Milestone map
Milestone map
3 milestones
Build A2 vocabulary and past tense verbs
4 weeks
Arabic A2 requires approximately 800 words covering topics such as work, travel, shopping, health, and daily routines. The most important grammar addition at A2 is the past tense (الماضي), which is the most regular Arabic tense: all verbs follow a pattern of stem + person suffixes. Work through the full conjugation table for at least 30 common verbs. Also introduce the idafa genitive construct (إضافة — linking two nouns without a preposition, e.g. كتاب الطالب 'the student's book'): this is the Arabic possessive structure and is ubiquitous at A2 and above.
Proof required
Submit a conjugation table of 20 past-tense verbs (all 13 persons) written in Arabic script, plus 10 original sentences using the idafa construct in meaningful context — not isolated examples copied from a textbook.
What gets checked
- Conjugation tables must include all 13 persons (أنا/أنت/أنتِ/هو/هي/أنتما/هما/نحن/أنتم/أنتن/هم/هن) — an incomplete table shows gaps in the paradigm
- Idafa sentences must be original and contextually meaningful, not permutations of the same noun pair
- Verbs should include both strong (صحيح) and weak (معتل) roots — a table containing only easy consonantal roots suggests selective practice
Common mistakes
- Treating the past tense as a list of memorised phrases rather than a productive paradigm — the conjugation table task exists specifically to test paradigmatic knowledge
- Writing idafa constructs as 'X of Y' translations without understanding the definiteness chain (the first noun in an idafa cannot take ال)
Resources
Foundationstart here
Depthgo deeper
What a verifier looks for
- Check that the first noun in idafa constructs does NOT carry ال — this is the most common A2 error (e.g. الكتابُ الطالبِ is incorrect; كتابُ الطالبِ is correct)
- Past tense conjugation tables should not show systematic dual-form errors — the dual is a real Arabic category and A2 learners should know the basic dual suffixes
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Master A2 grammar — broken plurals and verbal sentence order
4 weeks
Broken plurals (جمع التكسير) are the defining Arabic A2 grammar gate: unlike European languages where plurals follow regular suffixing rules, Arabic has approximately 30 plural patterns where the internal vowel structure of a word changes to form its plural (e.g. كِتاب → كُتُب, قَلَم → أَقْلام). These must be learned per word — there is no fully predictable rule from singular to plural. Alongside broken plurals, practise verbal sentence word order (verb–subject–object in classical MSA, though colloquial varieties often use SVO), and the four main types of conditional sentences (إن/إذا/لو/لولا with their corresponding clause types).
Proof required
Submit a written list of 40 singular–plural pairs using at least 8 different broken plural patterns, drawn from authentic reading (not a textbook paradigm page). For each pair, write a sentence using the plural form in a realistic context.
What gets checked
- Plural pairs must come from real reading contexts, not just a textbook paradigm list — learners should identify plurals they encountered in authentic text
- At least 8 distinct broken plural patterns must be represented — a list with 40 pairs all using the same أَفْعال pattern indicates selective practice
- Plural sentences should be grammatically correct with proper gender agreement — a plural noun of feminine gender (even if it takes a masculine plural pattern) still triggers feminine verb agreement
Common mistakes
- Attempting to memorise broken plural patterns as abstract rules rather than through repeated reading exposure — pattern recognition comes from encountering real text, not from memorising paradigm charts
- Assuming all broken plurals are predictable from the singular — the learner must look up and record plurals per word; treating familiar patterns as fully generative is a common error
Resources
Foundationstart here
Depthgo deeper
What a verifier looks for
- Ask the learner to provide the broken plural of 5 words chosen by the verifier — a learner who can only reproduce memorised pairs has not yet acquired the pattern-recognition skill
- Gender agreement with broken plurals is a classic A2 error: broken plurals of non-human nouns take feminine singular verb agreement (e.g. الكتب موجودةٌ, not موجودون) — check for this specifically
- VSO vs SVO order: in MSA, verify that verbal sentences in the learner's written examples place the verb first when the subject is explicit; in colloquial varieties, SVO is expected and acceptable
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Hold a 10-minute A2 Arabic conversation
2 weeks
At A2, a successful conversation demonstrates the ability to handle familiar topics with some depth: describing past events using the past tense, talking about plans using will-equivalent structures (سوف/سـ), expressing preferences and giving simple reasons, and asking for clarification when needed. The verifier must be a native or near-native speaker of the learner's declared variety, and the conversation must be conducted entirely in that variety. The 10-minute length allows the verifier to cover 3–4 topic areas and assess whether the learner can sustain meaningful exchange beyond single-sentence responses.
Proof required
Submit a recording of an unscripted 10-minute conversation in Arabic (your declared variety) with a native or near-native speaker. Both sides must be clearly audible. The verifier must cover at least three distinct topic areas and must note (in a short written comment attached to the recording) one grammar feature the learner handled well and one error pattern they observed.
What gets checked
- Conversation must span at least 3 topic areas — a single-topic recording suggests the learner directed the conversation to avoid unfamiliar territory
- The learner must use past tense at least once and a future-equivalent construction at least once during the conversation
- Verifier's written comment must be included — it is evidence that a genuine qualified observer was present, not a friend playing a role
Common mistakes
- Restricting the conversation to only A1-level topics (greetings, family, numbers) to avoid A2 grammar — the verifier should push into past events and plans
- Switching to English or a different language when stuck, rather than paraphrasing in Arabic — at A2, the ability to work around gaps using simple Arabic is a key skill signal
Resources
Foundationstart here
Depthgo deeper
What a verifier looks for
- Declare your variety at the start of the recording and note the learner's declared variety — if they differ, this is a mismatch that affects assessment
- Introduce a past-event topic (e.g. 'what did you do last weekend?') and a future-plan topic (e.g. 'what will you do next week?') — these test the two tenses most important at A2
- At A2, assess whether the learner can self-correct when they make a clear error, and whether they can ask for repetition or clarification in Arabic (e.g. ممكن تعيد؟) rather than switching language
- Your written comment should name specific grammar features observed — 'good conversation' alone is not sufficient verifier commentary
- The learner's chosen variety (MSA, Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, etc.) must be consistent throughout; note any variety-mixing in your comment
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