are mostly located in North Africa, the Middle East, and the Arabian Peninsula. It is certainly one of the most international languages in the world because of the number of countries in which it is spoken. It is an official language in 27 countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, UAE, and Yemen. It is also a national or minority language in 6 other countries: Cyprus, Iran, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Turkey.

Over 1.8 billion people, almost one-quarter of the world population, are Muslims. As the Quran is in Arabic, it is the language associated with Islam and all Muslims become familiar with the language to some extent. Although there are numerous dialects, such as Iraqi, Syrian, Egyptian, and North African Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic is the language that is most widely used. Modern Standard Arabic is an official language of the United Nations.

Arabic script, with the exception of Maltese Arabic which uses a Latin script, is written from right to left. The script is very beautiful and calligraphy remains a very important art form in Arabic countries.

We have compiled the most comprehensive list of high-quality FREE language resources to help you to learn ARABIC. Check them out below:

Free Resources to Learn Arabic

Free Learning/Studying Apps

Duolingo iTunes – Google Play – Duolingo has become a leader in the language learning world and for good reason. It’s fast, fun, well designed, suitable for all ages, and turns learning a foreign language into a challenging and pretty addictive game.

Memrise iTunesGoogle Play – Memrise is a really fast, fun, and free language learning app/website that is sure to get you hooked. There is a visual flashcard component that also incorporates audio from a community of native speakers. Memrise uses spaced repetition and is really effective at drilling vocabulary and phrases into your memory.

Drops – Learn Arabic iTunesGoogle Play – This simple but powerful app is entertaining, educational, and free. With a focus on visual learning and 5-minute lesson limits, this app is easy to integrate into your daily language learning regimen and is very effective.

Clozemaster iTunes Google Play – This popular app uses gamification and is a great addition to your language learning regimen, no matter what your level. It is very effective for vocabulary acquisition and billed as a great app to use after Duolingo.

Learn Arabic – Phrases & Words for Travel iTunesGoogle Play – A handy little app to have on hand when traveling to Arabic-speaking countries, which helps you to easily access basic phrases and vocabulary.

Learn Arabic Phrasebook iTunesGoogle Play – This useful app will help you learn Arabic words and sentences with recordings made by native speakers. The free version has 400+ practical phrases.

Learn Arabic by 50 Languages iTunesGoogle Play – This app is great for beginners (A1-A2) to increase practical vocabulary which is useful for managing everyday situations (at a store, restaurant, bank, doctor, etc). With the free version, you will have access to 30 complete lessons.

Arabic Alphabet by TenguGo iTunesGoogle Play – This app will teach you how to read, write and count in Arabic. It is organized into chapters with quizzes and flashcards for review and features audio examples from native Syrian and Iraqi speakers.

Learn Arabic – Complete Language GuideiTunesGoogle Play – This app aims to help you learn Arabic fluently within 3 months, but even if your goals aren’t that ambitious, it is a great aid for beginners and those traveling to an Arabic speaking country. In addition to teaching vocabulary, phrases, and sentences, it also boasts an Arabic dictionary with 50,000 plus words with corresponding audio.

HelloTalk – iTunesGoogle Play – This app is a global language learning social network that connects you with native speakers of other languages so that you can practice your speaking and listening skills via text/audio messages and free audio and video calls. The free version allows you to choose one native language and one target language.

Internet Polyglot – iTunes – Google Play – This free app uses lessons, games, and pictures to teach foreign languages to beginners. Although Internet Polyglot is far from a standalone language learning tool, it is a useful supplement to help you to learn and retain vocabulary.

Tandem Language ExchangeiTunesGoogle Play – This app matches you with language exchange partners from all over the world, providing the opportunity to practice those essential conversation skills that are necessary to take your language skills to the next level.

Free Arabic Dictionary/Translation Apps

Arabic English Dictionary & Translator iTunesGoogle Play – This free app works offline and provides detailed definitions, example sentences, and pronunciation for Arabic & English words, as well as flashcards for learning.

Google Translate iTunesGoogle Play – Google Translate offers online text translation between 103 languages by typing, offline translation for 59 languages, camera translation for 38 languages, image translation for 37 languages, conversation translation in 32 languages, and translation of handwritten characters in 93 languages. The app also has a phrasebook that allows you to save translated words and phrases for future reference in all languages.

Word Reference iTunesGoogle Play – The Word Reference app allows you access to the world’s most popular and powerful dictionary translation website, including forum discussions.

English Arab DictionaryGoogle Play – This free app works offline, provides English Arabic bidirectional translation, and has a ton of great features. It can be used as a translator for other programs (web browser, mail, or SMS) without opening the Dictionary app.

iTranslateiTunesGoogle Play – iTranslate is a leading free translator and dictionary app that provides translations for text in over 100 languages. Other functionality includes transliteration, sharing, favorites, history, and audio in both male and female voices. Voice to voice translations and the use of offline mode is not available with the free version.

The Free Dictionary By Farlex iTunesGoogle Play – This dictionary and thesaurus app provides millions of precise definitions, drawn from the most trusted industry publications and sources, including idioms, slang, and etymology of words. The Free Dictionary works offline and offers additional functionality like voice search, sharing, games, word of the day, and more.

