Courses and Pricing

No prior Arabic is needed for the Travel Crash Course. The course assumes zero background and builds from first principles — greetings, sounds, numbers and situational phrases in a sequence that works even if you have never encountered Arabic before. The transliteration system we use means you can read phrases immediately without learning any new alphabet. For Private Tutoring, the first session serves as an assessment so we can set the right starting level and make sure the bespoke syllabus matches where you actually are, not where you think you are.

Both formats are available. Travel Crash Course sessions run live online via video call for travellers anywhere in the world — Europe, North America, Australia, East Asia, wherever you are, as long as you have a reliable internet connection and a working microphone. In-person sessions run at the Attarine office in Alexandria for visitors who are already in Egypt. Private Tutoring is available in both formats on the same basis. If you are in Alexandria and want in-person, mention it when you get in touch and we will match you with a session that fits.

Maximum six participants per Travel Crash Course session. We keep groups small deliberately, and this is not just a marketing claim — it is the central design choice of the course. In a group of six, every participant speaks in every session. The teacher can hear your pronunciation, catch systematic errors, push you to produce a phrase actively rather than just nodding along, and ask you a follow-up question when you get something right. A group of fifteen would be a lecture. A group of six is a speaking class. The cap is non-negotiable.

Yes. A single two-hour Crash Course session is available for travellers who need a specific topic area only. The most common single-session bookings are market bargaining and numbers (for people going directly to the Khan el-Khalili or Attarine antiques market), and restaurant and small-talk combined (for people who want to interact more meaningfully at meals). Single sessions are priced at EGP 950. Contact us to arrange a single-session booking and specify which topic you want to focus on.

Sessions are taught in English with Egyptian Arabic (Masri) as the target language throughout. Explanations, cultural notes and teacher feedback are in English — you don't need to understand Arabic to understand the teacher. Speaking practice, phrases and drills are entirely in Masri. The sessions are not translation classes: the goal is production, and the teacher will push you to speak in Egyptian Arabic from the very first minute rather than to understand it through English description. This can feel uncomfortable for the first twenty minutes; it becomes natural quickly.

Genuinely free, no paywall, no registration required, no email address needed. The six topic guides — essential phrases, pronunciation, numbers and money, getting around, at the market and script basics — are open-access and will remain so. This is a deliberate policy, not a temporary promotion. We believe a traveller who cannot afford a paid course should still be able to learn the phrases that make a trip more respectful and more enjoyable. The free content is also genuinely useful for travel — it is not a cut-down tease designed to push you toward a purchase.

Yes. The online format of both the Travel Crash Course and Private Tutoring is open to anyone worldwide regardless of travel plans. We have learners who study Egyptian Arabic for personal interest, for academic research, for professional reasons (working with Egyptian colleagues or clients) or because they are heritage speakers of other Arabic dialects who want to understand Masri specifically. The courses are designed around travel contexts, but the language and skills transfer to any situation where spoken Egyptian Arabic is useful. Tell us your context and we'll confirm whether the standard format or a customised Private Tutoring plan is the better fit.