Is it truly worth it to travel to another continent to learn Arabic?
- Apr 13
- 3 min read
We look closely at the smallest details, ask how much we could truly learn, and seek to live as locals...and of course, Arabic is everywhere
اللغة العربية في كل مكان
What we discover in Morocco is that no textbook can capture the intensity of being in a crowded square, surrounded by voices you don’t yet understand, and realizing the pages you studied suddenly feel blank… But from an educator’s perspective, I know this: the time spent reimagining and refining culture through worksheets, cartoon characters, or scripted dialogues can never compare to lived experiences.
Nothing replaces an open classroom filled with countless visual flashcards that turn into flash memories—real items on our tables, real people in our lives, and real spaces around us.
If you look at the themes most foreign language textbooks prepare you for—how to seek help, greet someone, or ask for directions—you’ll notice that they barely scratch the surface.
What we discover in Morocco is that no textbook can capture the intensity of being in a crowded square, surrounded by voices you don’t yet understand, and realizing the pages you studied suddenly feel blank.
I pause with a deep sense of relief ...
When I see our participants strike up conversations with locals, play card games, drink tea, interview their hosts, interact with neighbors, stop by the grocery store, or ask for help at a phone shop or other places, I pause with a deep sense of relief and achievement. And believe it or not, every cohort carries a whole new set of “textbook pages” that I feel intrigued to draft and turn into our class worksheets. In that moment, I know that no worksheet I could ever design would capture the mixed emotions—the struggle and the triumph—of using the target language in real life.
Real Encounters, Real Voices that Shape Your Narrative For me, that is the class worth traveling across continents for: one that gives students agency over their learning journey—not confined by classroom walls or textbooks, but built on lived experiences. It is worth it to gain real stories, real encounters, and real voices that shape your own narrative.
To book your flight and take off—not as a tourist, but as a new member of the Moroccan community, a conscious traveler who sees value in the host culture and does NOT treat it as a source of entertainment, but as a living example of history—this is, I believe, an experience worth living.
One of my students once said: “Being with someone local, on a family-oriented trip, makes you feel safe and grounded. It gives you a sense of belonging and tranquility.”
And if our cohorts can build that sense of belonging, then I know they will have friends to return to—because they are no longer strangers to the country.
Morocco is my home, but nothing feels more rewarding than paving the way for someone else to call it theirs—to embrace its beauty and imperfections, to follow its pathways and discover its hidden treasures, and to cherish the small steps and stories they carry back with them.
I tell my team and community: if one student signs up for our journey, it means we have a new community member who will show us Morocco through their lens.
So, is it truly worth it to travel to another continent to learn Arabic? I will let our students answer that question.... see our journey and memories below...
And this is just the beginning. Till the next story, stay tuned, because my uncle asked me a question that deserves its own post: “How do people trust you so much that they come all the way from Australia, USA, Asia,& Europe to Morocco to join this program?”Even family had their doubts… LOL 😆 Our next journey inshAllah is scheduled in December, will you join us? I will call this series "Stories from Morocco". If you’d like me to share more, please comment below, and tell me,
Would you ever travel to another continent to learn Arabic?
Yes
No
Maybe
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