Kelsey Arabic Levels (KAL)

Academic Accountability

One of the many secrets to the success of the Kelsey Arabic Program (KAP) comes from our unique system for holding students accountable academically. We expect each of our students to come to Jordan prepared to engage with the Arabic languages for between 30 and 40 hours per week. This total time includes:

  • 16-20 hours of class time[1],
  • five hours minimum visiting with friends or neighbors,
  • eight hours minimum personal study time at home.[2]

Included in each student’s visit hours should be a least one 60-120 minute visit to a local Arabic speaking church, where they can build relationships with local believers before and after the service and participate in an Arab worship service.

However, we don’t just “expect” our students to be this involved in learning Arabic, we actually hold them to this expectation by offering Kelsey Arabic Level (KAL) certificates and student reports at the end of each semester. These certificates and student reports are based in part upon the numbers that students submit each week to Kelsey Administration during a period of class called Family Time.

The KAL certificate is issued to students who demonstrate a high level of commitment to studying Arabic during their whole semester with us. We measure this commitment in four basic areas: Religious, Scholastic, Community and Attendance. Within each of the first three areas, students can choose from three possible involvements (you can see and download the KAL Requirements chart here for more details). Student attendance is taken at the beginning of each class, and—since we consider their presence in class to be essential for their academic success—no student can receive a certificate from us if they miss more than 10 class hours[3] during any semester without officially making the classes up (see our Absence Policy for more details). Students can also choose which level of certificate they desire to attain: Academic or Honors.

We believe that the variety of activities required to earn a KAL certificate will provide our students with the most well-balanced strategy for learning both Arabic languages simultaneously. Moreover, through this part of our program we hope to invest the kind of discipline and motivation that our students will need to successfully continue their own studies of Arabic far into the future.


[1] 16 hours for 3rd and 4th semester students and 20 hours for 1st and 2nd semester students.

[2] It is important to note that historically the most successful KAP students may spend double these amounts in both visiting friends and studying at home, bringing their weekly immersion in the Arabic languages to as much as 42-46 hours or more.

[3] Please note that our Honors students can only miss five class hours during their semester.