The Most Cost-Effective Evening Language Program In The Washington, DC Area
Winter 2011 |
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Student Testimonials of DC Internationals
Olga Naidenko
"The best teacher I have seen in my life."
Let's face it - one of the biggest problems in learning a new language is having to deal with annoying and boring language teachers. (Well, that and not doing the homework). Fortunately, there is a relief for the first problem, at least as far as learning Arabic in Washington, DC. The Arabic classes that Ross Kaplan leads are funny, engaging, breathtaking, and empowering to the students - all at the same time. Having quite a bit of experience in foreign language learning and pedagogical methods in general, I remember my amazement and admiration for Ross Kaplan's teaching style from my first day in his class. My jaw dropped and I said to myself, "Oh my gosh, if only I could do something like that in my own classroom."
But it is not just fun - we were actually learning! In the mere 8 weeks our beginning Arabic class could read in a new alphabet, make sentences and translate from English to Arabic and back - all because of Ross's hard work and effective approaches that he brings to teaching. Truly inspiring.
You may email me at olga.naidenko@gmail.com with questions or to convince you why you should take an Arabic or Hebrew class with Ross Kaplan.
Olga V. Naidenko, PhD
University of the District of Columbia
Dept. of Biological & Environmental Sciences
Will Ward
I took Kurmanji Kurdish I with Dr. Michael Chyet in Winter-Spring 2010 and couldn't have asked for a more committed, energetic and knowledgeable instructor. He is a gifted teacher who was able to gracefully integrate students with a range of previous experiences with Kurdish. His self-prepared textbook is well thought out, easy to use, and cleverly uses Kurdish riddles and proverbs to introduce new grammatical constructs. Highly recommended for anyone considering learning Kurdish!
Will Ward
Kurdish I
MESALI – Winter 2010
Matthew Sheren
DC Internationals teaches the fundamentals of grammar and vocabulary while surrounded by motivated students who aren't there to fulfill a requirement or accomplish a prerequisite. The motivations of the students are wide. Some take the class for job skills, some for additional practice while taking another Arabic class, some to retain prior Arabic knowledge, and some just for fun and the love of learning.
Since the class is offered into the community without a narrowly-focused sponsor, the makeup of the students is a true cross-section of older and younger, student and professional, American and foreign-born. The class itself is informative and entertaining. Taught by a multilingual professor who has spent considerable time in the Middle East, the class explores connections with other languages, the cultural origins of some idioms, and variations between different Arabic dialects, often punctuated with a colorful anecdote from the market in Rabat, or what really happens on the 15-hour flight to Qatar.
The class is taught from a mixture of book learning, writing practice, drilling, and conversation and provides a venue free from competition or pressure. It's an ideal way to start building a skill that's sure to be in heavy demand for years to come.
Matthew
Etan Schwartz
I was a student of Professor Kaplan's Intermediate-Advanced Arabic class in the Fall of 2009. Professor Kaplan employs an extremely effective teaching style; combining individualized attention and entertaining humor to make even dry lessons on grammar seem to come alive. Professor Kapln's Arabic class covered all aspects of Arabic Language study including essential vocabulary, grammatical rules, and even cultural aspects of the Arab world. I always felt that Professor Kaplan truly wanted his students to progress and master the material, and was always willing to stay late explaining difficult concepts until he was sure that all students understood. I learned a tremendous amount in Professor Kaplan's class and as someone who has taken a fair share of Arabic classes, I would not hesitate to recommend Professor Kaplan for an enjoyable and worthwhile learning experience.
Etan
Samara Greenberg
Last September I enrolled in Ross Kaplan’s beginner Arabic class after stumbling upon information about the course on the Internet. To be brief and to-the-point, Ross’s class is invaluable. In fact, what makes Ross’s class so wonderful is his style of teaching, which greatly differs from the “typical” style of teaching that one would receive in any ordinary foreign language course. Unlike many foreign language teachers, Ross believes that students should learn a language without taking notes. As he explained during the first class, children learn how to read, write, and speak in a new language everyday just by listening to conversations happening around them. And so, with that, Ross set the tone for our two month course: we would learn Arabic by simply listening and participating in class.
