17th November 2010 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The Academic Resource Center (ARC), at Tufts University has recently announced that, per person studying it, Arabic has become the most popular subject to be tutored. In absolute terms, Biology tuition and Chemistry tuition are the leading subjects for which there is demand for a tutor, but Arabic is now the language with most students seeking private tuition, and the 4th highest subject overall.
A lecturer of Arabic at Tufts, Rana Abdul-Aziz, said that this is less a sudden increase, and represents a slow growth in the popularity of learning Arabic over the last few years. He pointed out that the interest is closely related to the events of 9/11, and students want to better understand the culture and viewpoint of many countries speaking the language.
But why has Arabic become so popular as a subject for which students seek out a private tutor? It’s suggested that the reason may be largely down to the difficulty of the language; it has sounds not present in romance languages (the similar subjects within the university), and so many students find it difficult to understand Arabic without enlisting the help of a private tutor. French and Spanish students will often use web translating services, or ask friends for help.
Another suggestion is that Arabic students are very serious if they have decided to study the language, and the natural result of that is that if they are struggling at all, they will contact the ARC for a private tutor.