Book excerpt: ‘Arabiyyat al-Naas (Part One) offers a groundbreaking introduction to Arabic as it is written and spoken by native speakers. It combines a progressive and rigorous grounding in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) – the form employed for reading, writing and formal speaking – with an innovative integration of the spoken Levantine variety used in everyday situations in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. Introducing the two simultaneously ‘Arabiyyat al Naas (Part One) uses each in its proper context: Levantine for conversations and MSA for reading and writing activities. In this way, the course efficiently prepares students for the practical realities of learning and "living" Arabic today. Features include: 21 theme-based units covering all the core topics expected in a first-year Arabic course, such as countries, clothes, colors, family and professions a broad range of stimulating activities and exercises fostering active engagement with the course and the development of comprehension and communication skills comprehensively covers the 5 Cs: communication, culture, connections, comparisons and communities free downloadable resources filmed on location in Jordan, presenting over 40 videos and incorporating a wide variety of entertaining and realistic scenarios a free companion website (www.routledge.com/cw/younes) offering a wealth of additional instructor and student resources, including a teacher’s guide, an introduction to the letters and sounds of Arabic (with audiovisual aid and writing demonstrations), audio recordings of songs and listening passages, video clips, sample tests, an answer key and language games clear explanations of grammatical structures and concepts as they occur in the reading and listening materials to encourage progressive learning and active interaction with the text a user-friendly and vibrant full colour text design, richly illustrated throughout with over 200 illustrations and photographs songs with simple lyrics tied to the themes of the course to help advance vocabulary acquisition and understanding of basic grammatical structures. Written by a dynamic author team and tested over a number of years at Cornell University, ‘Arabiyyat al-Naas (Part One) will be an essential resource for students beginning to learn Arabic. While primarily designed for classroom use, the accessibility of the course and website also renders it highly suitable for independent study. The materials are designed to bring students from the novice low level to the intermediate low level on the ACTFL scale (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages), and from A1 to A2/B1 on the CEFR scale (Common European Framework Reference). This volume is the first in an exciting three-part series of Arabic textbooks which together provide a complete three-year undergraduate language program.