At first I was skeptical – could I really learn Arabic without taking notes? Well, to spoil the surprise, the answer is: most definitely. Over the course of only two months my class learned how to read and write the Arabic alphabet, a large set of useful vocabulary words, masculine and feminine pronouns, masculine and feminine possessive endings, how to conjugate words in both the past and present tenses, how to determine masculinity and femininity, how to turn nouns into adjectives, and more…without writing down a single note. In fact, in just a matter of weeks my class of beginner Arabic students was constructing basic sentences in the foreign language without hesitation.
However, as exciting as learning a new language is, Ross’s Arabic class is not for slackers. Students are expected to complete homework assignments and be ready to show-off what they practiced at home in the classroom. Nonetheless, even with the tough workload, the process of learning was undoubtedly rewarding; the happiness one feels when constructing sentences in a new language just weeks after learning the alphabet is indescribable.
What makes this class so much fun and special, aside from Ross’s style of “no-notebook” teaching, is the enthusiasm, positive attitude, and humor that Ross brings in to the classroom at each meeting. Indeed, as a result, learning remained fun and exciting even as the workload grew harder and harder over the course of the semester. In fact, very few language teachers have the ability to do just that – to make learning a language fun. This, along with the amount of Arabic that I learned in just a few short weeks, is the reason why I would recommend this Arabic course to anyone interested in learning the language.
Samara
Dana Twal
I took Intermediate Arabic with Professor Kaplan during Fall 2008. Although I am a native speaker of a colloquial dialect of Arabic, I am still developing my reading and writing skills. Taking this class was very helpful in allowing me to learn more Modern Standard Arabic. Using the text, Al-Kitaab, we covered a range of lessons, particularly focusing on verb forms. We also practiced reading Arabic frequently in class.
Part of the reason the class was so helpful was because of Professor Kaplan's knowledge and the way that he imparted that knowledge on his students. His understanding of the Arabic language is vast; there were very few questions asked that he was unable to answer. Also, his teaching style made the class both enjoyable and challenging. Professor Kaplan is hilarious and I always looked forward to going to class because of the amount of laughing it would bring. I learned so much because I was challenged and encouraged to participate in class.
Overall, I would recommend this class to anyone who is interested in learning Arabic, whether you are a beginner or not. If you have any questions and would like to contact me, you can reach me at: dtwal@gwmail.gwu.edu.
Dana
Naama Wrightman
My name is Naama Wrightman and I am a senior at The George Washington University where I study International Affairs. I took Ross Kaplan's beginner Arabic class in the fall of 2007. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the class progressed. The professor emphasizes speaking right from the beginning of the course. He teaches many new words and phrases by using examples and mnemonic devices instead of simply translating them from English. Everyone participates, no matter how big the class.
In the beginner course I learned basic conversational skills, how to read and write, basic sentence structures, and conjugations in the past and present tense. The beginner class was a lot of fun and I was very satisfied with how much I learned in such a short time. I decided to take the intermediate class in fall 2008. I built on the conversation skills that I gained from the beginner class and learned more complex sentence structures and verb conjugations.
I would recommend Ross Kaplan's class to anyone who wants to learn Arabic. The class is fast-paced, interactive, and entertaining. It is virtually impossible to sit in Professor Kaplan's class and not learn a lot and laugh a lot.
Please feel free to contact me at nwright@gwmail.gwu.edu with any questions.
Naama Wrightman
Alexei Sobchenko
Arabic is a challenging language. Having mastered five foreign languages, I can say confidently, that it is not for everyone. It takes several key factors to persevere in studying Arabic and the crucial one is the teacher. Ross Kaplan is exactly the kind of teacher who is able to motivate his students by helping them grasp crazy phonetics, grammar and the vocabulary of Arabic.
It is worth mentioning that Ross Kaplan attracts very interesting people from all walks of life who are diligent, intelligent and fun to work with. If it were not for Professor Kaplan and his students, I would have given up studying Arabic long ago, but a sense of belonging to such a great team gives me energy to continue with Arabic class.
