UAE | Education
UAE expats go back to classes for the love of Arabic
It is back to school for many expatriates at Al Twar Public Library where they are being taught the Arabic alphabet for free.
- By Syed Bilal Shafi, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:41 July 25, 2008
- Language-lovers concentrate at Arabic classes being held at Al Twar Public library in Dubai. The teacher uses a lot of humour to simplify complex grammar lessons.
- Image Credit: Syed Bilal Shafi/Gulf News
Dubai: It was back to school for many expatriates at Al Twar Public Library where they were being taught the Arabic alphabet.
Many of the students are professionals and hail from a cross-section of society.
They were attending a free Arabic language course launched by the Dubai public libraries department in cooperation with Dubai Municipality, which will run till August 7.
The instructor uses a lot of humour while teaching the Arabic grammar.
"The language is a bit complex, so I want to make it easy and fun for them," said Mohammad Zahid Jaafar, a 62-year-old who has been teaching since 1964.
"By the end of the course, students will also be able greet others, count from 1 to 100, and say different colours, days and months in Arabic," said Jaafar, a Syrian.
When asked what sparked his interest in the language, the instructor said: "I love Arabic because it is the language of the Quran and it allows people to express their feelings concisely."
Campaign
The course, which is part of the Arabic Language Protection Campaign, is being taught at Al Twar and Al Safa public libraries from 8pm to 9.30pm. Al Twar Public Library is hosting lectures on Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays. At Al Safa Public Library, the classes are held on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
"We are offering this course in response to requests made by many non-Arabic speakers and also due to shortage of Arabic books at our libraries, as well as books that are specifically written to teach the language," said Mohammad Jasem, manager of the Dubai Public Libraries Department.
He also said such an initiative will help preserve the Arabic language and spread awareness about UAE culture.
According to library officials, 30 people registered for the course at each location, after which the registration was closed.
Gulf News spoke to the participants to find out why they were attending the course.
"I am learning Arabic because, as a Muslim, it is part of my culture as it is the language of the Quran, and also the language of the country. Although, I am familiar with the basics of the language, I would still like to improve whatever I already know," said Sohail N. Rana, a Pakistani.
Kabul Wazir, a British-Afghani, said that he is interested in learning Arabic due to its poetic nature, in addition to learning it to understand the Quran.
"Studying new languages helps in building bridges of understanding between cultures," he said.
Wendy Monique Smit, a Dutch woman who is married to an Egyptian, registered for the course to learn the Emirati dialect. "I like the Arabic language more than Dutch and I can speak very well in the Egyptian vernacular. However, when I came here, I felt very isolated because I couldn't understand the Emirati vernacular and I was thus forced to speak in English," she said.
"I am learning Arabic because it is a requirement for my work," said Bini Saroj, who works as a legal consultant for a Dubai-based company. "Here all the laws and memorandums are written in Arabic," she said.
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