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In Abu Dhabi, at least 6 in 10 non-Arabic speaking residents want to learn the language, a survey shows
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Every time Dubai resident Juweriah Siddiqui steps out of the house, she has an Arabic storybook in her bag. As a mother of two young children, taking time out to learn Arabic is a luxury she cannot afford.
“So whenever I have free time between game dates or doctor visits, I pull out my book and read,” she said. “It helps me learn new words and strengthen sentence structure.
Juweriah is one of several UAE residents who are going the extra mile to learn the language. According to an extensive survey, it has been revealed that in Abu Dhabi, at least 6 in 10 non-Arabic-speaking residents would like to learn it.
Juweriah grew up in Saudi Arabia and his love for the language started more than 10 years ago. Since then, she has taken several online courses to help improve and build upon her language knowledge.
Juvia Siddiqui
However, what really helped her was teaching what she knew. “I’m in my hometown of Ottawa, putting up posters at the local library teaching basic Arabic to non-Arabic-speaking kids,” she said. “I had expected five or six kids to show up. Instead, I enrolled 20 students, 70 percent of whom were Arabs.”
Despite her shock and hesitation, she quickly realized that she loved teaching children and learned more as a result. When she moved to the UAE after getting married and having children of her own, she started her own business called “Arabic” to teach children.
“It started out as a circle time when my son was a baby,” she said. “But as the kids got older, I started to combine elements of my scientific background with Arabic.”
Her interests have led to her current PhD at Carleton University in Ottawa, with the aim of promoting the learning of the language for non-native Arabic speakers in the UAE. Her one piece of advice to everyone learning a language is to keep repeating words and sentences.
“Even if people only know five words, they should keep repeating them in different scenarios,” she said. “There is no rule that you have to speak Arabic completely. If you only know one word, add that word to the conversation. This will help build comprehension and help you become a fluent speaker of Arabic.”
Another person who learns languages by teaching others is Aneesa Fathima bint Mohammed Ibrahim. After starting the Qur’an course in 2015, Aneesa went on to study Classical Arabic and Grammar. Her desire to learn more led her to choose a course that changed her life forever.
“I signed up for an intermediate Arabic course,” Anesa said. “However, when I started the course, it was full of Arabic speakers and I couldn’t understand anything. I was determined to get better, so I asked the teacher to teach me basic spoken Arabic.”
After taking the course for over two years, Anesa has a better understanding of Arabic. She was excited when she got married and moved to Dubai.
“In India, there are not many Arabic-speaking communities,” she said. “I’m looking forward to being here and interacting with Arabic speakers.”
However, when she arrived in Dubai six months ago, she faced a different challenge. “I was nervous talking to other people,” she said. “Because I’ve studied classical Arabic, I’m afraid they won’t understand me and vice versa.”
She is currently working to build confidence in the language, having attended a meeting at the Mohammed bin Rashid library last week. “It’s completely Arabic,” she said. “I’m the only non-Arab there, but I know everything. It’s a big confidence booster for me. Now I’m more confident.”
However, not everyone who understands Arabic takes an online course and learns for it. For some, it’s just part of their job. Afzal from Dubai is an employee at the Delma supermarket in Dubai; when he came to the city 2.5 years ago, he didn’t speak a word of Arabic.
“Some customers who come to our store [speak] zero english so we have to [speak] Arabic,” he said. “Initially, I made mistakes. Some customers yelled at me for saying the wrong thing. “
He soon learned enough Arabic to handle customers in the supermarket. According to him, the ones who helped him the most were his colleagues. “He was in an Arab [person]house,” he said. “So he [can speak] Fluent in Arabic. He taught me a lot and now I can speak the language very well. “
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