Reverso Dictionary iTunesGoogle Play – This app serves as a dictionary and translator for millions of words and expressions, accompanied by contextual examples. Other features include a powerful linguistic search engine, natural pronunciation, phrasebook, flashcards, and more.

ArabiClearly – This YouTube channel features hundreds of educational videos for Arabic language learners focusing on teaching viewers to speak Levantine Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic. The channel features tutorials as well as full courses for beginner and intermediate levels. This is a great place to go to build vocabulary and grammar skills, improve pronunciation, and achieve conversational fluency.

Learn Arabic with Manar – Manar, a native Syrian Arabic speaker promises to keep Arabic language learning fun and easy on her YouTube channel. She is a professional translator for Arabic, English, and Greek who is trained in Modern Standard Arabic and “fusha” (formal literary Arabic) and specializes in teaching Arabic as a second language.

CGE Jordan Institute for Arabic Studies – This YouTube channel is run by an Arabic language institute in Amman, Jordan that is directed by Fridrik Tiedemann, Jr., author of the book “The 101 Most Used Verbs in Spoken Arabic: Jordan & Palestine”. The video instruction focuses on Arabic spoken by 95% of Arabs in everyday life. Check out these three great courses: Beginner Level Spoken Arabic LessonsIntermediate Level Spoken Arabic Lessons, and Advanced Level Spoken Arabic Lessons.

Arabic with Rana – Rana, an enthusiastic Arabic teacher who hails from Syria, teaches Levantine Arabic on her YouTube channel.

Learn Arabic with Qasid – This YouTube channel is operated by The Qasid Institute, a leading educational institute for Arabic language learning run by a team of western professionals and Jordanian academics.

Learn Palestinian Arabic – Adrian Abdul-Baha teaches Palestinian Arabic on his YouTube channel and touches on political topics as well.

Learn Arabic with ArabicPod101 – This is a fun and helpful set of videos to add to your regular Arabic language learning regimen.

Arabic for Beginners 1 – This free video course was created by Lovisa Berg of Dalarna University in Sweden. Students can expect to acquire basic vocabulary, learn simple grammar, learn to communicate in Arabic using simple sentences, and read and write simple texts as well as recognize, write and correctly pronounce the Arabic alphabet.

Elementary Arabic I – This basic course, taught by Mervat Ibrahim of Johnson County Community College in Kansas, teaches Arabic listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Easy Arabic – These YouTube videos are the work of a non-profit project which uses lighthearted street interviews as a method to teach languages. Each video has a topic and the host asks questions to native Arabic speakers on the street based on the theme. Each video contains subtitles in both Arabic and English.

Learn Arabic with Maha – Maha is a very enthusiastic Arabic language teacher and her YouTube videos are thoughtfully prepared.

Edupedia World – The Edupedia World YouTube channel offers a very comprehensive set of free Arabic language videos.

Nassra Arabic Method – This YouTube channel is based on the teaching method created by Omar and Khaled Nassra and features a great selection of beginner Arabic lessons.

LangMedia – LangMedia provides language learning resources, including videos, audio, study guides, etc. LangMedia is run by the Five College Center for the Study of World Languages and its mission is to share examples of linguistic and cultural diversity with language learners. In the “Language by Country” section of the LangMedia website, they provide videos that focus on practical aspects of everyday life (For Ex: Basic Communication, Shopping, Transportation, Culture, and Social Life). The conversations often include colloquial language and all videos are accompanied by translations and transcripts. LangMedia highlights Arabic (Palestinian Dialect) in Jordan in this section. The “CultureTalk” section of the LangMedia website features video interviews with people of different ages and backgrounds. The interviews are primarily conducted by students and translations and transcripts are provided. There are six Arabic CultureTalk Units: CultureTalk Arab Levant, CultureTalk Egypt, CultureTalk Iraq, CultureTalk North Africa, CultureTalk Western Sahara, CultureTalk Yemen.

  1. LangMedia 1st year Arabic Grammar Videos – YouTube
  2. LangMedia 2nd year Arabic Grammar Videos – YouTube

Aladin’s LinguisticsYouTube – This YouTube channel focuses on sharing the news in slow Arabic, which is a great supplemental learning resource. They have playlists for both Beginner and Intermediate level learners and viewers can download free transcripts for each video.

Our Family Life – Our Family Life is an animated Jordanian/Palestinian series for families which has subtitles in multiple languages and Arabic captions.

El Bulbul by The LevanTongueSpotifyAppleYouTube – The ElBulbul podcast is hosted by two Jordanians, Ashraf & Enas, and features interesting conversations on a range of topics in real spoken Jordanian Arabic to help language learners improve their listening skills & speak ‘zay el bulbul’ (meaning fluently).

Simple and Easy ArabicSpotify – The Simple & Easy Arabic podcast by Amy Goedhart focuses on telling stories in spoken Levantine Arabic that will help you to improve your listening skills. Each episode starts with new vocabulary and ends with a set of questions about the story.

Levantine Arabic: Bayni w BaynakSpotify – The Bayni wa Baynak podcast is hosted by a native and non-native speaker and is a great way to improve your Arabic skills.

