Study Tamazight

Experience our Curious Explorer course in Tamazight and become acquanted with Morocco’s original language. Spend three hours learning Moroccan greetings, common words, simple phrases, and cultural do’s and don’ts so that you can interact with people in their language during your time in Morocco. For groups, we will follow up your workshop with a traditional Moroccan meal.

Curious Explorer Includes

Three hours of instruction with one of our experienced teachers, either online or in-person at our center in Fes.

A printed booklet and MP3 audio files to help you practice your new language skills.

A traditional Moroccan meal (not available for individual classes).

The Curious Explorer course is a good introduction to Central Moroccan Tamazight. For those who desire an even deeper contact with this noble people, consider our Serious Explorer course which offers all of the above and more ... like the Tifinagh alphabet.

Serious Explorer is geared towards the needs of a traveller in the Berber areas of central Morocco. Spend nine hours, spread over three days or a week, learning Moroccan greetings, cultural do’s and don’ts, and common words and phrases to help you take a taxi, ask for directions, book a hotel room, order your food and drinks at a restaurant, and buy items at a shop. You will also be able to distinguish the letters of the Tifinagh alphabet, an ancient alphabet that is being revitalized and used in various places in Morocco. For groups, we will finish the week with a traditional Moroccan meal.

Serious Explorer Includes

Nine hours of instruction with one of our experienced teachers, either online or in-person at our center in Fes.

A printed booklet and MP3 audio files to help you practice your new language skills.

A traditional Moroccan meal (not available for individual classes).

Abrid 1 is a five-week course covering greetings, pronunciation, everyday phrases, as well as writing. After finishing Abrid 1 you will be able to read and write Arabic letters without serious difficulty, answer most of the numerous greetings, tell people about yourself, and do shopping in Tamazight.

There are 2 textbooks for the Abrid 1 course: a Student Book, covering all the material for each lesson, and a Workbook, filled with interesting review exercises and supplementary dialogues, texts, and proverbs that go with each lesson. Audio files are also provided to help with oral learning.

At the end of Abrid 1, the serious student will have a solid foundation in Tamazight which can be expanded just by talking to others. Major portions of the grammar will be covered, as well as everyday vocabulary.

In Abrid 2, you will make great strides in communicating in Tamazight. You will use more verb tenses, ask questions, and begin speaking in small paragraphs. Refining your pronunciation is also an important element of this level.

By the end of Abrid 2, you should be able to read and write Tamazight in Arabic script with little effort and handle your daily needs in Tamazight. You will also have learned the final pillar of the Tamazight verb, which will enable you to use all the "continuous" tenses of Tamazight.

Abrid 3 is very important for consolidating the final pillar of the Tamazight verb that you learned at the end of Abrid 2. This is necessary for you to improve your fluency. You will be able to discuss a wide variety of topics as you constantly increase your vocabulary. You've been already using a lot of prepositions, but Abrid 3 allows you to finally put them together in an practical way. You will also cover Tamazight's three types of adjectives and something that is peculiar to this language: direction particles. Tamazight is often concerned with whether a verb's action is happening toward the speaker or away from him. Abrid 3 will help you negotiate this difficult but foundational aspect of Tamazight. Abrid 3 ends with your being able to use causative, reciprocal, and passive verbs.

By the end of Abrid 3, you will have covered the basic grammar of Tamazight. You will be able to communicate in Tamazight with confidence. And you will have expanded your vocabulary and will have the ability to speak about a wide variety of topics.

By the time you start Abrid 4 you will know the basic grammar of Tamazight, but you will still need more practice with sentence structure (as things tend to move around a lot in Tamazight sentences) and the more complicated tenses. Don't short-change yourself by skipping Abrid 4. There are still important things you haven't learned yet! The essential element of this level concerns participles and linking words that enable you to smoothly connect sentences and paragraphs. There is also a special emphasis on common idioms and expressions. You will learn numerous ways to express a variety of emotions. Did you know that these emotional expressions often focus on the liver?

In this level you will be exposed to traditional Tamazight riddles, in addition to proverbs, dialogues, and a number of texts and poems from Berber newspapers. This will allow you not only to increase what you can speak about, but your knowledge of Berber culture will greatly deepen, and you will be considered an "insider."

By the end of Abrid 4, you will have covered all the grammar of Tamazight! You will have acquired the ability to contribute to a discussion between Imazighen people. They will be delighted with your ability to speak their language and will say that you really are "one of us." You will be also exposed to some of the main regional variations in Central Moroccan Tamazight, and this will allow you to adjust to the small changes that happen in the language as you go from one town to another.