The Arabic Language Institute's Arabic Language Unit (ALU) offers a full-time intensive Arabic summer program each year in June and July. Courses are offered at the beginner, intermediary and advanced level.

ALU offers professional faculty, up-to-date facilities and extracurricular activities and the program welcomes non-native students as well as students of Arab origin.

Academic Features

• Modern Standard Arabic: The language of the media, literature, science, and formal fields of contemporary knowledge
  
• Egyptian Colloquial Arabic: The language of everyday interaction and daily living
  
• Academic electives: E.g. translation, the Qur'an, and Media, etc. (1 credit)
  
• Cultural components: E.g. calligraphy, music, singing, dancing, etc. (non-credit)
  
• Study aid centers

Program Tours and Trips

The Arabic Language Institute’s summer program includes day tours to various sites in and around Cairo.  These are part of the program, and are funded by the Institute at no additional cost to the students.  During the course of the summer session, the institute also arranges three optional week-end trips to sites of interest. Students wishing to participate in these trips must pay for food and accommodation only.  Recent destinations include Alexandria, Sinai (St. Catherine, and Sharm Al-Sheikh), and Luxor and Aswan and Abu Simbel (Nile Cruise).  These trips are for three to four nights each. 

Additional Program Activities

• A series of weekly English lectures highlighting the cultural, educational, political and economic aspects of life in Egypt are offered. They feature well known scholars and public figures.
  
• A weekly film is presented that features cultural and social activities and celebrations to familiarize students with as many aspects of life in Egypt as possible.
  
• To encourage students to refine their writing skills, the program produces a student wall magazine. The magazine displays all levels of writing, from elementary through advanced, and all students are encouraged to contribute to it.  At of the end of the summer session prizes are awarded to the most active contributors.
  
• A dinner party celebrates the end of the summer session.   Students participate in the party in a variety of capacities: reading poetry, singing well- known songs, playing instruments, acting, and dancing. Extracurricular lessons are offered for free over the course of the summer to train students to engage in this event.