Learn Levantine Arabic: MarhabtaynAppleAudible – The ‘Marhabtayn’ podcast is hosted by Saira Meerza who shares her love of Arabic with her audience.

Learn Arabic with ArabicPod101 Apple – This is a fun and informative podcast to add to your regular Japanese language learning regimen. Every lesson is free for a period of time; each new audio and video lesson (3-5 lessons are published per week) is free to access for 3 weeks before being locked into their library, which can be accessed only with paid membership.

Arabic PDQ-Quick Comprehensive Course: Learn to Speak, Understand, Read and Write Arabic – This language learning program teaches Egyptian Arabic over the course of 8 units with 4 hours of audio instruction.

ArabicPod – Apple – This free podcast offers free beginner-level lessons and transcripts are available online.

Arabic SurvivalPhrases Apple – These fun and innovative audio lessons teach basic Arabic and are accompanied by PDF guides.

One Minute Arabic Apple – In this free Arabic language learning podcast from the Radio Lingua Network your teachers Mark and Mourad will cover the basics and provide you with ten bite-sized lessons which are just a few minutes in length. These audio lessons clearly won’t make you fluent, but they can help you get by on a trip to an Arabic-speaking country.

Learn Arabic with Spotify  Spotify – This is a nice, comprehensive, and free playlist of lessons put together by Spotify.

Learn Arabic by Complete Language Lessons  Spotify – 16 free Arabic lessons on Spotify.

Vocabulearn: Arabic Level 1Spotify – Level 1 of the popular Vocabulearn series is free on Spotify. Arabic Level 1 is approximately three hours long and teaches about 2500 vocabulary words and useful phrases.

Learn Saudi Arabic Fast by Language Superstar Spotify – This podcast on Spotify offers Saudi Arabic language instruction spread over 11 lessons.

Introduction to Arabic Course by Language Transfer YouTube – This free beginner Arabic audio class uses an unconventional approach called language transfer, which they refer to as “the thinking method“. Rather than focusing heavily on grammar, vocabulary, and memorization, this course teaches the structure of Arabic in an exploratory, interactive and conscious way.

Colloquial Arabic: The Complete Course for Beginners – This collection of hundreds of audio files, each a few minutes in length, provides concise and clear Arabic language instruction for beginners. These free audio lessons were made to accompany these three textbooks: Colloquial Arabic(Levantine): The Complete Course for Beginners, Colloquial Arabic of Egypt: The Complete Course for Beginners, and Colloquial Arabic of the Gulf: The Complete Course for Beginners, which are books aimed at teaching Arabic to beginners in a practical way to prepare them to effectively communicate with confidence in everyday situations.

Arabic for Global Exchange Course – This is a beginner Arabic mini-course by Carnegie Mellon University to prepare you to study or work in an Arabic-speaking environment. Arabic for Global Exchange is comprised of six lessons which were designed to stretch over 6 weeks. It is considered a half-semester course which would be the equivalent of six weeks of university-level instruction and about sixty hours of student effort.

Arabic from Scratch: Arabic Alphabet Pronunciation Course on Udemy – This is a step-by-step course to learn how to read Arabic. This beginner level course features 19 lectures and 2.5 hours of video.

Learn Arabic using English Course (Hindi Subtitles) – This free course spans 2-3 hours and teaches basic phrases and sentences that will be useful in helping you communicate with others in a variety of everyday situations.

Introduction to Arabic Course – This free class spans 2-3 hours and will teach you the Arabic alphabet, vocabulary, and pronunciation of Arabic words, as well as how to read and write simple sentences.

Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Levantine Arabic Course – The Foreign Service Institute (U.S. Department of State) originally created this and many other language learning courses to train government employees and members of the foreign service in preparation for a post abroad. This course is designed to teach Levantine Arabic. It is accompanied by an e-textbook in PDF format with a total of 105 pages, and 18 audio files in MP3 format with a combined running time of 8 hours and 12 minutes.

Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Saudi Arabian Arabic Basic Course (Hijazi Dialect) – The Foreign Service Institute (U.S. Department of State) originally created this and many other language learning courses to train government employees and members of the foreign service in preparation for a post abroad. It is accompanied by an e-textbook in PDF format with a total of 303 pages, and 51 audio files in MP3 format with a combined running time of 13 hours.

Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Modern Written Arabic Course – Prior to beginning this 3 volume course, the student is expected to have learned the Arabic writing system and Arabic pronunciation and to be familiar with the transliterations used.

  1. FSI Modern Written Arabic Course 1 – The first volume of the course is accompanied by an e-textbook in PDF format with a total of 430 pages and 38 audio files in MP3 format with a combined running time of 11 hours and 47 minutes.
  2. FSI Modern Written Arabic Course 2 – The second volume of the course is accompanied by an e-textbook in PDF format with a total of 398 pages and 31 audio files in MP3 format with a combined running time of 6 hours and 3 minutes.
  3. FSI Modern Written Arabic Course 3 – The third volume of the course is accompanied by an e-textbook in PDF format with a total of 554 pages.

