Introduction

Since its establishment in 1841, the Arabic and Islamic studies at Yale—the oldest such program in the United States—have focused on the study of all aspects of the history and culture of Islamic societies. Arabic is the language of the Qur’an and Muslim practice; it is the universal language of medieval scholarship, philosophy, and science; in modern times, it is one of the six international languages of the United Nations and the living medium of a vibrant and constantly developing modern literature. Arabic is spoken by more than two hundred sixty million people throughout the world and is the main language of most of the Middle East. Arabic is becoming an important language when it comes to operating an international business that is trying to break into foreign markets. One of the many features of learning Arabic is that it opens up many employment possibilities in a number of different industries such as oil, travel, finance, international policy, business, and translation to name a few. Arabic speakers have been in very high demand by many governments around the world including the U.S.A. Our courses at Yale University can help you get there.