WHY SHOULD I STUDY ARABIC?
Are you thinking about studying Arabic at Emory? If so, you should know that studying Arabic would add both breadth and depth to your studies. Studying Arabic will also equip you with the following:
Exposure to a wider world
Experience with Middle Eastern and North African cultures
Exposure to the world of Islam and its civilization
Enhanced employment opportunities
Arabic is the fifth most widely spoken language in the world. It is the language of a rich culture and a high civilization dating back many centuries. Arabic is the sacred language of the Qur’an and of Islam, used by over 1 billion Muslims as a vital part of their daily lives. It is the mother tongue of over 200 million people from Morocco to Iraq. Arabic is also spoken by millions of people living in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe. Arabic is the official language of twenty-one countries (Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen). The United Nations has adopted Arabic as its sixth official language. Much of the western philosophical and medical traditions were carried to the West through Arabic and Islamic Civilization. The Arabic script is known throughout the world for its elegance and beautiful calligraphic styles. Arabic script, in various different forms, has been used in a number of non-Arabic languages, such as Persian, Urdu, Pashto, Dari, Kurdish, Ottoman Turkish, and Indonesian Jawi. The importance of the Arab world as a center of oil resources, the birthplace of the three monotheistic religions, and a region of continuing political and economic challenges make Arabic a crucial language for business and world affairs.
Taken from :
http://www.mesas.emory.edu/academic/arabic.why.htm
Fatma Mohammed El Sakhawy wroteon Aug 31, 2008 at 4:44 PM
Certainly, through learning Arabic or any other language people get to know a lot about the poeple who speak that language and the culture behind which that language has orginated. through teaching Arabic we will develop a degree of understanding for our culture and we will build bridges of understanding between Arabs and the western world. This is a mission that we have to put in mind when we are teaching and we should pave the way for others who will come after us.We really need others to understand us and to know that generalizing about a certain ethnic or religious group is a mistake that should be corrected. We have to remember that this is our mission and I hope we will succeed in it.
First Week
Let me tell you about my first week in Altanta. Well i waited less than 10 min. at the airport for Dr. Frutiger and then in another half an hour i was home. On that same night, they had prepared a big dinner for me where they invited friends and had BBQ which was great. Of course everybody had questions about Egypt, Politics, Economics, Myths... I got all kinds which was really fun.
Spent most Sunday unpacking in my room, I am at Dr. Frutiger's place so far, I had to pack all the resources i brought down from Egypt to class which came up to be a WHOLE BAG kind of !! I was EXTREMELY excited...
MONDAY... BIG DAY ... well ... I don't know ..I will let you decide how big it was!!
Woke up, got ready, and went to school, went into the classes... the students were really nice. These were students who have been doing Arabic for 2 or 4 years now which is really great. I mean they knew their Arabic.
and that was it. So i teach two classes a day.
I wish it would end there but the bad new is that i got sick. that same day.... in school ... I got sick ... whatever you imagine, i felt it.
So I went home and Slept from 5 PM till basically Wednesday 10 PM ... couldn't support myself to get off the bed which was horrible and had to miss couple of school days( as if I needed that) but anyway I think I kind of got better on Thrusday and was able to go to school, but not with 100 % performance.
It is a BIG school. So many things are happening there. We'll see what I will be able to do there. Wish me GOOD LUCK!!!!