Here at Dubai International Academy Emirates Hills we offer our students a diverse range of languages to study. 

Arabic

Arabic is compulsory for all students in KG1 to Grade 9 inclusive in accordance with KHDA (Dubai’s governing education authority) requirements. Arabic is sub-divided into the following two levels:

Arabic A

• For Arab nationals as registered with KHDA through their Emirates ID

Arabic B

• For Non-Arab nationals as registered with KHDA through their Emirates ID

 Please refer to the Arabic Language and Islamic Education Placement Policy

Primary school

French or Spanish

All students from Grdae 2 onwards have the option of French or Spanish language lessons as part of our Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) programme. 120 minutes of MFL instruction is provided per week. Wherever possible, MFL lesson content is linked with Homeroom content or connected with PYP Learner Profiles.

Secondary school

French or Spanish

Both languages are offered from Grade 6, students will choose which language they wish to study. The study of additional languages in the Secondary School provides students with the opportunity to develop insights into the features, processes and craft of language and the concept of culture, and to realize that there are diverse ways of living, viewing and behaving in the world.

Mother tongue programme

To help students retain a connection with their home language and culture, Dubai International Academy offers two to three hours a week of language instruction for children with Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, Swedish or Mandarin as their mother tongue.

 

The Mother Tongue classes are scheduled within the school timetable against Islamic Education and are taught in year groups, allowing children of the same age to develop their home language together. Certified native speaking teachers recreate the feeling of learning language as if the children are in their ‘home’ country and include elements of culture, geography, history and traditions as well as language. New mother tongue groups continue to join the programme.

 

The Mother Tongue Programme is not a language acquisition programme, but a programme for native speaking children living abroad to maintain their mother tongue. Mother tongue classes are an extra paid activity, organized by a private institute or voluntary parents’ initiative with support from the school. The classes are held in small groups in order to allow the teacher to concentrate on each child. The curriculum, books and materials are based on a modified school curriculum from back home