Arabic for Non-Native Speakers: Spoken Workplace Arabic, Greetings, Calls and Etiquette – Dubai, 7–11 Dec 2026

Programme overview

Introduction:

Expatriate staff who cannot greet a client, read a door sign or take a short call in Arabic depend on interpreters for routine exchanges, and small courtesy gaps can slow trust with Arabic-speaking colleagues and partners. This Core Concept course teaches Arabic for non-native speakers at work, starting from script and sounds and building to greetings, numbers, directions, short meetings and phone calls in Modern Standard Arabic, with common colloquial expressions noted. Daily role-plays lead to a recorded workplace role-play and a Personal Workplace Arabic Phrasebook.

Course Objectives:

• Read Arabic letters, common workplace signs and simple form fields in Arabic script
• Greet, introduce oneself and use courtesy expressions appropriately with Arabic-speaking colleagues, clients and visitors
• Use Arabic numbers, times, dates and money expressions in routine workplace exchanges
• Ask for and give directions and make polite requests, recognising common colloquial variants
• Handle short phone calls and the opening and closing exchanges of meetings in basic Arabic
• Apply hospitality etiquette, forms of address and Ramadan courtesies in daily work with Arabic-speaking counterparts

Target Audience:

• Expatriate managers who lead teams that include Arabic-speaking staff
• Expatriate professionals who meet Arabic-speaking clients, partners and public-sector counterparts
• Project and site leads who coordinate with Arabic-speaking contractors and suppliers
• Account and client relationship leads who host Arabic-speaking visitors and delegations
• Newly relocated specialists and advisers taking up roles in Arabic-speaking workplaces

Course Outline:

Day 1: Arabic Script, Sounds and First Workplace Greetings

• Arabic Alphabet of 28 Letters: Right-to-Left Writing and Four Positional Letter Forms
• Sounds Without English Equivalents: Ayn, Ha, Qaf and Emphatic Consonants Drill
• Diglossia Map: Modern Standard Arabic Versus Everyday Spoken Dialect
• Greeting Exchanges: As-Salamu Alaykum, Marhaba and Their Set Replies
• Self-Introduction Role-Play: Name, Role, Department and Organisation

Day 2: Numbers, Time, Dates and Reading Workplace Text

• Western and Eastern Arabic Numerals in Prices, Invoices and Room Numbers
• Telling the Time, Days of the Week and Hijri and Gregorian Month Names
• Money Expressions: Asking Prices, Quantities and Simple Totals
• Sign-Reading Drill: Entrance, Exit, Reception, Prayer Room and Lift Signs
• Simple Arabic Form Fields: Visitor Log, Name, Mobile Number and Signature

Day 3: Workplace Vocabulary, Directions and Polite Requests

• Office and Site Vocabulary Set: Departments, Equipment and Documents
• Asking and Giving Directions: Right, Left, Floor Numbers and Landmarks
• Polite Request Formulas: Min Fadlak, Law Samaht and Mumkin with Colloquial Variants
• Thanks, Apology and Acknowledgement Phrases: Shukran, Afwan, Asif and Inshallah
• Reception Desk Role-Play: Receiving a Visitor and Escorting to a Meeting Room

Day 4: Short Meetings, Phone Calls and Business Etiquette

• Phone Call Script: Answering, Asking for a Colleague and Taking a Callback Number
• Short Meeting Phrases: Opening Greetings, Agreeing, Asking to Repeat and Closing
• Forms of Address: Ustadh, Doctor, Abu and Umm Naming Conventions
• Hospitality Etiquette: Arabic Coffee, Dates and Accepting or Declining Offers
• Ramadan Workplace Etiquette Overview: Ramadan Kareem Greeting, Iftar Invitations and Reduced Hours

Day 5: Recorded Workplace Role-Play and Personal Phrasebook

• Small Talk Practice Rounds: Weather, Travel, Food and Weekend Plans
• Recorded Workplace Role-Play: Visitor Arrival, Short Meeting and Follow-Up Call
• Peer and Trainer Feedback Using a CEFR A1 Speaking Checklist
• Personal Workplace Arabic Phrasebook Assembly by Job Situation
• Thirty-Day Self-Study Plan with Listening, Script and Speaking Routines

Skills You Will Gain:

• Arabic Script Recognition
• Arabic Pronunciation Basics
• Workplace Greetings and Courtesy
• Numbers, Time and Money Language
• Telephone Arabic
• Direction Giving in Arabic
• Colloquial Expression Recognition
• Arab Business Etiquette

Why Attend This Course:

• Leave with a Personal Workplace Arabic Phrasebook organised by the situations you meet each week
• Hear yourself on a recorded workplace role-play and know which sounds and phrases to practise next
• Greet, host and thank Arabic-speaking colleagues and clients in their own language from your first week back
• Practise daily with expatriate professionals from different sectors who face the same workplace situations

Conclusion:

A small set of well-pronounced Arabic phrases changes how expatriate professionals are received at work. The course moves from the script and its sounds, through numbers, time, signs and forms, to directions, polite requests, short calls and meetings, and the etiquette that surrounds them. The final day records a full workplace role-play, gathers feedback and turns each participant's practice into a Personal Workplace Arabic Phrasebook and a self-study plan for continued progress.