Arabic: An Endangered Language

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Arabic: An Endangered Language

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Spoken Arabic is
becoming more
widespread,
but classical Arabic
is at risk as it fails
to modernize.

There is a big difference
between the classical, written
form of Arabic and the
colloquial spoken dialects.

Classical Arabic is sometimes referred to as
the Arabic used for literature. It is never
used conversationally because each Arab
country has its own dialect. We can even
find different dialects within the same
region. In Northern Africa, Berber is spoken
in many parts of Algeria and Morocco and
their Arabic is influenced by French
colonization.

As a child, I had to learn Arabic and one
other language, in order to join any school
in Lebanon. All schools teach Arabic and
one second language, French or English,
in preschool and add a third language in
middle school.

The new generation of Arabs struggle with
the classical form of the language due to
the educational system that delivers most
of the curriculum in foreign languages.

History of the Arabic Language
Arabic is a language spoken by over 300 million
people in more than 22 countries. The language
is native to the Arabian Peninsula. The word
"Arab" means "nomad."

Source: www.willward1.com

In the seventh century it became the language
of the Qur'an and the liturgical language of
Islam. The territorial expansion of the Arab
Empire in the Middle Ages, along with Islam,
resulted in widespread use in the Middle East,
North Africa and Europe (Iberian Peninsula,
Sicily, Crete, Cyprus, and Malta).

The language has spread on several continents
and extends to non-Arab people and is now one
of the most spoken languages in the world. It is
the official language of more than twenty
countries and several international
organizations, including one of the six official
languages of the United Nations.

Emphasis on Grammar
Literary Arabic is a written language, not spoken. Most
Arab writers only manage to master it after the age of
40 because language proficiency requires more time
than for European languages. The grammatical
analysis is in fact the main problem of our language,
because it is a barrier that exhausts teachers, while
blocking the possibilities for mastery of reading and
writing.

I started to learn Italian at the age of 15 when I arrived
in Rome. My Italian teacher asked me to assist some of
his friends who wanted to master Arabic.

After two years of studying Italian, I wrote well enough to have a
biweekly column in one of the school newspapers. But, my
students still struggled to learn to read Arabic. One of them said:
"We taught you our language in two years and
now you are able to write and speak it, but we
have not yet succeeded in learning Arabic."

I was frustrated because my students were not
young children and I taught them using the
same method used in college. I thought about
my experience and realized that we were losing
time learning complicated grammar rules,
including syntax, which only a minority of
specialists can master.

Preserving Arabic in the UAE
In Dubai, the Knowledge and Human
Development Authority (KHDA), responsible
for the growth, direction and quality of
private education and learning, has put
great emphasis on the Arabic language.

Experts blame many factors for the decline of the
Arabic language, including:
• Globalization
• Use of the English language in these countries,
especially on social media
• Use of Arabizi (Roman characters and English
numbers) in speech and text
• Foreign, non-Arabic speaking workers out-numbering
native Arabic speakers
• Classical Arabic being replaced by local dialects
among Emiratis
• Inadequate Arabic language teachers

According to an article in The National,
the government is preparing to introduce
a law to protect the Arabic language.

In late 2014 a conference was organized in
Dubai to discuss the problems of the Arabic
Language. It was organized by the International
Council for Arabic Language in cooperation
with UNESCO, the Association of Arab
Universities and the Arab Bureau of Education
for the Gulf States.

Panelists discussed the state of the Arabic
language in the Arab countries and agreed that
the curriculum used for teaching needs major
changes. The committee wants Arabic to be the
official first language used for teaching in all
institutions across the country.

One school administrator from Abu
Dhabi voiced his concerns over the law:
"What concerns me is the universities and colleges that
would be forced to deliver their content in Arabic when
the content was written in English and delivered by
people who are not necessarily Arabic speakers."
"I'm talking about engineering, architecture, law. Rather
than bringing excellence you're driving people offshore
if the first language is going to be in Arabic."

In contrast, The New York Times cites Patricia
Ryan, an English teacher at Zayed University in
Dubai with over 40 years of experience
teaching in the Gulf, with believing that
promoting Arabic in schools is a way to
preserve written Arabic and may also lead to
more original research in Arabic. She cautions,
however, that this jump in instruction language
is something that must happen slowly over time
if it is to be beneficial.

The opinions on the matter are very
controversial within the Arab world. Some, like
Egyptian Philosopher Mustapha Safwan, argue
that Classical Arabic is a dead language like
Latin and Greek, while others see it as a tool for
unifying the Arab world.

GPI's Approach to Arabic
At Globalization Partner International we have been providing
translation, desktop publishing, website localization and Arabic
SEO, into and from Arabic for many of the world's top brands who
operate in the region. We understand firsthand the challenges of
working in the Arabic language. Working with numerous Arabic
professionals, both in-house and freelance, we recruit, test and
utilize only Arabic native speakers from many countries including
Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, UAE, Syria, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi,
Morocco and Egypt. These mixed teams with subject matter
expertise in various fields are formed and utilize GPI's global
collaboration tools such as our Translation Portal and Globalization
Project Management Suite to globally collaborate in order to
produce Arabic language content that engages with the Arabic
speaking world.

Further Resources on Arabic Localization, Arabic Globalization and
Arabic SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Globalization Partners International (GPI) has extensive experience localizing marketing materials,
technical documents, and large, scalable websites into the Arabic language. Due to increased
demand for projects in Arabic and other BiDi languages, like Farsi, we have posted a number of
useful guides to best practices in this area. Feel free to review our blogs that are particularly
relevant:
Speaking the Languages of Online Marketing in UAE
Multilingual Websites and Small Businesses in UAE
Arabic SEO and Localization
Providing Green Translation Services! Sustainability Initiatives in the UAE
What Are the Differences Between Arabic Languages
Arabic Website Translation Best Practices
Please feel free to contact GPI at info@globalizationpartners.com with any questions about our
language and technology services. Also let us know if you have any interesting blog topics you
would like us to cover in our future blogs. You may request a complimentary Translation
Quote for your projects as well.

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Arabic: An Endangered Language

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