It was Arabic Language Day throughout the Kingdom last Tuesday. For expats, the day brought to light the importance of learning colloquial Arabic during their stay in the Kingdom. The common difficulty they face is having to learn classical Arabic first before colloquial Arabic. Najla Muhammad, a teacher at the Arabic Language Institute for Non-Arabic Speakers, faces a number of problems in teaching Arabic to non-Arabic speakers. “The problem lies in learning the basics of the Arabic language. Women demand to be taught colloquial and not classical Arabic for them to be able to speak with the people around them,” she said. Her students — Spanish, Malaysian, Dutch and Turkish women between the ages of 25 and 45 years — are very keen on learning Arabic despite the culture shock they sometimes encounter. As the instructor, Muhammad has to use three languages – English, classical Arabic and finally the local Arabic dialect, which is the only one the students are interested in learning. She said, “My students always ask why the media, particularly TV and newspapers, do not use colloquial Arabic instead of classical Arabic.” She is impressed by the students' enthusiasm and ability in mastering the Arabic language before they depart from the Kingdom, no matter how short their stay. She has observed that it is her Spaniard and Mexican students who find learning Arabic most challenging despite their hard work. On the other hand, Asian women — especially Malaysians — find it very easy to learn Arabic. Muhammad would like to spread awareness on how important it is to learn Arabic the way English is learned. She said, “We need the media to emphasize the significance of the Arabic language, make people like it and make it simple so we can communicate with expatriates, as they are keen to learn it. We are suffering due to a lack of a common identity and culture.” Dr. Khadija Al-Sabban, an academic researcher on the miraculous nature of the Holy Qur'an, agreed that work needs to be done in order to better teach interested expats the language. She said all students to have different goals and Arabic lessons should be tailored to their needs. “The purposes for learning Arabic differ. Some want to learn to speak the language while others want to get acquainted with the Islamic and Arab heritage,” she said, adding that for expatriates working in various departments and companies, Arabic proves useful in making it easier for them to communicate with their colleagues and acquaintances, not just at work. Al-Sabban warned against instructors speaking in broken Arabic thinking it will help expatriates to learn the language faster. This could lead to a distorted standard of spoken Arabic and could even affect children's Arabic pronunciations in their mother tongue, she said. “Foreign students are in a better position because the universities have set up institutes with specialist professors,” Al-Sabbad said, adding that these professors have prepared syllabi for teaching how to speak and write in Arabic. The greatest difficulty students of Arabic face is not the language itself, but untrained teachers who refuse to develop themselves, she said.