Alexei Sobchenko
Interpeter/Translator
Language Service,
Department of State
(202) 378-6141
Student Testimonials of DC Internationals
"The best teacher I have seen in my life." Let's face it - one of the biggest problems in learning a new language is having to deal with annoying and boring language teachers. (Well, that and not doing the homework). Fortunately, there is a relief for the first problem, at least as far as learning Arabic in Washington, DC. The Arabic classes that Ross Kaplan leads are funny, engaging, breathtaking, and empowering to the students - all at the same time. Having quite a bit of experience in foreign language learning and pedagogical methods in general, I remember my amazement and admiration for Ross Kaplan's teaching style from my first day in his class. My jaw dropped and I said to myself, "Oh my gosh, if only I could do something like that in my own classroom." But it is not just fun - we were actually learning! In the mere 8 weeks our beginning Arabic class could read in a new alphabet, make sentences and translate from English to Arabic and back - all because of Ross's hard work and effective approaches that he brings to teaching. Truly inspiring.You may email me at olga.naidenko@gmail.com with questions or to convince you why you should take an Arabic or Hebrew class with Ross Kaplan. Olga V. Naidenko, PhD University of the District of Columbia Dept. of Biological & Environmental Sciences
Shannon Park When I learned that MESALI offers Kurmanci Kurdish courses, I immediately went to the website to register for the Fall 2010 session. I nearly fell out of my seat when I saw that Dr. Michael Chyet, the author of a very highly regarded Kurmanci-English dictionary, would be teaching. When I told a friend of mine who holds a PhD in linguistics that I would finally be able to begin studying Kurdish, he promptly exclaimed "You're going to study with THE Michael Chyet?!!" I wondered if Dr. Chyet would live up to his reputation as something of a rock star in the world of Kurdish linguistics. He certainly did. Dr. Chyet is an extremely effective instructor who is passionate about Kurdish. In preparing his Kurdish textbook, he has clearly given a great deal of thought to the most logical and efficient manner to teach the Kurdish language. He succinctly explains grammatical structures, which may initially seem daunting to students, often using humorous dialogue to illustrate their actual usage. Students also benefit from Dr. Chyet's research on the ongoing changes in the Kurdish language, as he explains how certain grammatical structures have evolved over the past several decades. While the course focuses primarily on the northern dialect of Kurmanci, Dr. Chyet seemed happy to allow students wishing to focus on the Bahdinan dialect spoken in parts of Iraqi Kurdistan to do so. Finally, Dr. Chyet incorporates Kurdish cultural phenomena into the course to illustrate how the language is affected by the culture, and vice versa. Considering the caliber of instruction and the amazingly small teacher-to-student ratio at MESALI, I can't imagine a better value for anyone seeking to acquire a foreign language. I can't wait for the beginning of the Kurdish II course in January 2011! Shannon Park Kurdish I MESALI - Fall 2010
I began taking classes through MESALI with Michael Abdelmessih in September 2010. We were two students. Michael taught us intermediate Arabic in an intensive format, meeting between ten and fifteen hours per week for seven weeks. The other student needed to pass a language proficiency test in November. I needed to improve my skills for the language evaluation portion of a grant application. With those goals in mind, Michael created an attack plan to get us where we wanted to go. He got us efficiently and effectively through a review of alKitaab I and an initial teaching of al Kitaab II, with lots of conversation and writing practice mixed in. We were a full-time grad student and a full-time professional. Accordingly, we were worried that scheduling would be a problem, but Michael was flexible, meeting even on weekends and very early in the morning so that we could hit our class-time goals. After that experience, I would highly recommend Michael Abdelmessih with all your Arabic needs. Tom Lexington During the course of shopping around the greater Washington, D.C. area to find a language school I quickly became discouraged at the high prices demanded by many language training centers. Lucky for me that I discovered the D.C. Internationals/MESALI program.
The MESALI program features courses taught by native speakers and I am convinced that MESALI offers the best value for language courses offered anywhere near Washington, D.C.
