About

I help Arabic learners take steps toward fluency by drawing on lessons learned in my own journey of interacting in Arabic. This journey has been ongoing over the past 25 years of living in Egypt.

My name is Andrew Dempsey, and this website is about one of my passions, which is Egyptian Arabic. I was born and grew up in Canada, but having lived in Egypt for more of my life than Canada.  Depending on what day of the week it is and how much coffee I drink, I am a relatively fluent Arabic speaker.  That’s what I blog about at thearabiclearner.com.

I am a software developer, teacher, curriculum developer, and educational technology specialist with a wide variety of experience in different subjects, age levels, and educational approaches (according to my LinkedIn blurb).

My educational background is in Linguistics and Middle Eastern Studies.  I have a masters in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.  Most of my Arabic education has come from spending many hours with people.

I moved to Egypt when I was 21, lived in a slum, did some crazy adventures, met my beautiful wife, married and settled down a bit, but not too much.  I have three crazy teenaged kids, a small fluffy dog (not ashamed to admit it), and a ton of great friends, all of whom I am thankful for every day.

I’d love to hear from you about your Arabic learning journey!  Drop me a line here on this site, check out my personal website, or contact me on Twitter.