Arabic for Life takes an intensive, comprehensive approach to beginning Arabic instruction and is specifically tailored to the needs of talented and dedicated students. Unlike the other Arabic textbooks on the market, Arabic for Life is not specifically focused on either grammar or proficiency. Instead, it offers a balanced methodology that combines these goals. Frangieh has created a book that is full of energy and excitement about Arabic language and culture, and it effectively transmits that excitement to students. Arabic for Life offers a dynamic and multidimensional view of the Arab world that incorporates language with Arabic culture and intellectual thought.

The book is accompanied by a DVD with some eighty videos of native speakers reciting the vocalized texts in the book and dozens of audio recordings covering vocabulary and expressions, drills on Arabic sounds and letters, and various exercises and activities.