After attending the spring 2010 session of the Pashto language course I now posses the fundamental skills and knowledge necessary to take my foreign language education to the next level. The real value, however, is the insight and speaking instruction that the native speaking instructors give throughout class.
The value of this program can't be beat and the location in the heart of our nation's capitol makes for very convenient classroom locations.
I encourage anyone seeking to learn a foreign language to give MESALI a shot. Tom I just completed my fourth session studying Arabic with Ross Kaplan at MESALI. A couple of years ago I had a semester's worth of Arabic instruction and was eager to pick up learning the language again, but I needed something that would work with a full-time job and my meager budget. That's where Ross from DC Internationals and MESALI came in. MESALI offers so many options that work with your schedule, learning a language is accessible for anyone. I enrolled in the beginner's course and have made considerable progress since and I'm now studying at the Intermediate level with intentions to keep taking classes. Ross is a great teacher, and at MESALI I know there are other bonuses like career advice and meeting others in my field. In my opinion, MESALI is the best bang for your buck in comparison with other non-credit language schools in DC. If you're looking to study a language without breaking the bank and works with an already packed schedule, MESALI is the way to go! Oh, and prepare for lots of laughs in class with Ross! Wendy Rebecca R.
My Arabic II class of only seven people has a relaxed atmosphere, yet I have never felt more engaged in a classroom setting. That can be attributed to the gregarious, enthusiastic, and knowledgable man behind MESALI, and my teacher, Ross Kaplan. He packs a lot of material into the relatively short class time, and manages to make it entertaining and interesting along the way. I highly recommend taking a class at MESALI if you're looking for a low-cost, low-pressure, and fun alternative to other language schools in DC.
First night of Arabic I, ninety-minute class for total beginners: for the first hour, no English was spoken. If anyone tried that, Lisa
Brad
Where applicable, Dr. Chyet was able to point out differences between Iranian Persian (Farsi) and Afghan Persian (Dari). As a folklorist, Dr. Chyet uses proverbs or folk sayings to illustrate grammatical points for each class, thus providing an opportunity to discuss aspects of Persian and Middle East culture in the class. The class moved at a rapid pace and covered a lot of material in 10 weeks, but was still informal. I think this was due to Dr. Chyet's teaching style as well as the type of mature and motivated students that MESALI attracts. Although many students had experience with Arabic (making the alphabet easier to learn ), Dr. Chyet still began at the beginning for the benefit of students who had not studied Arabic. This was also important for those who had studied Arabic due to important differences in pronunciation between the languages. I have taken language classes at other institutes in the D.C area and the quality of this class was on par with the best of them. The range of languages offered by MESALI is hard to find, even in a city such as Washington, DC.
Will Ward I took Kurmanji Kurdish I with Dr. Michael Chyet in Winter-Spring 2010 and couldn't have asked for a more committed, energetic and knowledgeable instructor. He is a gifted teacher who was able to gracefully integrate students with a range of previous experiences with Kurdish. His self-prepared textbook is well thought out, easy to use, and cleverly uses Kurdish riddles and proverbs to introduce new grammatical constructs. Highly recommended for anyone considering learning Kurdish!
Kurdish I MESALI – Winter 2010
Matthew Sheren
by motivated students who aren't there to fulfill a requirement or accomplish a prerequisite. The motivations of the students are wide. Some take the class for job skills, some for additional practice while taking another Arabic class, some to retain prior Arabic knowledge, and some just for fun and the love of learning.
makeup of the students is a true cross-section of older and younger, student and professional, American and foreign-born. The class itself is informative and entertaining. Taught by a multilingual professor who has spent considerable time in the Middle East, the class explores connections with other languages, the cultural origins of some idioms, and variations between different Arabic dialects, often punctuated with a colorful anecdote from the market in Rabat, or what really happens on the 15-hour flight to Qatar.
conversation and provides a venue free from competition or pressure. It's an ideal way to start building a skill that's sure to be in heavy demand for years to come.
