Defining your reasons for studying Arabic is important, because it will determine how you go about learning. If you are looking for career advancement, you will want a different focus for your studies than if you are learning Arabic for personal reasons.
If you are planning to travel for personal reasons or simply want to learn for your own enjoyment, you should take courses that focus on conversation and reading skills. However, if you are learning Arabic for business or academic pursuits, then more traditional language study, with an emphasis on vocabulary and grammar, would be better suited to your needs.
The primary choice you will need to make in planning your Arabic learning through distance education is between formal and informal distance education. Informal distance education can take the form of online courses that do not offer college credit, websites and even online forums. Formal distance education could include individual courses outside a degree program, as well as a degree program with a major in Arabic.
On an hour per hour basis, studying through a distance education program will generally take you the same amount of time as if you were attending classes on campus. Because you can set your own pace when working through a distance education program, you could complete it in fewer calendar days, but the number of actual study hours might remain the same.
Because language learning is highly personal, an exact time frame is difficult to determine. The individual courses will offer information about how fast you can expect to proceed, and this information should be available in the course description prior to enrollment.
Distance education is normally less expensive than traditional on-site classes, which is the primary benefit to learning Arabic through this method. The ability to study a foreign language not offered locally is also a positive aspect of distance education.
Studying Arabic through distance education will allow you to set the pace of your studies without disrupting your work or family life. Because distance education is growing in popularity, according to the University of London, you can expect to participate in online classes with people from around the world, making your language studies more diverse. This global interaction can also lend cultural insight that might not be available in on campus classes.
Although each institution will set up its own format for distance education classes, you can expect a few aspects to be consistent across each school. Expect to take your exams online via your student account. Additionally, any assignments will be submitted through email directly to the instructor or through your student account. Also, it is not unusual to have online classes taught through video, which you can view at your convenience.