Salwa Amer

Senior Instructor of Arabic

I was born in Beirut, Lebanon to a Palestinian family. I grew up in Beirut, I finished my college education, and I had good memorable experiences with the family, neighbors, and friends. Beirut was a melting pot of diverse ethnicities and religions, until the civil war broke out. I moved to Nicosia, Cyprus. Where I spent about 12 years of my life over there. I worked for ten years as an Arabic teacher at Nicosia American International School and the Libyan Arabic school.

In 1995 due to the Oslo peace agreement between Palestinians and Israelis, I moved to Ramallah, West Bank, Where also I taught Arabic as a second Language at the American Palestinian Academy for nine years.

Finally, I moved to the USA. Through my time here as an educator and teacher, I have spread cultural competency among my students while simultaneously growing more aware of the cultural diversity in the American society. Currently, I am the head of the Arabic language program at the University of South Florida. The Arabic program ranges from Level 1 (ARA I) to Level V (FOL 4102), which is equivalent to high intermediate level according to the second language acquisition evaluation.