Etan Schwartz I was a student of Professor Kaplan's Intermediate-Advanced Arabic class in the Fall of 2009. Professor Kaplan employs an extremely effective teaching style; combining individualized attention and entertaining humor to make even dry lessons on grammar seem to come alive. Professor Kapln's Arabic class covered all aspects of Arabic Language study including essential vocabulary, grammatical rules, and even cultural aspects of the Arab world. I always felt that Professor Kaplan truly wanted his students to progress and master the material, and was always willing to stay late explaining difficult concepts until he was sure that all students understood. I learned a tremendous amount in Professor Kaplan's class and as someone who has taken a fair share of Arabic classes, I would not hesitate to recommend Professor Kaplan for an enjoyable and worthwhile learning experience. Etan
Samara Greenberg Last September I enrolled in Ross Kaplan’s beginner Arabic class after stumbling upon information about the course on the Internet. To be brief and to-the-point, Ross’s class is invaluable. In fact, what makes Ross’s class so wonderful is his style of teaching, which greatly differs from the “typical” style of teaching that one would receive in any ordinary foreign language course. Unlike many foreign language teachers, Ross believes that students should learn a language without taking notes. As he explained during the first class, children learn how to read, write, and speak in a new language everyday just by listening to conversations happening around them. And so, with that, Ross set the tone for our two month course: we would learn Arabic by simply listening and participating in class. At first I was skeptical – could I really learn Arabic without taking notes? Well, to spoil the surprise, the answer is: most definitely. Over the course of only two months my class learned how to read and write the Arabic alphabet, a large set of useful vocabulary words, masculine and feminine pronouns, masculine and feminine possessive endings, how to conjugate words in both the past and present tenses, how to determine masculinity and femininity, how to turn nouns into adjectives, and more…without writing down a single note. In fact, in just a matter of weeks my class of beginner Arabic students was constructing basic sentences in the foreign language without hesitation.
slackers. Students are expected to complete homework assignments and be ready to show-off what they practiced at home in the classroom. Nonetheless, even with the tough workload, the process of learning was undoubtedly rewarding; the happiness one feels when constructing sentences in a new language just weeks after learning the alphabet is indescribable. What makes this class so much fun and special, aside from Ross’s style of “no-notebook” teaching, is the enthusiasm, positive attitude, and humor that Ross brings in to the classroom at each meeting. Indeed, as a result, learning remained fun and exciting even as the workload grew harder and harder over the course of the semester. In fact, very few language teachers have the ability to do just that – to make learning a language fun. This, along with the amount of Arabic that I learned in just a few short weeks, is the reason why I would recommend this Arabic course to anyone interested in learning the language.
Dana Twal I took Intermediate Arabic with Professor Kaplan during Fall 2008. Although I am a native speaker of a colloquial dialect of Arabic, I am still developing my reading and writing skills. Taking this class was very helpful in allowing me to learn more Modern Standard Arabic. Using the text, Al-Kitaab, we covered a range of lessons, particularly focusing on verb forms. We also practiced reading Arabic frequently in class.
knowledge and the way that he imparted that knowledge on his students. His understanding of the Arabic language is vast; there were very few questions asked that he was unable to answer. Also, his teaching style made the class both enjoyable and challenging. Professor Kaplan is hilarious and I always looked forward to going to class because of the amount of laughing it would bring. I learned so much because I was challenged and encouraged to participate in class. Overall, I would recommend this class to anyone who is interested in learning Arabic, whether you are a beginner or not. If you have any questions and would like to contact me, you can reach me at: dtwal@gwmail.gwu.edu.
Naama Wrightman My name is Naama Wrightman and I am a senior at The George Washington University where I study International Affairs. I took Ross Kaplan's beginner Arabic class in the fall of 2007. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the class progressed. The professor emphasizes speaking right from the beginning of the course. He teaches many new words and phrases by using examples and mnemonic devices instead of simply translating them from English. Everyone participates, no matter how big the class. In the beginner course I learned basic conversational skills, how to read and write, basic sentence structures, and conjugations in the past and present tense. The beginner class was a lot of fun and I was very satisfied with how much I learned in such a short time. I decided to take the intermediate class in fall 2008. I built on the conversation skills that I gained from the beginner class and learned more complex sentence structures and verb conjugations.
is fast-paced, interactive, and entertaining. It is virtually impossible to sit in Professor Kaplan's class and not learn a lot and laugh a lot.
