Project

Oman / Arabic Language Study

An immersive Arabic study program based in Manah, Oman, in the summer of 2023 — daily language work paired with the landscape, craft, and everyday life of the country's interior.

A small group stands on the overhanging rim of Jebel Shams at dusk — the highest peak in Oman — above the haze of the Wadi Ghul canyon. — Jebel Shams, Oman — the rim of the Wadi Ghul canyon at dusk, during a 2023 Arabic study program based in Manah.

Role
Arabic language student and intercultural learner
Areas
Teaching & Learning / Public Scholarship
Skills
Arabic, Oman, Language immersion, Intercultural work

In motion

One of the long-haired goats of Jebel Shams — the mountain interior where the program's field trips ran.

Overview

In the summer of 2023, Reese studied Arabic through an immersive program based in Manah, a town in Oman's Ad Dakhiliyah interior — pairing daily formal language work with travel across the country.

The title of that summer’s photo album — منح... وسط لا مكان, "Manah… in the middle of nowhere" — captures the setting: a small interior town as the base for full immersion in Gulf Arabic and everyday Omani life.

What to notice

Language study here was not confined to a classroom. It ran through markets, mountain villages, and the country's dramatic interior — from the Wadi Ghul canyon at Jebel Shams to the date-palm towns of the Dakhiliyah.

Oman extended a long arc of Arabic study, adding a Gulf dialect region alongside the Modern Standard Arabic, Moroccan Darija, and French behind the rest of Reese's work.

A long-haired goat with curved horns stands among the pale rocks of Jebel Shams, Oman. — Place / Jebel Shams The long-haired goats of Jebel Shams — a small detail of the mountain interior where the program's field trips ran.

Why it matters

The Oman program deepened Reese’s Arabic across a second dialect region and reinforced a habit of learning a language by living inside it — the same approach behind his teaching and Huruf Lab.