Learn Arabic in Cairo
Learn Arabic in Cairo, the fascinating historic capital of Egypt, a simply unforgettable location!
Prices & dates for Cairo
Why learn Arabic in Cairo?
If you want to learn Arabic, there’s arguably no better place to do it than Cairo: Egypt’s captivating, historic capital and a destination that stays with you long after you leave. Studying here means you’re surrounded by the language every day, from café conversations to shop signs, announcements and daily interactions, making it far easier to build confidence and fluency. Cairo also places you within easy reach of some of the world’s most iconic landmarks. Just around 10km away you can visit the legendary Sphinx and marvel at the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the famed ‘Seven Wonders of the World’, alongside the wider pyramid complex that continues to inspire travellers and historians alike.
Beyond its ancient wonders, Cairo is a city bursting with energy, colour and constant movement. Wander through bustling street markets and traditional bazaars, where the sounds, scents and lively bargaining create the perfect backdrop for real-life language practice. You’ll find countless opportunities to use the Arabic you’ve learnt on your course, whether you’re asking for directions, ordering food, negotiating prices or simply chatting with local people. Learning Arabic in Cairo is also an excellent gateway into Egyptian culture, with a calendar packed full of experiences. Choose from a wealth of events throughout the year, including the Nitaq Arts Festival in February, the Pharaoh’s Rally in October and the renowned Cairo International Film Festival in December, each offering a memorable way to connect with the city and its creative spirit.
Our school in Cairo
Our school in Cairo has over 30 years’ experience of teaching Arabic, and all of our teachers are fully-qualified native speakers. Students at our school attending an Arabic course in Cairo have access to the Internet throughout the day, a bookshop, a student library and study centre, as well as an onsite student cafeteria serving a variety of reasonably priced drinks and snacks. Our school is located in a safe residential area of Cairo, close to the city centre. The average class size is just 8 students (max. 16) so you’ll get plenty of individual attention, and the 22 classrooms are all air-conditioned.
Lessons at our Arabic school in Cairo take place from Sunday to Thursday, leaving you Friday and Saturday to explore the city and the see the world famous sights beyond! Our school organises optional cultural activities every month, including weekend excursions to the Pyramids, Fayoum, Coptic Cairo, Islamic Cairo and Alexandria.
Location of our school in Cairo
Which course should I choose in Cairo?
Available courses
- Private Lessons (10)
- Combined MSA & ECA (25)
- Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (10)
- Modern Standard Arabic (15)
Choosing an Arabic course in Cairo gives you a clear advantage: our Cairo school teaches the two most widely used forms of Arabic — Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA).
Modern Standard Arabic is the written form of Arabic. It developed from Classical Arabic (the language of the Holy Quran) and is used across Middle Eastern media. Most educated Arabic speakers understand it. This course helps you follow current affairs, read Arabic literature and work with written texts.
Egyptian Colloquial Arabic is the spoken Arabic used in everyday life in Egypt. It is also one of the most widely understood dialects in the Arab world. This course gives you the practical skills to hold conversations and communicate confidently in daily situations.
For the best overall progress, you can study both in our Combined MSA & ECA course.
Accommodation in Cairo
Available accommodation
Our school in Cairo also offers shared apartment accommodation. These apartments are in a lively area, usually just a 10–15 minute walk from the school. Shared spaces, including a fully equipped kitchen, are cleaned daily, and you can request cleaning for your room. The apartments are self-catering, so students prepare their own meals. Meal plans are not available.
Available activities in Cairo
Our school arranges a wide variety of activities in addition to language lessons, giving students the opportunity to meet and socialise with each other, explore Cairo and learn about Egyptian history and culture and history.
Popular activities include singing classes where you can learn traditional and popular songs, cookery lessons, school parties, calligraphy lessons and excursions to places such as the pyramids at Giza, Alexandria, Saqqara, Nile cruises, the Egyptian Museum, Moez Street and the Black and White Desert.
How to get to our school in Cairo
If you are making your first visit to Cairo, we would recommend that you use our school’s airport transfer service. This service is available throughout the school week and at weekends.
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Cairo: Student reviews & feedback
Modern Standard Arabic with Student Residence
Very friendly teacher and very professionell I loved my time there and learned a lot in this short time, thank you.
Convenient and very clean accomodation, in a very pleasant environment.
