Cultural Activities

Tours and Trips

The program offers its students a wide range of one-day short tours and overnight long trips inside and outside Cairo. These tours and/or trips are considered part of the program and are either fully funded or partially subsidized by the department depending on the nature of the trip in terms of length and destination.

Short tours are one-day journeys carried out during weekends to sites of historical attraction inside and nearby Cairo. Such tours are fully funded by the department with no cost incurred by the student. Short/one-day tours include, but are not limited to, Giza pyramids and Sphinx, Saqqara and Memphis, Citadel, Egyptian Museum, Coptic Cairo, Islamic Museum, Khan El Khalili and Old Cairo.

A long trip is typically for three to four nights, and the cost is partially subsidized by the department with minimum cost incurred by the student. Long trips may include Upper Egypt (Luxor, Aswan and Abu Simbel), the Red Sea Governorate (Hurghada, El Gouna and Marsa Alam), Sinai (St. Catherine Monastery and Sharm Al-Sheikh) and the North Coast (Alexandria, Marsa Matrouh and Siwa Oasis).

All tours are organized in coordination with the AUC Travel Office to ensure the maintenance of AUC standards as well as the best travel package in terms of pricing, guidance, transportation, accommodation and service.

End-of-Semester Party

At the end of each semester, the department organizes a party for its students to exhibit their different talents through a variety of activities such as reading famous Arabic poetry, acting, singing and dancing. It is an event where students mingle with their instructors and staff while enjoying the delicious treats and food offered.

ALIN E-Magazine

To encourage students to refine their writing skills, ALIN produces a student e-magazine that is supervised by an ALI instructor. The magazine displays all levels of writing from elementary through advanced, and students are encouraged to contribute to it. At the end of the semester, a writing contest is held and prizes are awarded to the best contributors.

Below are the links to the latest issues of بالعربى e-magazine. 

بالعربى e-magazine

بالعربى e-magazine 

Summer Learners Cultural Activities

Wall Magazine

To encourage students to refine their writing skills, the program produces a student wall magazine. The magazine displays all levels of writing, from elementary through advanced, and all students are encouraged to contribute to it. At the end of the summer session prizes are awarded to the most active contributors.

Tours and Long Weekend Trip

The program offers free half day tours on Saturdays to a most memorable touristic places inside Cairo. These tours are always guided by professional English speaking tour guides who provide assistance and information on cultural and historical sites and respond to questions. A long weekend subsidized trip is also offered to one of Egypt’s coastal cities.

Calligraphy

The program offers weekly classes in Arabic calligraphy by experts in the field. By the end of the summer program, students will have created their own signs, names, proverbs in beautifully written calligraphy. 

Community Engagement

ALIS students have the choice to meet with less fortunate Egyptian children, who have never traveled abroad to give them a taste of different aspects in their countries and help them to get a glimpse of life in these countries. ALIS students will teach children a famous song & dance, prepare a famous recipe from their country to eat with the children (Students could be reimbursed for them up to EGP 200).  They also share with children pictures of their family & life in their countries. All this takes place through cooperation between a non-governmental organization and AUC. The benefit of this activity is that students have to speak in Arabic with children, who do not speak English, in a comfortable environment with no one observing.

End of Semester Party

A party celebrates the end of the summer session. Students participate in the party in a variety of capacities, reading poetry. Singing well-known songs, playing instruments, acting and dancing.  Extracurricular lessons are offered for free over the course of the summer to train students to engage in this event.