"Arabiyyat al-Naas (Part One) is one of the best Arabic books that I have ever encountered. I have waited for years for this type of book, and it is finally here. This book teaches the Arabic spoken and formal languages. Could you imagine teaching your foreign student the written language and the colloquial at the same time? Usually, Arabic textbooks only teach one colloquial language. So, you may ask, which colloquial language does Arabiyyat al-Naas (Part One) teach? All of them! Each chapter the actor/hero/player travels to a new Arabic country and talks with the people in the colloquial day-to-day language native to that country. Then she goes and writes in her diary about her experiences and what she learned from that culture. The conversations are absolutely wonderful and sometimes funny. Students will learn to read and speak both dialects without too much trouble. I highly recommend this book to any institution or university, and especially government employees who want to pass their OPI, ACE, DLPT and other standardized tests. I encourage all the Arabic teachers in the USA and the rest of the world to use this long awaited book. This three-level book series includes videos, translated conversations, a variety of exercises which are fun, unique and challenging and much, much more. Arabiyyat al-Naas is the answer to the questions asked in every educational conference meeting: Which Arabic dialect should we teach? Should teachers teach colloquial at the same time as the formal language? Thank you to all who participated in creating this long awaited, fabulous book."
Ferial Demy, Arabic Instructor at Diplomatic Language Services, Washington D.C., USA