The wish has been expressed again and again, but now the time has come: From the fall semester 2020, you can study Arabic at the University of St. Gallen (for the time being only in German). As the tenth foreign language alongside German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and Russian, Arabic will enrich the range of foreign languages offered in HSG's contextual studies. Arabic is spoken as a mother tongue by about 370 million people; it is an official language in 25 countries and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. With the introduction of Arabic as a foreign language, the University of St. Gallen wants to take into account the political, economic and cultural significance of the Arab world.

The new foreign language starts in the fall semester 2020 with an initial course offering (Arabic A1) for students in the assessment year (in German). In the coming semesters, the offer will be expanded until all three target levels (A1, A2 and B1) can be studied. Arabic A1 for the bachelor’s program will be offered for the first time in the spring semester 2021. Arabic level A2 is added in the fall semester 2021 and completed by the course on level B1 in the spring semester 2022.