Being Bilingual
I'm a proud Emirati, from Dubai; so why aren't I writing in Arabic? If I love my country so much, then why don't I write in its official language? The answer to those questions is the bad part: I can't. Yes I speak Arabic, and that isn't something I would ever let go of. However, I cannot write in Arabic. Had this blog been in Arabic, no one would read it because it would've been so bad. Heck, I wouldn't even write anything here! So, why can't I write in Arabic?
What's clearly obvious is that most people in private schools aren't very good with Arabic. The same thing is true for people in public schools, they usually aren't very good with English. There are some exceptions to this general rule, and that is why I say most, not all. If this country believes in being bilingual, as is strongly evident around us, then why is this even happening? Why doesn't the country build a stronger English curriculum for its public schools, and why doesn't it urge its private schools to provide a stronger Arabic curriculum for its students? That is the question.
We shouldn't be losing our language because of school. Yes, maybe we did "choose" to go to American or British schools, but thats only because we want to learn better English, not because we want to forget that we are Arab and become American or British instead. Having said that, another point rises to mind. The main language of instruction in our universities is English, so why the hell do we not teach people good English in our public schools. Are we really preparing them for failure in university? In reality, neither public nor private schools are ideal. Being bilingual is being fluent, and fluency is not only in speaking, it is also in reading and writing. But wait a minute, I cannot even speak formal Arabic without pausing to think, let alone write a short essay in it. Does that mean I'm not bilingual, do I know more English than I do of my mother language?
Do you guys remember our Arabic books when we were kids? In first and second grade? Hamad, Rashid, Hind and Reem. You remember them right? Our parents also had the same books. Those books were good; we actually learned something, and we even remember it years later. Now? Our books keep changing almost every year. They say they're making improvements, but are they really? There's no more Hamad, Rashid, Hind or Reem in anyone's books, instead they teach children love stories. Now which do you think is better? I doubt any of our books are being "improved".
Sometimes I find myself sitting with my mom talking about Arabic poetry, which is something I like. My mom talks to me about some famous poems, and then she realizes that I do not know them and gets shocked. Now my mom isn't really a poetic person, but she knows some of the most important poems in Arabic literature. All because of the books she was taught. Isn't that an important part of language? Classic literature in crucial to have atleast a background about. We're taught enough classics in our English classes to last us a lifetime, but Arabic? We know almost nothing. All the timeless poetry, the beautiful pieces of literature, everything was taken out. May I ask why? All I've seen in our books are random poems of contemporary writing that I personally think nothing of. For example, students in 11th grade learn a poem that goes like this "تقدموا تقدموا كل سماء فوقكم جهنمُ و كل أرض تحتكم جهنمُ تقدموا ". Perfect choice of poetry isn't it? And students are supposed to learn about "mood" through this poem, now isn't there a better choice of poetry to teach mood from?
Remember one of the Egyptian protests? "إذا الشعب يوماً أراد الحياة فلا بد أن يستجيب القدر" Its the first line of a poem by أبو القاسم الشابي, but we probably don't know who this famous poet is because he was never mentioned in our 12 years of school. Its a classic, our parents learned it in school, and it was even turned into a song. Doesn't that mean something? And thats only one of many amazing verses of poetry they got to learn, while we're busy learning about how the world is "جهنمُ". Apparently our new book is the better, improved one, right? Thats pretty evident.
And after all that, we wonder why we hate Arabic? Our books teach us nothing that would even be of remote interest to us. Random topics, irrelevant stuff, and just down right rubbish literature. Who in their right mind would like that? After all, we do have the right to dislike Arabic class.
BUT, its our language. Shouldn't we atleast put some effort in it? We already know that we've got the worst books ever; but our world is now full of resources, and we're not only limited to our textbooks. We still refuse to learn Arabic. Think everything rotates around the English language? Think again. Arabic is your language, its part of your identity, its the language of Heaven. Having crappy books is barely an excuse for not knowing our language.
So basically, I was saying two things: that if we were to be truly bilingual as we claim to be, we should have equal knowledge in both languages. And also, we should not forget our Arabic language; and because our books are a terrible resource, it is our responsibility to enrich ourselves with literature. Don't any of you feel bad for not knowing Arabic as well as you know English?
