Sana Al-Quwaiti-Rabat
I was attracted by the magic of her statement and the abundance of her vocabulary, and what her letters store in secrets and the history and civilization it reflects, so they came to Morocco to probe the depths of one of the oldest languages in the world.
Claire, Flavio, Zahra Yildirim, and others, foreigners of various nationalities, traveled long distances to learn the language of opposites, and found their match in the Arabic language center "pen and tablet" in Rabat.
They meet every Thursday evening with Moroccan youth in the Arabic Language Cafe to exchange conversation and ideas in fluent Arabic in current and varied issues. In this weekly meeting, which is hosted by the Center, they experience their language skills and their gains in the classes, they invite fright aside, forget difficulties and integrate into a modern Arab speech.
For Moroccans, the café is an opportunity to share their languages and cultures with others, gain new ideas and open up to different civilizations.
The Arabic Language Center's coordinator of cultural activities, "Pen and Tablet", Shadia Brahimi, told Al Jazeera Net that the Arabic Language Café allows the student to interact with the outside world, so he moves from learning in the classes to practicing the language through direct communication with Moroccan speakers.
Just as foreign students during these meetings test their linguistic level and acquire the skill of conversation, they also get acquainted with Moroccan society, and indulge in an authentic Moroccan cultural atmosphere that enables them to know the way of Moroccan youth thinking during the discussion of issues of social, economic and political dimensions.
| Participants in the cafe are divided into small groups and speak Arabic on a predetermined topic (Al-Jazeera). |
The center identifies each week a specific topic that will be the focus of lessons in the classes, then the participants discuss it in the cafe in small mixed groups between foreign students and young Moroccans, in which they exchange ideas and experiences, employ the words that they learned in the semester, and then a general discussion begins during which they discuss the conclusions that they reached To them in their small groups.
However, this week, the Arabic Language Café was filled with celebration and celebration, coinciding with the International Arabic Language Day. Participants in this celebration presented their creations in poetry, music, story and Arabic calligraphy, flirted with it and mastered its praise, and competed in describing the beauty of its words, the sobriety of its letters, the broadest meanings of it and what they learned in their journey with it.
Shadia says that they are seeking - through the collective celebration of the language of Aldad - to move beyond the stage of learning the Arabic language towards an advanced stage during which the foreign student can creativity.
| The creations of students in Arabic calligraphy in celebration of the International Day of the Arabic Language (Al-Jazeera) |
Love folds difficulties
While the Italian Flavio talked about the problems of learning the Arabic language in Italian universities, Turkish Zahra Yildirim participated in this celebration by reading thoughts about the Arabic language and what it represents for a billion Muslims in the world.
She tells Al Jazeera Net that she came to Morocco to study for her doctorate in beliefs, and three months ago she started learning Arabic at the "Pen and Tablet" center, and found in the weekly meeting at the Arabic Language Café a suitable space for developing her capabilities in Arabic and direct communication with Moroccans.
Zahra - who previously studied Arabic in Jordan - admits that she faced difficulties at the beginning of her career with this language, but these difficulties quickly flowed with her love of learning and the overwhelming desire to own her corner, and she adds "with patience, love, and step after step, I learned the Arabic language and today I can communicate Them and read references and write too. "
However, Zahra believes that the multiplicity of dialects impedes communication with the general public in open spaces, and she is - as she says - facing a new challenge, which is learning colloquialism to gain a better understanding of Moroccan culture and way of life in this country.
| American Melina Joseph started learning Arabic two months ago at the Arab Language Center in Rabat (Al-Jazeera). |
From language to history
As for Claire Holloway, she came from New York to Rabat and hope to follow her in deciphering a language different from her mother tongue in letter and pronunciation. Holloway started this trip two years ago as part of programs at the universities of New York and Arizona. Today, you can read texts in classical Arabic, talk to people about it, and in colloquial Moroccan after completing the intermediate level.
The desire of this young woman was to learn a difficult and different language after she studied Spanish in her country, and she found in Arabic a new challenge that is progressing rapidly to succeed in it. Holloway is keen to participate every week in the Arabic Language Café because it considers the meeting to be beneficial to it and to add quality in its journey with the language of daad.
And behind this track is the desire of this American to know the history of the Middle East, which will become easy for her when she learns Arabic as the language of the region, and the way to know the culture, customs and ideas of these societies.
Increased turnout
Foreigners in Morocco are remarkably interested in learning the language of opposites, which is confirmed by Shadia Al-Ibrahimi through the increasing numbers of people arriving at the Arabic Language Center in Rabat, and says that students come from different continents and nationalities in order to learn the Arabic letter and learn about Arab culture, and adds "the difference of this language And the history and civilization that it reflects, entices learners to travel long distances in order to achieve the pleasure of learning the Arabic language.
Faced with the high demand for learning Arabic from foreigners, the Ministry of Higher Education in Morocco decided to establish specialized centers in teaching Arabic to speakers of other languages in Moroccan universities, and the first center was established in 2016 at Mohammed V University in Rabat in response to requests from a number of universities and international academic institutions that requested the provision of programs for the benefit of their students .