Arab Academy is the forerunner in Arabic online education, offering engaging, interactive online courses at all levels. Beyond being just computerized courses, AA's courses offer interaction with their Arabic teachers, timely feedback and corrections, and interaction with their online community of students. To supplement your online course, you can take speaking lessons via Skype. I have studied with Arab Academy for years, having taken their online courses, speaking lessons, as well as having attended in-person classes at their headquarters in Cairo. AA's teachers and staff are all very professional, knowledgeable, and friendly. I've learned so much from AA and can wholeheartedly recommend their services. --Matthew
Byki (Before You Know It) is by far the best vocabulary training program on the market. A user-friendly interface helps you create flashcards for any words or phrases you want to learn and remember. Byki uses a highly intelligent SRS (spaced repetition system) to help you schedule reviews and tests for maximum memorization efficiency. A number of challenging and fun games help you internalize words. The software also comes with 1000 premade flashcards with audio in the languge of your choice. Regardless of which languge you choose, you can make your own flashcards for any language. I've been using Byki for several years, and I can't imagine studying a foreign language without it! Before you purchase the Deluxe version, try out Byki Lite for free.
I have taken several study-holidays to the Middle east to practice and improve my Arabic. In Cairo, I have attended both Arab Academy and ILI. In Yemen, I attended CALES. I was very satisfied with my choices of all three institutes. ILI has a very professional curriculum (using their own excellent Kallimni Arabi series), medium-sized classes, and an excellent cafeteria! They offer Egyptian Colloquial classes in the morning, and Modern Standard classes after lunch. Arab Academy has very small class sizes (2-3 students), and they are very flexible about setting up a course for you using their materials (which are excellent, with large computer monitors on the walls with integrated audio and video portions) or using your preferred books. CALES is also very flexible and affordable, and its location in the old city of Sana'a is magical... like being transported back in time. --Matthew