BYU’s Arabic Debate team of three competed with over 200 Arabic speakers—and all three received a new national ranking.
For the past five years, Arabic students from BYU have excelled in national and international Arabic debate competitions—even when their opponents speak Arabic natively. In each debate, judges rank speakers on their grasp of the language, and participants can be placed in one of two categories: best overall speakers or best non-native Arabic speakers. At the fifth annual Qatar Debate—held September 27–29, 2024, on New York University campus—a team of three BYU students took first, second, and fourth place out of all non-native Arabic-speaking participants.
Arabic program coordinator Ahmad Karout, who has taught Arabic at BYU since 2018, chose three students from his 400-level Arabic course for this year’s Arabic debate team: Alex Bills (Middle Eastern Studies, Russian ’24), Caleb Dewey (Middle Eastern Studies ’25), and Joseph Yanchar (Microbiology, Arabic Language ’25). All three members left the debate as nationally ranked non-native Arabic speakers. Alex Bills took first place, Caleb Dewey took second, and Jacob Yanchar took fourth.
Karout believes that participating in these debates helps undergrads take their Arabic studies to a new level by using their language in challenging situations. He says that while at these competitions, undergrads “meet new people, open their minds to other opportunities of work, and discuss with their peers. It is very enriching [for their development] and at the level of [language learning].”
Learn more about the Arabic Program on their website!