Defense Language Institute (DLI) Arabic Language Basic Course – The DLI Arabic Language Basic Course is an intensive language training program designed to be taught for six hours per day for five days a week. It is accompanied by 23 e-textbooks with a combined total of 5555 pages, (18 volumes covering 143 lessons, two volumes on the sound system of Modern Standard Arabic and speaking, a volume on the Arabic writing system, a comprehension drills volume, and a grammar notes volume) and 181 audio files with a combined running time of 51 hours and 9 minutes. This Arabic course is part of the language learning program developed by the U.S. Department of Defense as a means of training employees for foreign assignments. As a result, a portion of the material focuses on military-related content, however, on the whole, there is a lot of value for all. The DLI Arabic-Instructor’s Manual will be helpful use as a reference.

Defense Language Institute (DLI) Arabic Language Intermediate Course – The DLI Arabic Language Intermediate Course is for those who have completed the basic course above, and certainly requires a good foundation in the language. It is accompanied by 4 e-textbooks with a combined total of 968 pages: Intermediate Arabic Part I, Intermediate Arabic Part II, Intermediate Part III (Drills, Glossary) and A Contrastive Study of English and Arabic.

Defense Language Institute (DLI) Arabic Language SOLT Course – This course is for absolute beginners and is divided into 3 parts, each with 2 modules. This Arabic course is part of the language learning program developed by the U.S. Department of Defense as a means of training employees for foreign assignments. As a result, a portion of the material focuses on military-related content, however, on the whole, there is a lot of value for all.

  1. DLI Arabic SOLT Language Course: Module 1-2 – Includes 11 e-textbooks in PDF format with a total of 442 pages and 64 audio files in MP3 format with a combined running time of 5 minutes.
  2. DLI Arabic SOLT Language Course: Module 3-4 – Includes 15 e-textbooks in PDF format with a total of 652 pages and 56 audio files in MP3 format with a combined running time of 17 minutes.
  3. DLI Arabic SOLT Language Course: Module 5-6 – Includes 13 e-textbooks in PDF format with a total of 482 pages and 72 audio files in MP3 format with a combined running time of 4 minutes.

Defense Language Institute (DLI) Arabic Language SOLT Language Course: Homework Workbooks – These workbooks contain homework exercises, worksheets and audio files that support the teaching in Modules 1-6 of the SOLT Arabic Language Course. Includes 3 e-textbooks in PDF format with a total of 190 pages and 67 audio files in MP3 format with a combined running time of 29 minutes.

Defense Language Institute (DLI) Egyptian Arabic Language General Course – This beginner Egyptian Arabic Language Course is divided into 12 modules. There are 3 e-textbooks with a combined total of 458 pages that correspond to all 12 modules that should be referenced throughout the course: Egyptian Arabic – Speaking Exercises – Lessons 01-12, Egyptian Arabic – Self-Evaluation Keys and Egyptian Arabic – Homework Keys.

  1. DLI Egyptian Arabic Language Course – Module 1 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 176 pages and 9 audio files with a running time of 2 hours and 46 minutes.
  2. DLI Egyptian Arabic Language Course – Module 2 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 168 pages and 11 audio files with a running time of 3 hours and 24 minutes.       
  3. DLI Egyptian Arabic Language Course – Module 3 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 186 pages and 13 audio files with a running time of 3 hours and 42 minutes.
  4. DLI Egyptian Arabic Language Course – Module 4 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 149 pages and 7 audio files with a running time of 2 hours and 6 minutes.
  5. DLI Egyptian Arabic Language Course – Module 5 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 170 pages and 6 audio files with a running time of 1 hour and 8 minutes.
  6. DLI Egyptian Arabic Language Course – Module 6 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 174 pages and 5 audio files with a running time of 1 hour and 25 minutes.
  7. DLI Egyptian Arabic Language Course – Module 7 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 154 pages and 11 audio files with a running time of 3 hours and 40 minutes.
  8. DLI Egyptian Arabic Language Course – Module 8 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 164 pages and 11 audio files with a running time of 3 hours and 6 minutes.
  9. DLI Egyptian Arabic Language Course – Module 9 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 158 pages and 11 audio files with a running time of 3 hours and 20 minutes.
  10. DLI Egyptian Arabic Language Course – Module 10 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 146 pages and 11 audio files with a running time of 2 hours and 36 minutes.
  11. DLI Egyptian Arabic Language Course – Module 11 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 140 pages and 8 audio files with a running time of 2 hours and 16 minutes.
  12. DLI Egyptian Arabic Language Course – Module 12 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 146 pages and 8 audio files with a running time of 2 hours and 27 minutes.

Defense Language Institute (DLI) Iraqi Arabic Language Course – The DLI Iraqi Arabic course consists of 12 modules with 48 lessons and a 13th module with speaking exercises. The aim of the course is to teach students grammar and vocabulary and most importantly how to understand and converse in Iraqi Arabic. Includes 13 e-textbooks in PDF format with a total of 1915 pages and 147 audio files in MP3 format with a combined running time of 38 hours and 48 minutes.

Defense Language Institute (DLI) Syrian Arabic Language Course – This beginner Syrian Arabic Language Course is divided into 12 modules. The Syrian Arabic – Speaking Exercises – Modules 1-12 is an e-textbook with a combined total of 122 pages that corresponds to the 12 modules and should be referenced throughout the course.