Alexei Sobchenko Arabic is a challenging language. Having mastered five foreign languages, I can say confidently, that it is not for everyone. It takes several key factors to persevere in studying Arabic and the crucial one is the teacher. Ross Kaplan is exactly the kind of teacher who is able to motivate his students by helping them grasp crazy phonetics, grammar and the vocabulary of Arabic.
life who are diligent, intelligent and fun to work with. If it were not for Professor Kaplan and his students, I would have given up studying Arabic long ago, but a sense of belonging to such a great team gives me energy to continue with Arabic class. Interpeter/Translator Language Service,Department of State (202) 378-6141
Jamil H. I took an Urdu class at MESALI in the spring. I had been searching all over DC for a place where they offered Urdu classes and was getting nowhere, until I discovered MESALI, which happens to be in a church located right on George Washington University's campus. I have to say, for a language class the price is practically dirt cheap, and it is worth every penny. The classes are 1 day a week, an hour and a half (at least mine were) and you cover a surprisingly large amount of material in that time. It can be very difficult to find places to study South Asian Languages, and while Arabic is not as hard to find, it is hard to afford and find class times that do not interfere with work or other classes. MESALI offers a solution to both of these problems. I highly recommend taking classes here, and plan on taking more in the future.
Sarah W. I took an Arabic class at MESALI and really gained a lot from the experience.
Christina P. I took Beginner Arabic (non-intensive) here this past fall for six week course. The class was great, we learned quite a lot in our few weeks, and overall it went smoothly. The pace was quick, but our instructor Ross took time to clarify concepts and answer all our questions. I would recommend this program to everyone. It's must cheaper than anything else in DC, and you still learn the same amount of materials. He also used Al-Kitaab and Alif-Baa, by far one of the best Arabic coursebooks out there.
David N. I am very pleased with my experience at MESALI. They offer a wide variety of languages, and evening classes and reasonable prices make them accessible for business professionals. I looked at courses at the Middle East Institute (MEI) and USDA but ultimately chose to enroll at MESALI and I am happy I did.
Lisa S. First night of Arabic I, ninety-minute class for total beginners: for the first hour, no English was spoken. If anyone tried that, Professor Ross Kaplan repeated a question and answer in Arabic, encouraging and more or less getting the same from each student. To his credit, everyone was transfixed, everyone played along, speaking a little Arabic in the first week. I wouldn't have thought it possible.
Jen F. Recently I studied Hebrew with Ross through MESALI. He tutored me on average for hour a week. He did a great job. He is a very good teacher. I appreciated his ability to teach in a way that stretched me each time we met but did not overwhelm me.
Gabriel A.
I am currently taking an Arabic course at MESALI, and I have to say that it is not only the best "bang for your buck" in terms of Arabic in DC, but it is also the best Arabic course, in general, that I have found in the city. I have taken classes at the USDA Graduate School, teh International Language Institute, and the GLN at GW-none of which can compare to my experience at MESALI.
R.T. I've been taking Arabic classes with Ross Kaplan for a couple weeks now and I can't recommend him enough. He's top-notch when it comes to explaining the material so it sticks, which is no easy task with an exception-riddled language like Arabic. I finish every class wishing we had another hour or two to go over grammar or vocabulary-- and this is coming from someone who finds Dora the Explorer to be overly pedantic. But really, Ross brings a certain excitement to language learning and I notice myself progressing at a pace I had never thought possible. If you, like I, have been frustrated by lack of success from other much more expensive programs in DC I implore you to give MESALI a shot.
Wendy P. I just completed my fourth session studying Arabic with Ross Kaplan at MESALI. A couple of years ago I had a semester's worth of Arabic instruction and was eager to pick up learning the language again, but I needed something that would work with a full-time job and my meager budget. That's where Ross from DC Internationals and MESALI came in.
