The House of Studies dates from 1937. From 1957 the Centre was established in Tunis and operated in its current form.
It was initially intended for young White Sisters [MSOLA] studying literary and dialect Arabic, with a formation in Islamology. Gradually the language centre has opened up to other foreigners living and working in Tunisia. The first candidate was a doctor who felt an absolute need to speak Arabic with his patients. Today, people come from a wide variety of backgrounds; students, business people, professors, researchers and anyone wishing to communicate quickly with those around them. Thus, it is a very diverse and international group of students (from Europe, Asia, Africa, and America). Created by Sr. Madeleine Prim, the teaching has four levels with a well thought out grammatical progression. From a learning point of view, effort is immediately put on the accuracy of pronunciation, writing in Arabic and memorizing the most common sentence structures.
The material consists of a learning manual with a presentation of the course both in Arabic and in transcription, for French and English-speaking students. It is accompanied by a CD-ROM to facilitate memorization of texts and vocabulary. On December 22, 2020, a Manual for Level 3 of the Tunisian Arabic Method was officially released. Mabrouk! Sr Melika had worked on it for a long time, using all the original texts of Sr Immaculata. All superlatives can be used to thank those who worked with passion and love for Tunisia and our MSOLA heritage. In this third Manual, as for the other two, we find 30 texts with the vocabulary explained and translated into French and English; exercises and the verbs of the text to be conjugated. There are two important additions: 90 pages of exercises and detailed explanations for all verbs, by category.
For the year 2021 the centre is offering some courses online which can be accessed by everyone whether they are in Tunisia or elsewhere.
One of the objectives is to facilitate adaptation to the country and to enter into relationships more easily. This includes the details of ordinary life, greetings, polite expressions, asking directions, going to the grocery store, etc. This effort to learn to meet people in everyday life is immediately appreciated and a source of joy on both sides. Speaking with people in their own language changes everything in a relationship!
With the desire to tear down walls, to remove the barriers raised by ignorance, prejudice, fear of what is different, we want to continue to commit ourselves to a diverse and fraternal society.
Contact mail m.etudes_cours@yahoo.fr
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