I had a great experience, thank you for all.
- B. Boess Zinsdorf
Modern Standard Arabic with On-site Residence
I enjoyed attending this course very much. The lessons are well planned and the topics well explained. Thanks to Mr. Mahmoud. The accommodation is excellent.
- A. Maria Saavedra
I found the course very informative and enjoyable and had a great time.
- M. Ali
Really engaging, i was more than satisfied. I was lucky to get a brand new apartment from a landlord.
- S. Salaam
Really nice teachers and really professional! Thanks it was wonderful I'll come back for sure!
- M. Drevet
The school is all very well organized. The lessons are well constructed and in a short time you will learn much. Highly skilled teachers and extremely friendly. I was amazed at what I know in a short time all! Great good experience. Absolute must! My accommodation was above the ILI school. Large, well furnished, very clean. Top! If it were possible I would like to come back again!
- B. Koedam
Super Intensive 25 with On-site Residence
I learned a lot in those 20 weeks I was there. Every day we learned new stuff, it was fast, but really good to keep up with. The teachers are simply amazing. I stayed at the residence above the classrooms. It was a great place to stay!
- R. Michels
The teacher was excellent, within a week she had taught us to read and write the alphabet. I would like to go next year to do the course for a longer period of time. I really liked my stay at the school. I would recommend this school for everybody who wants to study Arabic.
- L. Pauwels
It was a very good experience and I already booked my second course. A special thank to my teachers, as they did not loose their patience with me once. The rooms of the on-site residence are very comfortable, well equiped and at very reasonable price.
- G. Hirt
My teachers were amazing, really competent and friendly. Great experience...I will certainly come back next year.
- E. Corbat
A really good solid base from which I will continue to learn MSA and ECA. Incredible teachers, lovely school and great location with weekends long enough to explore Cairo and the rest of Egypt thoroughly.
- F. Washtell
My teacher was excellent, even though I was only there 2 weeks I feel I have learnt alot. The manager was also very approachable for any advice we wanted.
- A. Quinn
I learnt a lot, was put in suitable level, and had a good experience.
- A. Thews
The lessons were educational and fun at the same time.
- B. Affat
Small, friendly well organized school with a lovely atmosphere. The teachers were very professional but also very approachable. All the staff were friendly and helpful. I loved the whole experience and already planning return trip!
- C. Turle
The best teacher I've ever had for Arabic.
- B. Loukmane
The school had friendly and competent staff, it was also well organized.
- C. Daginnus
The teacher was great and very enthousiatic. The level of the people in that class was very similar and it was therefore a very pleasant class. The apartment in the school was great. There was space enough for all 5 of us and it was nice to cook dinner together and to be very close to the school. The housekeeper made sure that it was cleaned about 3 times a week.
- M. Koenders
Student stories on our blog
Learning the Lingo in Egypt!
The best bits of the courses that I took were for me the very thorough drilling of sounds/letters, controlled oral practice 'chains' around the class, the slightly freer oral/aural pair work information gap activities we had from time to time, the use of visual aids to reinforce meaning, the use of very targeted task-based simple listening on audio CD, the very targeted letter recognition and copying exercises, and the relaxed concentration of trying to copy exactly the flowing pen strokes of my calligraphy teacher, Ahmed, who was a really neat and exact scribe.
Read more...Traffic and Trinkets in Cairo
‘Don’t cross the road unless you have life insurance’ - that was my sister’s piece of advice before I went to Cairo, and I soon realised that she wasn’t kidding!
When I arrived, my airport transfer driver pulled out of the car-park and set off the wrong way down a one-way street. Amazingly, the locals are apparently unaware of their mortality and step out in front of the cars, inching their way ‘lane by lane’ across the road (the roads are far too busy for you to ever get all the way across in one go). That said, lane markings seem to be considered merely decorative – coming off the ring-road there were two lanes marked but there were five rows of cars trying to squeeze onto the slip road!
The traffic in Cairo means that it is impossible to estimate how long it will take you to get somewhere. It is ‘rush hour’ all day long, with traffic jams everywhere. To get to the pyramids from the school, it can take you half an hour or it can take you over an hour – you have to adopt the Egyptian mentality and not worry about schedules!
Read more...FAQ about our school in Cairo
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Company Number: 08311373
