Magharebia

The Arabic language is in high demand in the United States. Federal funds for various international education programmes are up 33 per cent since 2001 to $103.7m in 2004. Ralph Hines, director of international education programmes at the Department of Education, said a myriad of federally-funded opportunities are available for students and educators to learn Arabic in the US and abroad. To support Arabic instruction in the country, the Department of Education began funding the National Middle East Language Resource Centre in 2002.

Numerous Middle East and African studies centres at , and community outreach programmes to students and teachers. Under a government grant awarded in 2003, work is under way to develop standards for learning Arabic in the United States. The standards will be published in the spring of 2005 and tested in Dearborn, Michigan, location of the largest Arab-American community in the United States. (US State Department)