she's such a sweetie pie. 11/10

This was one of my favorite classes at UCLA. Our professor was very kind and our quizzes and exams were fair and most people scored well, given that they participated in class and did the homework. The homework counts as a large chunk of the grade and we have 1 assignment due before every class. The class (as of now, but this is subject to change) meets three times a week, so this meant 3 homework assignments. The homework was harder at first, and many people spent multiple hours on each assignment at the beginning. That wasn't my personal experience, and I usually spent around an hour and a half on each assignment in the first couple of weeks. The homework assignments become much easier once you actually know the alphabet and the basic rules of how the language works.

Attendance is also critical for this class. Not only because you won't learn anything if you don't attend, but it is also a part of our grade. She gives two absences that won't effect your grade, and is accommodating if you need to leave early or show up a little bit late every once in a while.

In the class, we learned Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and we chose one dialect to learn (either Levantine or Egyptian). All of the writing is done in modern standard, while our speaking assignments were typically done in dialect. This is a little bit daunting at first, but it really isn't that bad since the dialects still share a lot of vocabulary with MSA. In class she usually instructs mostly in MSA with some Levantine dialect.

Additionally, our professor worked with us when a topic was moving too fast, or if the class felt like a due date needed to be pushed back. In class we spent our time writing, reading, and speaking. I had a lot of fun in there every day and she truly cares about student success. In office hours we would talk about different Arab countries, music, dance, or anything else related to the language.

The materials for the class are EXPENSIVE most of us use a PDF of the textbook and pay out of pocket for the online web service we use for our homework assignments. The cost of the web service isn't awful (40 dollars I think), but the web service comes with the textbook if you decide on purchasing a textbook. The textbooks are like 100-120 dollars, and there is no real use in buying a used one unless the code hasn't been used and none of the work has been filled out in the textbook. We spent the first couple of weeks learning the Arabic alphabet and some basic vocabulary, and then we moved on to a different textbook which is built for students who already know the alphabet. This textbook is also expensive and you have to pay again for the web service because the web service grants access based on textbook. I can't remember the cost for the web service for the second book.

Overall this is an amazing class especially if you need your language requirement fulfilled. It is, of course, a difficult class for native English speakers (such as myself), but many people with no Arabic experience did well in the class (including myself) without too much misery. By the end of this class I was able to say a lot and I genuinely felt like I learned something. I can hold basic conversation, talk about where I live and work, share my telephone number, explain basic likes and dislikes, my ethnic and national origin, describe my location, and talk about all of these things in regards to my immediate family members and friends.

**I didn't have prof. Kinda Al Rifae, I had Brady Ryan (who was a grad student under her advisement I believe)**
I loved this class; it was by far my favorite of the quarter. My professor was so well prepared every time. I learned so much Arabic and got an amazing sense of achievement from this class. It did require a very high workload, but the workload was definitely worth it in my opinion since there was no busywork (everything we did was valuable). I will definitely be taking at least one more year, possibly even majoring in Arabic just from this class. Definitely recommend for anyone interested in learning a super fun and engaging language with very small class size.