  1. DLI Syrian Arabic Language Course – Module 1 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 200 pages and 8 audio files with a running time of 3 hours and 27 minutes.
  2. DLI Syrian Arabic Language Course – Module 2 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 190 pages and 8 audio files with a running time of 3 hours and 59 minutes.       
  3. DLI Syrian Arabic Language Course – Module 3 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 187 pages and 8 audio files with a running time of 4 hours and 26 minutes.
  4. DLI Syrian Arabic Language Course – Module 4 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 188 pages and 5 audio files with a running time of 2 hours and 31 minutes.
  5. DLI Syrian Arabic Language Course – Module 5 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 182 pages and 5 audio files with a running time of 2 hours and 35 minutes.
  6. DLI Syrian Arabic Language Course – Module 6 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 176 pages and 5 audio files with a running time of 2 hours and 10 minutes.
  7. DLI Syrian Arabic Language Course – Module 7 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 174 pages and 5 audio files with a running time of 1 hour and 55 minutes.
  8. DLI Syrian Arabic Language Course – Module 8 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 168 pages and 5 audio files with a running time of 2 hours and 13 minutes.
  9. DLI Syrian Arabic Language Course – Module 9 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 158 pages and 5 audio files with a running time of 1 hour and 34 minutes.
  10. DLI Syrian Arabic Language Course – Module 10 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 176 pages and 5 audio files with a running time of 1 hour and 33 minutes.
  11. DLI Syrian Arabic Language Course – Module 11 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 164 pages and 6 audio files with a running time of 2 hours and 18 minutes.
  12. DLI Syrian Arabic Language Course – Module 12 – Includes an e-textbook in PDF format with 168 pages and 6 audio files with a running time of 2 hours and 32 minutes.

Madinah Arabic Course – This website offers a number of free learning resources including a vocabulary section, quizzes, videos, articles and two Arabic language courses.

  1. Madinah Arabic Reading Course – This beginner course caters to students who do not yet know how to read the Arabic Script.
  2. Madinah Arabic Language Course – This beginner course caters to students who have learned to read the Arabic Script.

Arabic Reading Course – This simple course consists of 13 lessons which will teach you the Arabic alphabet.

Arabic Studio Course – Aimed at complete beginners with no knowledge of Arabic, this simple but thorough course will teach you how to read and write the Arabic script.

Arabic Study Circle Courses – This website has Arabic lessons tailored to beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.

Arabic Without Walls Course – This free beginner Arabic course was developed by the UC Consortium for Language Learning & Teaching, The National Middle East Language Resource Center at Brigham Young University and the Near Eastern Studies Department at UC Berkeley. The audio is also available as a podcast on iTunes.

Arabic Essentials Course by the University of Cambridge Language Centre – This free, Arabic Essentials course is a web-application developed by the University of Cambridge tailored for beginner Arabic students. This basic level course contains 8 sections covering both spoken and written language instruction.

First Steps Arabic Course – This beginner course was developed by the Arabic Online organization with support from the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme. The course offers an introduction to Arabic and students can expect to learn basic conversation skills and achieve level A1 proficiency.

BBC Languages: Arabic – The BBC Arabic Language website is a treasure trove of wonderful resources and information. It is high-quality, comprehensive, and provides a lot of intelligently presented and produced materials. All BBC language learning pages were “archived” a few years back due to cost-cutting measures, which means they are no longer adding new information or updating the pages. However, you should have no problem accessing the existing information.

Al-Jazeera Learning Arabic – Al-Jazeera, a global news network that is owned by the government of Qatar, focuses on teaching Arabic through this free language learning site. They offer a lot of resources including lessons, a translator, a dictionary, exercises, news articles and videos to facilitate learning Arabic.

Arabic Alphabet – This website offers twenty interactive and animated lessons to teach the Arabic alphabet.

Desert Sky – This website offers free grammar and vocabulary lessons.

Goethe Verlag – This website offers 100 Arabic lessons for beginners, each with words, phrases, and corresponding audio files.

LanguageGuide.org – Explore the world of Arabic by learning an abundance of vocabulary in a sound-integrated, animated guide. After learning the vocabulary you can take part in games to test your comprehension.

Learn101 – This website features free beginner lessons to guide you through learning Arabic, step by step, starting with the Alphabet, moving on to grammar, vocabulary, and phrases, and finally offering simple quizzes to test your progress. These lessons are a basic introduction to the language and have images, text, and audio.

Learn Arabic Online – This website has a number of free Arabic language resources.

Arabic Keyboard – This site has a very handy Arabic transliteration keyboard that allows those who do not have an Arabic keyboard on their computer to write and search in Arabic. The website also offers a ton of free Arabic language instruction.

Arabic Stories by BookBox – Cartoons have always been a wonderful asset to language learning, particularity for children. These animated children’s stories are great because the viewer can read along with the narration, which is shown on-screen as “Same Language Subtitles (SLS).” Each word is highlighted in time with the audio, which helps with comprehension and retention.

First Arabic Words by Oxford University Press – The Oxford First Words book series is a language learning tool for children. This First Words book features over 400 words in Arabic and the interactive online interface allows you to click on the pictures to hear the audio in Arabic along with the English translations. Though this book is intended for children, the fact is that it is a very effective tool for adults to build vocabulary as well.