Brad C. I took Persian/Dari 1 this semester at MESALI for personal interest. The class was excellent and Dr. Chyet is an outstanding instructor. His encyclopedic knowledge of so many languages provides him many opportunities to make comparisons with other languages that students may already know to help drive home a point, making comparisons in grammar and lexicon. In addition, as a non-native Persian speaker he understands the challenge of learning this language himself and knows the pitfalls that may trouble english speaking students. (Native speakers don't always make the best teachers). Where applicable, Dr. Chyet was able to point out differences between Iranian Persian (Farsi) and Afghan Persian (Dari). As a folklorist, Dr. Chyet uses proverbs or folk sayings to illustrate grammatical points for each class, thus providing an opportunity to discuss aspects of Persian and Middle East culture in the class. The class moved at a rapid pace and covered a lot of material in 10 weeks, but was still informal. I think this was due to Dr. Chyet's teaching style as well as the type of mature and motivated students that MESALI attracts. Although many students had experience with Arabic (making the alphabet easier to learm), Dr. Chyet still began at the beginning for the benefit of students who had not studied Arabic. This was also important for those who had studied Arabic due to important differences in pronunciation between the languages. I have taken language classes at other institutes in the D.C area and the quality of this class was on par with the best of them. The range of languages offered by MESALI is hard to find, even in a city such as Washington, DC.
Shannon P. When I learned that MESALI offers Kurmanci Kurdish courses, I immediately went to the website to register for the Fall 2010 session. I nearly fell out of my seat when I saw that Dr. Michael Chyet, the author of a very highly regarded Kurmanci-English dictionary, would be teaching. When I told a friend of mine who holds a PhD in linguistics that I would finally be able to begin studying Kurdish, he promptly exclaimed "You're going to study with THE Michael Chyet?!!"
Jeremy K. Ross Kaplan is a wonderful teacher who makes class fun, interesting, challenging and exciting. He constantly keeps the students on their toes and spices up the class with his sense of humor and puns. His style makes students want to be active participants in the learning process so they gain more than they might in comparable university courses. When I started at MESALI just six months ago, I didn't even know the Alif Baa and now I can already read and speak in basic Arabic and write complex sentences. I highly recommend MESALI for anyone who is interested in learning Arabic in a challenging, thought-provoking and fun setting.
Katie W. This past summer I ended up interning for 10 weeks in Washington DC. My internship program hadn't delivered on its suggested promise to engage my German language skills and I was thoroughly disappointed. However, I got matched up with information for MESALI which happened to be for the same 10 week span as my internship. I figured it was a sign, so I enrolled. I'm so glad I did!
Erica R. I've taken French at MESALI for two 10-week sessions and I have really loved it. The classes are small which is really nice as it makes for a relaxed environment---very important for me as I am a little shy with languages, and French is hard to pronounce! Both the teachers and the other students are very supportive. Overall it's an excellent place for an introduction to the French language---I highly recommend it!
Ilan B. I took the Farsi/Persian II class this summer with Michael Chyet and it was a great experience.
Cameron S. I took the Persian I class with MESALI and thoroughly enjoyed it. Michael Chyet led a well-structured and friendly course that covered all the basics and gave students a solid foundation with the alphabet, grammar and basic vocabulary. It's fast paced but will provide a rewarding challenge to anyone interested in learning a new language.
Matthew S. DC Internationals teaches the fundamentals of grammar and vocabulary while surrounded by motivated students who aren't there to fulfill a requirement or accomplish a prerequisite. The motivations of the students are wide. Some take the class for job skills, some for additional practice while taking another Arabic class, some to retain prior Arabic knowledge, and some just for fun and the love of learning.
Olga N. MESALI offer a broad range of foreign language instruction: Persian/Dari, Pashto, Arabic, Hebrew, Kurdish, Turkish, Urdu, Hindi, TOEFL, ESL, Berber, Moroccan Arabic, and French. Our Yelp Reviews:
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