Rafah

I have been taking classes with Rafah for almost two years through Italki! She is the absolute best of the best. She knows how to motivate you and keep the lessons exciting and fresh. Her method is well developed and it doesn't matter if you start from scratch or if you are more advanced. By now, I am well able to have conversations in Arabic on various topics with my Arabic friends and I'm proud grateful of all the progress I've made with the lessons I took with Rafah!

Rafa is a great teacher. I have been learning the Syrian dialect with her for about 9 months and my classes with her have helped me improve my Arabic a lot during this time. She is flexible and is willing to focus on what you want to focus on. She is very knowledgeable about the Arabic language (both MSA and dialect) and is also good at explaining the cultural elements associated with the language. She is a very likable and caring person and I always enjoy my classes with her.

I had a great first lesson with Rafah. We did a kind of placement test using the book I have been studying from and some free-form conversation. I chose Rafah because of her alleged command over the إعراب and she did not disappoint: she used all of them with ease and it is clear that she is very skilled not only in Arabic but also surrounding disciplines like Islam and (Islamic) history. I truly have never met someone whose spoken Fusha was this "informed". If you - like me - are interested in the إعراب in speaking, then I cannot recommend Rafah highly enough. The overall lesson was good for the rest. I am not used to speaking MSA at all so naturally I made a lot of mistakes I would probably not make in writing. Rafah corrected them with refreshing explanations so that it was productive and informative. It also shows she is versed in the grammar explicitly. The only thing is her child came into the screen, but she was quiet so it was not really an issue nor disruptive.

Highly recommend! I started with Rafah because I wanted to improve my reading. We covered a wide range of poetry and prose, both classical and modern. Recently we have decided to work on my listening and speaking intensively. I cannot recommend Rafah high enough. She’s knowledgeable, patient, and absolutely professional. The longer you work with Rafah, the more she tailors her teaching in a way that benefits you the most because she knows you more — to the point where she knows exactly what words to use to help you understand. Hands down *the* best Arabic teacher I’ve had in the past ten years.

Thank you! I really enjoyed my lesson with Rafa!

What a wonderful teacher Rafa is. She is understanding and goes above and beyond. I can't recommend her enough.