Dubai: Learning a new language means adding a ‘new brain’, according to Loay Al Shareef, Saudi presenter, who was speaking at the ‘14 Mins For Good’ session titled ‘The humanitarian dimension of languages’ at the Arab Media Forum (AMF).
Learning a new language spreads tolerance among people, as it helps understand how other people think, he added.
Al Shareef advised AMF delegates on the best way to learn a new language. “A key to learn anything is to make it fun. Why not make what entertains us teach us,” he said.
The reason behind his enthusiasm in learning old languages, he said, was to understand the way old civilisations lived in the Arabian Peninsula. “I want to learn how these civilisations lived, and how they cohabited with each other, as the civilisations have an impact on us today, including the language we speak and write,” he said.
Al Shareef went through the various civilisations that settled in the Arabian Peninsula, and tracked the footprint of each civilisation’s language on the language of the civilisation that followed. “The languages of the old civilisations that settled in the region have a clear impact on modern Arabic language, that’s why it’s key to learn these languages so we can understand the origins of our language,” he said.
The Arab Media Forum 2016 is being attended by more than 2,000 delegates from the region and the wider world. A third of the speakers this year are foreign experts. In keeping with the tradition of Innovation in the UAE, AMF 2016 features two key concepts — The Media Walk; and Davos-style 20-minute sessions. Additionally, AMF 2015 also features workshops.
