This advanced-level course will prepare you to read and watch Arabic media reporting on the production of a coronavirus vaccine. The first three lessons will prepare you to read a Reuters Arabic article focused on the distribution of a vaccine in December and the last two lessons will prepare you to watch a 2 -minute Alghad TV news report on the vaccine being produced by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. The vocabulary in lessons 1 – 3 is easier than that in the video. However, while the vocabulary for the course is focused on medical- and health-related terminology, it doesn’t reach the difficulty level of some more advanced readings on the topic and can still be widely applicable for everyday use. There are two points in the video where the speaker either doesn’t speak clearly or mispronounces a word. At the 0:36 second mark, the man says ‘tavriid al-laqaaHaat’, mispronouncing the word توريد – supplying, delivering. It is also difficult to make out what the presenter is saying from 1:12 – 1:17 due to the speed at which she is speaking, but she says “و هو ما وَصَفَه خُبَراء أنَّه إنْجاز كبير في السّباق نَحو وضع نِهايَة للجائِحَة” – and it’ what experts described as a major accomplishment in the race to put an end to the pandemic. Some other sample vocabulary from this course includes: لقاح ، لقاحات – vaccine(s); جرعة ، جرعات – dose(s); المعلومات الخاطئة – misinformation; الموافقة على – approval; جائحة ، جوائحه – pandemic(s).
