These days everyone see to be sharing the video of the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri... struggling to read through an official address in Arabic to members of the Parliament...
This sad [laughable] situation took me to an incident that happened to me a couple of years ago...
My students were leaving the class and one said that she can't read Arabic so good... and the other laughed and said that she can barely read or write in Arabic... I couldn't help but interfere and ask them whether any of them is not an Arab... of course they both said that they are pure Arabs... so I said: " You shouldn't be proud about the fact that you can't read Arabic... you should be ashamed!! My mum who is not an Arab learned to read on her own... "...
What is very alarming and disturbing to me... is not only the fact that the young generation is being drawn more and more away from the proper knowledge of the Arabic language... and in effect from using it... [Maybe I'm one of those]... but the real alarm is in the fact that this has become something to brag about... a contest among the youth of how knows less Arabic than the other...
What's the real importance of Arabic as a language? Is it culture, identity, race, religion [mum's reason to learn it]? or is it just a shadow that maybe it's time to eliminate....?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
That's very sad. It is not wrong to learn different languages; on the contrary it's essential. However, attending an American or French or whatever school should not interfere with one's learning of the Arabic language. For example, here in Kuwait it is a requirement by the Ministry of Education that Arabic be taught everyday in foreign schools. I believe parents also play a huge role in reinforcing the importance of the language to their children.
Post a Comment