Hello World – Hello World has created hundreds of free language learning games and activities that cater to the way children learn best. The goal is to teach languages using cognitive immersion and to keep the process fun in order to increase learning potential. Approximately 1,300 vocabulary words are introduced over 70 different categories.

Polly Lingual – This website offers some fun games, exercises, and beginner-level instruction with lessons that include text and audio.

CoolJugator – CoolJugator is a verb conjugator website that makes conjugation easy and straightforward.

Acon Arabic Conjugator – ACON is a powerful tool that applies Arabic grammar rules to automatically conjugate verbs.

Verbix – Online Arabic verb conjugator.

Ilanguages – This site is designed to teach Arabic with free vocabulary, phrases, grammar, and flashcards while focusing on highly used words and phrases necessary for everyday living.

Al-Masdar – Al-Masdar is devoted to providing free, high-quality materials to help students learn about Arabic and Arab culture.

Digital Dialects – This website makes learning vocabulary fun with interactive games.

Aswaat Arabiyya – This University of Texas at Austin website is aimed at all Arabic language students, from beginner to advanced, and its goal is to facilitate listening and comprehension. It provides a curated selection of listening materials pulled from various Arab media outlets which are accompanied by questions and activities.

Fun With Arabic – This simple website introduces the Arabic alphabet, vocabulary, phrases, and grammar in a fun and easy way.

Read Arabic – The United States Department of Education provided funding for the University of Maryland to create these Modern Standard Arabic reading lessons aimed at beginner and intermediate-level high school students

Friends of Morocco – This non-profit organization provides simple lessons for those interested in learning Moroccan Arabic.

Omniglot – This site specializes in providing information about languages and their alphabets and writing systems.

Loecsen – Loecson offers a free mini-course consisting of fun lessons that provide a basic introduction to Moroccan Arabic with the help of text, audio, simple illustrations, and quizzes to test your progress. You will learn high-frequency vocabulary words and commonly used phrases relating to 17 themes that are relevant to everyday life.

Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Arabic Tutorials – These Language Survival Kit Modules are available for many Arabic languages and contain basic vocabulary with audio. Both the audio files and the PDF text can be downloaded.

  1. Algerian Arabic Language Survival Kit Module
  2. Egyptian Arabic Language Survival Kit Module
  3. Iraqi Arabic Language Survival Kit Module
  4. Libyan Arabic Language Survival Kit Module
  5. Moroccan Arabic Language Survival Kit Module
  6. Saudi Arabic Language Survival Kit Module
  7. Sudanese Arabic Language Survival Kit Module
  8. Syrian Arabic Language Survival Kit Module
  9. Tunisian Arabic Language Survival Kit Module
  10. Yemeni Arabic Language Survival Kit Module

I Love Languages Arabic Lessons – This site provides 17 beginner Arabic lessons designed to help you improve your speaking, reading, and writing skills. Supplementary resources include vocabulary, grammar tips, and phrases.

Learn Arabic Script with UCLA Heritage Language Lessons – This Arabic script program was created by The National Heritage Language Resource Center, at the University of California, Los Angeles, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education to foster language learning for heritage speakers (those who speak a language other than English at home).

Listen & Learn Program by The UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies – This program provides listening and practice exercises for Egyptian Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, Lebanese, Persian, Iraqi, and Turkish language students. Each video is accompanied by a translation, transliteration, glossary, and quiz.

Team Maha – This website offers support to Arabic learners through helpful tips, vocabulary and grammar explanations, and learning advice, mainly focused on Egyptian Arabic and Syrian Arabic.

All the Arabic You Never Learned the First Time Around – This website is dedicated to the book of the same name by James M. Price that was used at the Defense Language Institute. A former student has undertaken the project of putting the information online so it is easier to read and use as a study tool.

Playaling – This fabulous free resource translates Arabic video content from all over the internet in a variety of dialects and makes it available for learners with Arabic captions and English subtitles.

Lang-8 – This free network is a nice tool to support your language learning. Native speakers are available to make corrections to your text and provide feedback. In return, you provide help to others.

HiNative iTunesGoogle Play – HiNative is an app brought to you by the creators of Lang-8 that allows you to ask questions to native speakers from around the world using your smartphone. HiNative was created to be used alongside Lang-8 and is different from Lang-8 in that it focuses on a Q&A type of learning while Lang-8 is a journal writing experience.

RhinoSpike – RhinoSpike is an interesting website that connects language learners from all over the world allowing them to exchange audio files to help improve pronunciation skills. It allows you to submit text that you would like to hear read aloud by a native speaker, and in turn, you receive the audio file. In exchange, and to speed up the process, you can, in turn, provide audio files in your native language for other learners.

MyLanguageExchange.com – This online language learning community connects you with other learners so that you can practice speaking in your second language with a native speaker and vice-versa.

Italki – A community of over 2 million language learners that facilitates free language practice with native speakers. You simply exchange time teaching your native language for time learning a foreign language, making it mutually beneficial and free.

EuroNews – EuroNews is a news media company that features news from a European perspective and offers content in 12 different languages online.

