<p>I want to major in international relations and plan to take Arabic in college, but I want to show my designated interest in the field for my college application by getting a head start in learning the language. Does anyone know the best way to approach this?</p>
<p>How can I tangibly show a college my interest instead of saying "self-studied Arabic over the summer by myself" should I find a tutor (perhaps a professor at a local university) and say "studied with blah blah blah" or is there some other way to legitimize my studies?</p>
<p>Also any input on how to best pick up the basics of a language would be appreciated-- Rosetta Stone, local class, tutor, etc.</p>
<p>Not sure what year you are in high school, but this last summer the Concordia Language Villages summer camps offered some very good scholarships in Arabic (so you might have been able to learn there, which is much easier than self study!). Not sure if you are young enough to apply next summer, but look at their website in Nov/Dec and see if they are offering similar scholarships again.</p>
<p>Can you find an extension class or something at a local university to take Arabic? You will make more progress with a group.</p>
<p>They’re offering this summer now. I saw the scholarship in Summer Program Forum several weeks ago. By the way, i think merely put your activity as studying Arabic as an EC is not really strong unless you couple it with substantial achievements</p>
<p>My cousin started by studying Arabic in books, such as the Teach Yourself series and Transparent. He also took Startalk at the university (a great way to learn Arabic) before going on an NSLI-Y program to Egypt. That is an extreme amount of focus, but if that is what you want, it will definitely show colleges that you are interested in Arabic.</p>
<p>The most important thing is to actually spend time learning the language, and then use the proficiency you gain to accumulate some evidence. Definitely start self-studying as soon as possible, especially by reading/watching/listening to native materials. After you get past the basics, you’ll learn much more from those than from textbooks, but textbooks will still be good suplements.
I hear Rosetta Stone is usually pretty awful, and for the money you would be spending on it you could learn more from a class anyway. Try to take a couple Arabic classes at your local community college or online (educere found four high-school level Arabic classes, going from Level 0 to Level 3). </p>
<p>The easiest way to show colleges that you are actually studying Arabic is to show them some test scores. I’m self-studying Japanese, so I’ve got it easy since Japanese has an AP and SAT II test, which colleges are sort of familiar with, and the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Try to find out about Arabic proficiency tests, Wikipedia says there are three.</p>
<p>I’ve heard about many of the more popular langauges, such as French and Latin, having exams, and others having honors societies. Find out if any exist for Arabic, or start a club for Arabic language and culture appreciation. Choosing a less popular language just means you’ll have to be a bit more creative to get it on your resume.</p>
<p>Questionmark…may I suggest applying for NSLI-Y and selecting Arabic as a language choice. You’d have the opportunity to study Arabic overseas for the summer instead of self studying…oh and you’d study for FREE! My daughter is in Jordan this summer. There is an application/selection process but its well worth trying for the scholarship! Hope you check it out!</p>
<p>The best books for arabic study is alif-baa (level 1 book) and al-kitaab (level 2 book). These two are used in pretty much every basic level arabic classes in college. You can get them pretty cheap off of amazon and they come with DVD’s</p>