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Language helps improve ties, says Chinese envoy
ABU DHABI – “When I was a child of nine, my parents sent me to the Beijing Foreign Language School in China to learn the Arabic language,” Chinese Ambassador to the UAE, Gao Yusheng, said, explaining how he became well-versed in classical Arabic language.
In an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times, the 56-year-old ambassador revealed his fascination for the Arabic language and culture and how it helped enhance bilateral relations with the Arab world.
In fact, Arabic language is the key to success for many Chinese nationals and guarantees them better job avenues in Arabic speaking countries around the world, according to Yusheng.
Mandatory Arabic language classes coming to Texas school district
February 8th, 2011 12:23 pm PT
Some school children in Texas’ Mansfield Independent School District will soon be required to learn Arabic, thanks to a federal government grant.
According to a Dallas CBS News affiliate, Mansfield ISD received the Foreign Language Assistance Program (FLAP) grant last summer. It is one of only five districts in the country to be awarded the grant.
Parents were caught by surprise and learned of the grant Monday night in a meeting with district Superintendent Bob Morrison.
CBS News reported:
As part of the five-year $1.3 million grant, Arabic classes would be mandatory at Cross Timbers Intermediate School and Kenneth Davis Elementary School. The program would also be optional for students at T. A. Howard Middle School and Summit High School.
Los Angeles Times:
Arabic, Korean and Chinese deemed fastest-growing language courses at U.S. colleges
Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times
The surge in enrollment reflects a shift in response to current issues across the globe, officials say. Spanish and French, however, remain the most popular language courses.
Student enrollment in Arabic, Korean and Chinese classes is showing the fastest growth among foreign language courses at U.S. colleges, even though Spanish remains the most popular by a huge margin, a new study shows.
The survey of more than 2,500 colleges and universities by the Modern Language Assn., or MLA, found that enrollment in Arabic surged by 46% between 2006 and 2009. More U.S. college students are studying Arabic than Russian, a change that officials say reflects a shift of interest from Cold War concerns to current issues involving the Middle East and terrorism.
The study of Arabic by young Americans started to show significant growth immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, and its enrollment has tripled since then, said Rosemary G. Feal, the MLA’s executive director.
In Indonesia: Deputy Minister Highlights Importance Of Arabic Language
Bandar Seri Begawan – “Students who are studying in Arabic Schools and are able to communicate in Arabic Language have an advantage because they have the opportunity to gain a wider range of religious knowledge which uses Arabic as a medium. With the ability to understand the Arabic Language, students will also be able to understand the meaning of the verses in al-Quran. Therefore, it is undoubtedly that those who understand Arabic Language have many privileges due to the fact that Arabic is closely related to Islamic teachings.”
This was stated by Pengiran Haji Bahrom bin Pengiran Haji Bahar, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Indonesia yesterday at the Arabic Oratory and Story Telling Competition at the Conference Hall of the Islamic Dakwah Centre, Kampong Pulaie, organised by the Islamic Studies Department.
The Academic Resource Center (ARC) recently released data indicating the most popular subjects for tutoring at Tufts. Biology 14 was followed by Chemistry 2 as unsurprising first and second places for the Spring 2010 semester. But Arabic 1, a less obvious contender and the only language among the top 10, was fourth, which some have taken as a sign of the Arabic Department’s expansion and increased appeal among undergraduates.
Rana Abdul-Aziz, a lecturer of Arabic at Tufts, has watched the Arabic Department evolve over the last couple of years and explained that its expansion was less a growth spurt than a slow building of student interest in Arabic language and culture over the past decade — specifically since 2001.
ArabiCollege partners up with Kalemah Organization
ArabiCollege signed a mutual cooperation agreement with Kalemah Organization in Dubai, an Islamic centre and da’wah organization founded in September 2007 through the generous contributions of members of the U.A.E. community.
Kalemah Organization recognized the unique opportunity to integrate an Arabic Language online component to support its mission in enriching and bridging cultural and religious gaps among the UAE communities and believed that ArabiCollege is uniquely positioned to successfully offer the most technological ways of learning Arabic online through 24/7 live and open conversation classes.
‘It opens up so many more opportunities’: How languages can lead to a dream job
From tennis tournaments to the wine industry…
By Ellie Levenson
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Though the British are notoriously bad at learning foreign languages, and English is often spoken throughout the international business world, knowledge of a foreign language, whether studied formally or picked up informally, can lead to exciting career opportunities that those without an extra language have little chance of accessing.
Arabic institutes for non-Arabs approved
JEDDAH: Two Arabic-language institutes will be established at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah and Princess Nourah bint Abdul Rahman University in Riyadh for non-Arabic speakers, Higher Education Minister Khaled Al-Anqari announced Wednesday.
He said Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who is chairman of the Higher Education Council (HEC), approved the project. He said the king has also endorsed the rules and regulations for satellite transmission of academic programs.
Arabic minor gains traction
The University of Montana offers Russian and Chinese language minors, and by next fall, could add another: Arabic.
ASUM voted unanimously last night in favor of forming an Arabic Language Studies minor. Three of the past four ASUM senates have also voted to support the minor, as well as more than 400 students who expressed an interest in the minor last year, yet the search for a tenure-track professor to spearhead the new program hasn’t begun.
Arabic, Farsi Fluency Considered ‘Critical’ to US National Security
Summer vacation is ending and students at American schools and colleges are getting ready to head back to class. In previous years, many of them would have been taking French or Spanish as a second language. Knowledge of Arabic or Farsi is now considered “critical” to U.S. national security and more Americans are learning these languages today than ever before.