To those who truely know Arabic as much as they do another language, those who can write equally in both languages, I admire you. I hope I'll get there someday. Ideally, we'll all be great in both Arabic, English, and whatever other languages we want to learn. I hope everyone reading this thinks as highly of Arabic as I do. :)
What's clearly obvious is that most people in private schools aren't very good with Arabic. The same thing is true for people in public schools, they usually aren't very good with English. There are some exceptions to this general rule, and that is why I say most, not all. If this country believes in being bilingual, as is strongly evident around us, then why is this even happening? Why doesn't the country build a stronger English curriculum for its public schools, and why doesn't it urge its private schools to provide a stronger Arabic curriculum for its students? That is the question.
We shouldn't be losing our language because of school. Yes, maybe we did "choose" to go to American or British schools, but thats only because we want to learn better English, not because we want to forget that we are Arab and become American or British instead. Having said that, another point rises to mind. The main language of instruction in our universities is English, so why the hell do we not teach people good English in our public schools. Are we really preparing them for failure in university? In reality, neither public nor private schools are ideal. Being bilingual is being fluent, and fluency is not only in speaking, it is also in reading and writing. But wait a minute, I cannot even speak formal Arabic without pausing to think, let alone write a short essay in it. Does that mean I'm not bilingual, do I know more English than I do of my mother language?
Do you guys remember our Arabic books when we were kids? In first and second grade? Hamad, Rashid, Hind and Reem. You remember them right? Our parents also had the same books. Those books were good; we actually learned something, and we even remember it years later. Now? Our books keep changing almost every year. They say they're making improvements, but are they really? There's no more Hamad, Rashid, Hind or Reem in anyone's books, instead they teach children love stories. Now which do you think is better? I doubt any of our books are being "improved".
Sometimes I find myself sitting with my mom talking about Arabic poetry, which is something I like. My mom talks to me about some famous poems, and then she realizes that I do not know them and gets shocked. Now my mom isn't really a poetic person, but she knows some of the most important poems in Arabic literature. All because of the books she was taught. Isn't that an important part of language? Classic literature in crucial to have atleast a background about. We're taught enough classics in our English classes to last us a lifetime, but Arabic? We know almost nothing. All the timeless poetry, the beautiful pieces of literature, everything was taken out. May I ask why? All I've seen in our books are random poems of contemporary writing that I personally think nothing of. For example, students in 11th grade learn a poem that goes like this "تقدموا تقدموا كل سماء فوقكم جهنمُ و كل أرض تحتكم جهنمُ تقدموا ". Perfect choice of poetry isn't it? And students are supposed to learn about "mood" through this poem, now isn't there a better choice of poetry to teach mood from?
Remember one of the Egyptian protests? "إذا الشعب يوماً أراد الحياة فلا بد أن يستجيب القدر" Its the first line of a poem by أبو القاسم الشابي, but we probably don't know who this famous poet is because he was never mentioned in our 12 years of school. Its a classic, our parents learned it in school, and it was even turned into a song. Doesn't that mean something? And thats only one of many amazing verses of poetry they got to learn, while we're busy learning about how the world is "جهنمُ". Apparently our new book is the better, improved one, right? Thats pretty evident.
And after all that, we wonder why we hate Arabic? Our books teach us nothing that would even be of remote interest to us. Random topics, irrelevant stuff, and just down right rubbish literature. Who in their right mind would like that? After all, we do have the right to dislike Arabic class.
BUT, its our language. Shouldn't we atleast put some effort in it? We already know that we've got the worst books ever; but our world is now full of resources, and we're not only limited to our textbooks. We still refuse to learn Arabic. Think everything rotates around the English language? Think again. Arabic is your language, its part of your identity, its the language of Heaven. Having crappy books is barely an excuse for not knowing our language.
So basically, I was saying two things: that if we were to be truly bilingual as we claim to be, we should have equal knowledge in both languages. And also, we should not forget our Arabic language; and because our books are a terrible resource, it is our responsibility to enrich ourselves with literature. Don't any of you feel bad for not knowing Arabic as well as you know English?
To those who truely know Arabic as much as they do another language, those who can write equally in both languages, I admire you. I hope I'll get there someday. Ideally, we'll all be great in both Arabic, English, and whatever other languages we want to learn. I hope everyone reading this thinks as highly of Arabic as I do. :)
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