The importance of keeping alive the Arabic language and promoting its usage amongst young minds in the UAE cannot be overemphasised. Arabic is the bedrock of the country’s identity and the repository of the Arabic tradition and heritage, and the UAE’s Bil Arabi initiative provides perfect momentum to ensure the flourishing of this great classical language.
Launched five years ago to galvanise the growth of Arabic at the grass roots and enable it to manifest in all creative forms in young minds, the Bil Arabi initiative is widespread and penetrative in its effect and this year, in its fifth edition, it gains greater heft and impact.
The launch of Bil Arabi reading clubs, in partnership with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF), the emphasis on developing the Arabic curriculum, daily radio shows to introduce prominent Arab litterateurs, online discussion forums, workshops for teaching Arabic to non-native speakers and other activities are proof of the comprehensive intent of the UAE to promote the widespread use of Arabic as well as give it strong, deeper roots. The move to expand the scope of the initiative to include countries around the region and the world, government and private sector institutions, and even recruit social media influencers to become Arabic language advisers to their followers, will engender a high degree of inclusivity that will deliver positive results.
This is the kind of groundswell that, year after year, will ensure that this rich, beautiful language is accorded its rightful place in modern times, not only in the UAE, but also in the world. The future needs to be as nourished by the richness of the Arabic language as the past has been.