United Nations – Live and On Demand news and media from the United Nations.

BBC – The British Broadcasting Company provides news in Arabic.

Al Jazeera – Qatar based Al-Jazeera is a major source of Arabic news.

An Nahar – This is a prominent Arabic newspaper from Lebanon.

Deutsche Welle – German broadcasting company DW provides news in Arabic.

Google News – Read the world news in Arabic with Google News.

CNN – Read CNN articles in Arabic.

SBS Radio Arabic Program iTunes – SBS is an Australian broadcasting company that targets non-native English speakers and creates programming in many languages. This podcast allows you to listen to interviews, features and community stories from the SBS Radio Arabic program, including Australian and world news.

Lughatuna – This fantastic website provides 3 dictionaries: Classical Arabic Dictionary, Egyptian Colloquial Dictionary, and Levantine Colloquial Dictionary. Users can search by word, root or English-Arabic meaning.

WordReference – There is no need for an Arabic-English dictionary if you have WordReference. Featuring good translations of words and solid definitions, this site also has helpful forums where Arabic speakers from around the world contribute to explaining subtle nuances or more obscure words.

Forvo – This crowd-sourced site is a great tool to help with pronunciation as it allows you to listen to words and phrases spoken by native speakers.

Bad.La – This “language portal” boasts 44 dictionaries for 28 languages, as well as a wealth of other language learning resources, such as helpful articles, games and quizzes, verb conjugations and phrase books.

Lisaan Masri Dictionary – Egyptian Arabic Dictionary.

A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic – This Hans Wehr dictionary is also available as an online version that allows searches based on word roots.

Lexilogos – This is a unique concept: just type an Arabic word into the search field and then choose from one of several dictionaries.

Tatoeba – Tatoeba is a large, crowdsourced database of sentences and translations. This free resource allows you to search for a word and get results showing that word in sentences with translations.

Talkify – This free, multilingual website is a very interesting and valuable resource that allows you to listen to text in foreign languages. Simply insert a URL into the search field on Talkify and it will automatically detect the language and read the text of that website aloud in a natural sounding voice.

Cambridge Online Dictionary – Here you can access the online version of the popular Cambridge Dictionary.

Arabic: An Essential Grammar – This book is a great resource for beginners that offers a strong foundation in Arabic grammar. It covers the Arabic script and alphabet, Arabic handwriting, and has a pronunciation guide with plenty of supporting examples.

A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic – This reference book is more suited to learners with intermediate knowledge of Arabic. This book is reviewed very well for its effectiveness and ability to explain complex grammar in a way that is clear, concise and easy to understand.

Defense Language Institute (DLI) Arabic English Glossary – This book contains a glossary of all the material used in the DLI Arabic Standard Course.

Defense Language Institute (DLI) Arabic Sound and Script – This book teaches how to detect and distinguish between the various Arabic sounds as well as how to read and write the characters that make up the Arabic alphabet.

Defense Language Institute (DLI) Arabic Grammar reference Book – This book is a reference and a guide to the grammar material used in the DLI Arabic Standard Course.

Peace Corps Darija Technical Book – This Moroccan Arabic technical book goes over some basic conversations and situations a Peace Corps Volunteer may face during their service. The 44-page text in PDF format is designed to be reviewed with a trained Arabic tutor but can be used for self-study. This book provides a lot of practical information surrounding culture and customs, basic vocabulary and communication skills. It is not accompanied by audio. This language learning material was developed by the United States Peace Corps to train their volunteers prior to sending them around the world on their missions.

Peace Corps Darija Textbook – 2011 – This Moroccan Arabic technical text goes over some basic conversations and situations a Peace Corps Volunteer could expect to encounter during their service. This textbook benefits from the vast experience gained by the Peace Corps after decades of training thousands of volunteers to live and work in Morocco. This Moroccan Arabic language course teaches basic vocabulary, grammar and communication skills. The 199 page PDF book and the accompanying 35 audios in MP3 format with a running time of 19 minutes were designed to be reviewed with a trained Arabic tutor but can be used for self-study.

Peace Corps – Moroccan Arabic Language Primer – The Moroccan Arabic Language Primer provides a basic introduction to Moroccan Arabic using key material that was extracted from the Peace Corps Darija Textbook – 2011. This PDF textbook contains 26 pages and is accompanied by 10 audios in MP3 format with a running time of 28 minutes.

Peace Corps Moroccan Arabic Textbook – 1994 – This language learning material was developed by the United States Peace Corps to train their volunteers prior to sending them around the world on their missions. The textbook is divided into 10 lessons, each of which focuses on a dialogue, vocabulary list, grammar notes, a popular proverb, and supplementary dialogue and/or idiomatic and socially correct expressions. The 199-page book is in PDF format and is not accompanied by audio.

Peace Corps Moroccan Competency-Based Curriculum – This textbook is aimed at beginner and intermediate level learners and was developed by the United States Peace Corps to train their volunteers prior to sending them around the world on their missions. The 202-page book is in PDF format and is not accompanied by audio.

