Effortless Arabic with Mohamed

I am Mohamed a native Arabic teacher. I received my bachelor degree in Arabic journalism from Minufiya University in Egypt. Then, I studied a TEFL diploma to learn better how to teach language. I not only examined methods of teaching English but also experienced ways of illuminating language culture for non-native speakers. I worked as an English teacher at a secondary school in Egypt for almost three years. Then, I worked as educational writer and translator for Hotcourses Ltd in the UK. I wrote more than 200 educational articles to help students in language learning and study abroad. Recently, I worked as an Arabic teacher at Fairfield University. Although I taught American students Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian colloquial, I have extensive knowledge of Arabic language (Modern Standard, Classical, and Local Dialects.) I acquainted students with the Arabic civilization by conducting cross-cultural workshops. In these workshops, I presented materials about Arab history and the Egyptian civilization, as well as helping students to study Arabic. During my work at Fairfield, I completed one fourteen-hour language teaching workshop and one refresher workshop in (AT/OPS) program based on the Dartmouth intensive language model implemented at Fairfield University. I also studied language education technology course. I learned how to compose education technology philosophy that helps to demonstrate language. Specifically, I learned how to use basic software applications to enhance the classroom experience and increase students' participation. I experienced the characteristics of particular technologies that can be exploited for maximum educational benefits. I attended Fulbright language teaching workshop in Washington D.C. where I learned about teaching language through songs, games, videos, and other ways that integrate culture into language teaching. I also attended a United Nation event about promoting peach through education in New York.

I aim to involve students into the target language by making them read, speak and listen to cultural videos to improve listening and understanding skills. I like to integrate technology into the classroom to cope with today's learners and to involve students in a constant learning process. I not only experienced teaching over Skype and online educational platforms, but also I use them to give instant feedback. I focus on using videos for its authenticity and representation of real speech, its presentation of the nonverbal aspects of language, and its value as a cultural vehicle. In addition to textbooks, I like to use materials that involve students in the target language culture and convey a live image of the language society. Short stories that use little language and pictures from target language countries can be a perfect teaching tool. Similarly, short television commercials are often good springboards for learning slang, abbreviations, and cultural in-jokes. I teach grammar through two models; the analytical model and the structural model. In the analytical model, each student reads a part of text then I start to demonstrate the grammatical rule embedded, then another student continues reading a different part and analyzes the same rule. In the structural model, I build grammar understanding by demonstrating a grammatical rule then I ask each student to apply this rule to the text. In small groups, students write from scratch sentences that contain this grammatical rule. In another activity each two students practice the rule live through reading or speaking. In addition to video, I use drawing and pictures. I dramatize situations of the target vocabulary or grammar and I do repetitions to emphasis the pronunciation. Then I ask random questions to check the understanding. In conclusion, I believe that language teacher should be a catalyst that only makes the educational process continues normally. The essential role of the teacher is to correct mistakes and give feedback to develop students learning.

- UN Conference about Promoting Peace Through Education. New York 2014.

TEFL diploma (Teaching English as Foreign Language) certified from Oxford University. Introduction to Education Technology: This course is designed to give teachers a hands-on introduction to many of the technological Web 2.0 platforms that exist today. In delving into various technological platforms, I can examine current curriculum and employ various tools to make classrooms more in line with today’s learner. This course covers a series of Web 2.0 tools: Wikis, Google Docs, Prezi, Skype and much more. I also got a chance to use technology tools such as iPads & Smartboards. This course is designed for classroom and online teachers. Written Communication: This course uses a variety of text and margin features to present concepts of interest and importance to your study of writing. The course focuses on concepts and principles of written communication. In this class I understood the characteristics of professional writing and how to choose the right words. In addition, I developed writing better sentences that comprise good paragraphs. Bachelor of Arts from Menoufia University in Journalism, graduation year 2006.

You can read my education articles on Arageek Education or Hotcourses.ae