Jacques Nalabandian - American University

Professor: Jacques Nalabandian

Department: TBD

College: American University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ARAB203
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He is one of my favorite Arabic profs at AU (i only have two). It can be hard to pick up concepts in his class when it comes to grammar because he uses english grammar that most of us don't know. But he's really funny and class and appreciates effort. Going to his office hours def a + as well. He is a bit of a roaster so you need thick skin!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ARAB102
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Nalabandian is very intimidating and does not offer good feedback to questions during class. He is much nicer one-on-one and if you communicate well with him you will be fine. He definitely makes students work very very hard, so go to CLEAR a lot and study!! He also does not check the homework but don't let that let you fall behind, he can tell!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ARAB202
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He has a tough exterior but he's actually really caring and hilarious. If you have thin skin you might not want to take him because he does tend to roast students. You will come out of his class knowing a lot of arabic and arab history but you'll have to work for it. He loves to tell his students stories.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ARAB203
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Laughs when students get questions wrong in class, made a number of students cry by berating and humiliating them for trying to learn the language. Definitely the worst professor I have ever had at AU. Thankful for other more competent professors!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ARAB202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He can be really intimidating, especially at first. As long as you go to class and office hours, you'll be fine though. He's actually really sweet behind the hard, overtly "Arab" exterior. He clearly cares a lot about his students. His tests are really hard, but he's a very fair grader and gives you every chance to succeed if you put in the work.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ARAB302
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

My favorite professor at AU. He'll make you fall in love with Arabic and you'll learn so much. He's such a nice man and hilarious too.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ARAB202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Nalabandian is an incredible Arabic teacher. Yeah yeah yeah hes intimidating and sometimes a little scary but dont pay any attention to the reviews that say that. Hes a sweet guy at heart and is funny as hell. Work hard and show that you care and you will get at least a B if not an A.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ARAB202
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Prof. Nalabandian is the best Arabic, or really and foreign language, teacher I've ever had. He has high expectations and can be a bit intimidating at first, but if you're really into learning the language and are willing to work your ass off, I'd definitely recommend taking his class.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ARAB203
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

If you're taking professor Nalabandian, then please be ready for the hardest class you've ever taken (emotionally and academically). Nalabandian expects you to know much more than you could possibly ever and his tests are next to impossible. They key to success is to recognize that he only grades you on CLASS PARTICIPATION AND NOT YOUR EXAMS.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ARAB203
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

The worst professor I've ever had. Was very intimidating and discouraging. Reprimanded you for "not being prepared" but wasn't willing to ever teach you anything or slow down to make sure you understood a concept. If you care about learning Arabic, please take another professor.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ARAB203
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This professor told me that I am not intelligent enough to learn Arabic, but he admires that I work hard in spite of my inevitable failure.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ADVANCEDARABIC
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

One of my favorite profs at AU! Nalabandian will teach you language AND culture. He inspires you to excel. By challenging me to do my best, I worked harder and learned a lot in the process. He has a great sense of humor and makes Arabic interesting and engaging. I found him conscientious and always willing to help. His class is worth AU tuition.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ARABIC202
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He is possibly the worst human being I have ever come across. He will not fail you but you deserve to fail because you were so lost and just plain awful in his class. he will give you at least 3 melt downs over the semester. Very intimidating and very scary.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ARAB202
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Challenging class but not impossible. Professor Nalabandian will push you to your breaking point and just when you think you want to give up he will push you even further. He forces you to know all the vocab from the book and also the vocab he uses in class. Such a challenging class but i will say that my arabic is much improved this year.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: 201
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Nalabandian is awful like straight out just awful. He constantly makes you feel bad for not knowing things & likes to embarrass people. He will tell you your questions are stupid & just not answer them. Expects WAY too much and clearly has no clue what the actual curriculum was in the previous year. Tests are insanely difficult & he is NOT helpful.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: 202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

HE IS AWFUL. HE WIll RUIN YOUR SEMESTER, YOUR GPA and YOUR LIFE. DO NOT TAKE HIM. TAKE MY WORD FOR IT, PLEASE I BEG YOU NOT TO TAKE HIM.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ARAB202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Asks much too personal questions in office hours about family earnings, religion (or lack thereof) and judges you all semester because of it. Get on his good side. Also, puts things on tests that are exact opposite of what he says. I strongly do not recommend

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ARAB202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Prof. Nalabandian teaches an extremely hard Arabic class. You have to know the vocab from the book, as well as vocab he uses verbally in class. You also have to learn grammar words (such as 'preposition', 'active participle', and 'weak verb') in Arabic, which was something slightly dismaying and different from my previous Arabic experiences.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ARAB202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Best Arabic professor on campus. The class is by no means easy, but you will learn more in this class than any other Arabic class at AU. Take him if you can. I am so far ahead of kids who have studied abroad already.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ARAB202
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Great teacher. Really challenged me and helped me to understand Arabic as a language, not just memorize vocab and such.