Peace Corps Spoken Tunisian Arabic – The Spoken Tunisian Arabic Course is intended to be completed in approximately twelve weeks, requiring a total of 360 hours of time (six hours per day, five days a week). The lessons, which include grammar and phonology notes, exercises, and vocabulary, were developed by the United States Peace Corps to train their volunteers prior to sending them around the world on their missions. This 59-page course book is in PDF format and is not accompanied by audio.

Peace Corps Tunisian Arabic Lessons – These lessons are divided into 15 thematic units focusing on vocabulary, expressions, grammar and writing exercises that will facilitate everyday experiences and interactions. The lessons were developed by the United States Peace Corps to train their volunteers prior to sending them around the world on their missions. This 215-page course book is in PDF format and is not accompanied by audio.

Peace Corps Course in Tunisian Arabic – This course is not intended to be a complete or in-depth course but rather a basic framework to begin with. The course was developed by the United States Peace Corps to train their volunteers prior to sending them around the world on their missions. This 508-page course book is in PDF format and is not accompanied by audio.

Peace Corps Beginners Course in Tunisian Arabic – The course was developed by the United States Peace Corps to train their volunteers in Arabic prior to sending them around the world on their mission to Tunisia. This 253-page course book is in PDF format and is not accompanied by audio. There are 15 lessons, each of which features a teacher’s guide, a dialogue introducing the lesson’s theme, a vocabulary list, illustrations, and/or exercises and grammar notes.

Peace Corps Tunisian Arabic Competency-Based Curriculum – This curriculum guide is designed for the Arabic language training of Peace Corps workers in Tunisia and focuses on a competency-based approach to language learning. This is a curriculum that is designed to be used by teachers but can certainly be used for self-study, especially with the guidance of a tutor. 28 specific competencies are covered, all of which pertain to the practical use of the language while living and working in Tunisia. This 98-page book is in PDF format and is not accompanied by audio.

Peace Corps Jordanian Arabic Language Lessons – These lessons were developed by the United States Peace Corps to train their volunteers prior to sending them around the world on their missions. The lessons focus on vocabulary, expressions and cultural notes that will facilitate everyday experiences and interactions. This 125-page course book is in PDF format and it is accompanied by 9 audio files with a total running time of 27 minutes.

Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Classical Arabic – The Writing System – This 63-page course book is in PDF format and covers the basics of the writing system of Classical Arabic.

Foreign Service Institute (FSI) From Eastern to Western Arabic – This 54-page course book is in PDF format and functions as a manual for students who have learned Eastern Arabic and now need to learn Western Arabic.

Foreign Service Institute (FSI) Levantine and Egyptian Arabic – Comparative Study – This 57-page course book is in PDF format and functions as a manual for students who have learned Levantine Arabic and now need to learn Egyptian Arabic or vice versa.

Learn Arabic the Fast and Fun Way – Barron’s Fast and Fun Way series of language learning books is designed for beginners and great for travelers. This book features helpful illustrations, quizzes, and puzzles and includes transliterations of Arabic script.

The Rough Guide Phrasebook Egyptian Arabic – Audio Book

Egyptian Arabic 1 by Pimsleur – Audio Book

Speak and Read Eastern Arabic by Pimsleur – Audio Book

Arabic 1 by Pimsleur – Audio Book

Arabic Primer by Sir Arthur Cotton Audio Book Textbook iTunes

Speak7 – In addition to proficiency tests, this site features a variety of learning resources.

Transparent Language – Free online language level testing is offered by this language learning software company.

Cactus Language – This UK based language study abroad organization offers free online language level testing.

Language Trainers – This language training company offers free online language level testing.

Sprachcaffe – One of Europe’s leading language school organizations, Sprachcaffe offers free online language level testing.

What Are Your Favorite Free Arabic Language Learning Resources?

We have done a lot of research to bring you the best, free resources that the internet has to offer and we want to make sure our list is always comprehensive. Please share your favorites in the comments below!

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6 COMMENTS

    • Hi Aladin Linguistics,

      Thanks so much for reaching out and for sharing your free Arabic YouTube series. I just added it to our list!

      Feel free to reach out anytime with suggestions for any other free resources that come to mind.

      Thanks!
      Susie

  1. Thanks for this list! Here are a few to add: Mango Languages for a few different Arabic dialects and maybe MSA too. YouTube channels: ArabiClearly Levantine Arabic Resource, Learn Arabic with Manar, Learn Palestinian Arabic, CGE Jordan Institute for Arabic Studies, Learn Arabic with Qasid, and Arabic with Rana. Also, I’m not sure if these podcasts are listed here: Simple and Easy Arabic, ElBulbul, Learn Levantine Arabic: Marhabtayn, Levantine Arabic: Bayni w Baynak and a new one, Il Ahwe. And Our Family Life, a Jordanian/Palestinian cartoon series for families has subtitles in multiple languages and Arabic captions, as well.

    • Hi Rashidah,

      Wow, thanks so much for taking the time to make all of these great suggestions – I really appreciate it. These will make great additions to our existing list of free Arabic resources and will hopefully help others to learn Arabic:)

      Thanks,
      Susie

  2. Oh, and I can’t forget Playaling, a fabulous free resource that translates Arabic video content from all over the internet in a variety of dialects and makes it available for learners with Arabic captions and English subtitles.

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