It's common knowledge that Fishbein is a genius with language. Anybody who's passionate about the language will of course be gifted at it. I'm surprised that most of the evaluations here aren't bad mouthing the guy. That's a real shocker to me because most people that i've spoken with about Fishbein say the guy's a big prick. I've never had any class with the man but have spoken with him on several occasions during his office hours and he gets very irate over nothing. but that's just how some people are. that's life.

His class is straight forward: all the assignments are on the syllabus, the quizzes cover exactly what is in the book/covered in class. He's pretty strict about grammar/spelling...His t.a. is the complete opposite. My greatest complaint is that on the syllabus he says that he's going to replace any lower quiz/dictation grade with the grade received on the final...but he didn't do that for everyone! and refused to correct his mistake because "its too much work". he's moody and can be a dick sometimes. otherwise, i'd recommend him if you want to learn how to read/write arabic, i didn't learn much in terms of actually speaking arabic. class consisted of watching the dvd 5 times and dozing off while he read from the book about some grammar point.

He's a pretty easy professor. If you're taking 1A and you've already had some Arabic knowledge the class is breezy easy!!!!!! Just turn in the VERY EASY homework everyday and study the dialouges for the quizzes. Usually you can leave at the break. Good GPA booster;)