BS”D
LOLOL I love the teacher’s surname! Shaatra, do NOT ask your grandparents what al-Zubi means (if it does mean that in Syrian dialect and I am sure it is spelled differently from the nivul peh that I am thinking of)!
I took one semester of Arabic at college and could not handle it because of the alphabet. I think had there been a word processing program in Arabic at the time I would have been OK; it takes artistic skills to write Arabic if you weren’t brought up with it and I am no artist.
The problem is not teaching Arabic, it is the Federal grant money and the rationale behind it. Arabic should be taught – but whenever possible by refugees from the Arab countries (Kurds, Lebanese notzrim, Arabic speaking Jews if any are left) who can also impart the sad history of minorities under Arab fanaticism. When I tried to study it, it was for the sole reason of being able to pick up a copy of Al-Ahram or Al-Ahabel and know what they are saying about us.