أهلًا وسَهلًا! Welcome to Dr. Bulbul’s Arabic!

(If you’re here for the list of links, that has been moved to the Resources page.)

Have you decided that you want to learn Arabic? Dr. Bulbul, the author of Bite-Size Arabic can help you achieve that! He is currently taking on new beginning and intermediate pupils for both private online lessons and online group courses. (Big news: the Dutch and Portuguese translations of the Bite-Size Arabic book are now available for purchase!)

Your Arabic teacher. The linguist Leston Chandler Buell, Ph.D., known to his students as Dr. Bulbul, has a decades of experience teaching Arabic and has even taught Arabic courses for UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) and Northwestern University. While he has taught Arabic at various levels, he is particularly keen on guiding learners through the beginning and low-intermediate levels (A1, A2, and B1) of their language learning journey. This includes mastery of the writing system and acquiring the most essential aspects of grammar necessary for basic communication.

Online group courses. In the summer of 2025, Dr. Bulbul is offering an online beginner’s group course taught in English using his textbook Bite-Size Arabic. The course will consist of 12 two-hour Zoom sessions, with one session each Tuesday from 1 July to 16 September 2025, at 13:00–15:00 (1–3 p.m.) Amsterdam time, and cost €350/US$365. The variety taught is informal Modern Standard Arabic (fuṣḥā). If interested, send a message to <info@zotezeggen.nl>.

A similar course conducted in Portuguese, using the soon-to-appear Portuguese translation of the same textbook, O árabe bocado a bocado, will be scheduled for each Thursday from 3 July to 18 September 2025 (12 Zoom sessions), at 15:00-17:00 (3-5 p.m.) Amsterdam time, 10:00-12:00 Brasília time, and cost €350 (approx. R$2,200/US$365). If interested, send a message to <info@zotezeggen.nl>.  

Private lessons. Dr. Bulbul also offers private lessons online via Zoom and in-person lessons in Amsterdam. The varieties of Arabic offered are formal and informal Modern Standard Arabic (fuṣḥā) and Egyptian Arabic (the modern dialect), depending on the pupil’s interest. The language of instruction can be English, Dutch, or Portuguese. A packet of 10 one-hour lessons is available for €400/US$420. If interested, drop him a line at <info@zotezeggen.nl>.