Improve Career Prospects

• The Arabic-speaking world is home to significant economic opportunities, as cities like Dubai transform from oil-rich desert to centers of fashion and technological innovation. Knowing Arabic will enable you to interact with potential Middle East business contacts and employers. The U.S. government is seeking Arabic speakers for positions in the Department of Defense, State Department and Department of Justice. A 2009 U.S. Government Accountability Office report called Arabic and Chinese supercritical languages, and noted a recruiting shortfall of 39 percent for those speakers.
  
  

Enjoy Arabic Culture

• The calligraphy that adorns mosques and Muslim homes is a work of art, but for those who read Arabic, it also contributes to understanding and appreciating the art of the Arabic-speaking world. The tales in One Thousand and One Nights, which include "Aladdin" and "Sinbad the Sailor," are masterpieces of literature, and translations often lose certain nuances of the original. A knowledge of Arabic will also add to enjoyment of music from Oum Kolthoum and Mohammed Abdel Wahab, and allow you to learn Middle Eastern dance styles such as chikat, khaliji and raqs sharqi from "native" videos.
  
  

Learn More About Religion

• For Muslims, learning Arabic can be considered an important religious task, as the Qur'an is recited in Arabic from memory during daily prayers. Knowing Arabic can help Muslims memorize the Qur'an for prayers, and read it for optional worship. Islam is often poorly understood, and being able to read the original text of the Qur'an can dispel myths about it and Muslims.
  
  Students of Judaism also benefit from knowing Arabic, as the works of Maimonides, also known as Rambam, Sa'adiah ben Yosef Gaon, and other rabbis and Jewish scholars, were originally written in Arabic, or a hybrid of Arabic and Hebrew.
  
  

Explore the World

• Arabic is an official language in more than 20 countries, is spoken as a minority language in several others and is one the main languages of the United Nations. Knowing Arabic will enable you to explore Cairo beyond areas designed to welcome tourists; help you haggle with merchants in the markets of Damascus; and create a greater connection with the approximately three million Arab Americans throughout the U.S. Knowing Arabic enhances your ability to interact with more than 200 million people worldwide.