What is it like to have Arabic as the lingua franca?

Tag : alubia beans


Learning Arabic never featured high on the agenda for Zoe Lamazou,that is, until September 11 happened. Zoe comes from an artisticfamily in France. In high school, she had been involved in circus and theatre. Herambition had been to become a trapeze artiste. However, thatchanged with circumstances. On that fateful day in 2001, Zoe was in her apartment in Paris. Herbest friend broke the news to her. She told her that the twintowers in New York, which they had visited together when they wereyounger, were no more. For some reason, the immensity of the eventdid not hit her immediately. Then, slowly, it all began to sink in.

As time went by, Zoe began to read more newspapers and herpolitical consciousness began to awaken.

“After September 11, everybody was talking about the clash ofthe civilisations and how Islam was the religion which attacksothers,” she recalled. “I think people got interestedin what Islam was and what it meant to be a Muslim. People werereading the Quran and trying to understand.” No longer driven by the thought of spending her evenings loungingin bars, Zoe took up political studies. She ended up spending oneyear in Morocco learning the local Arabic dialect.

This was followed by a year in Tunisia, where she went on to learnthe local dialect. Though not completely fluent in the language,she knows enough to get by. “If I go to the market there, Ican handle it,” she says. Zoe is not alone in her quest to learn Arabic. Many young peopleare looking beyond the traditional European languages on offer— such as French and German — and are turning to moreexotic options. In fact, there has been a noticeable growth in interest not just in the Arabic language but towards the MiddleEast in general. In the United Kingdom, courses which come under the category ofModern Middle East Studies reported a 25 per cent rise inapplications for 2007 compared to 2003, according to Universitiesand Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS).

Further, a spokesperson for Linguaphone, a company specialising inself-learning CDs and books for foreign languages, confirmed thatsales for Arabic learning material have been on the rise in recentyears. Exact figures , however, are unavailable. At London’s City University, Arabic-language courses havesuccessfully been run since 2004, when they were introduced there.Over this period, there has been a more than 100 per cent rise inthe number of students enrolling on the course.

Linguistic leanings Pascale Colonna is the languages coordinator for adult courses atCity University and the one who introduced Arabic there. She saidstrong market demand motivated her to start Arabic classes.

“I think people want to learn a language when there is aninterest in a particular culture and the media talks aboutit,” she said.

One of the language teachers at City University is Nora Allali. Shehas been teaching Arabic for ten years and confirms that the numberof students wishing to learn the language has witnessed a dramaticrise in recent years.

“I think it is a global thing,” Nora said.“Particularly in what is happening politically in Iraq,Afghanistan and Palestine. The popularity of languages, forsomething such as Arabic, is linked to current affairs and what ishappening around the world.” She confesses that demand for learning Arabic is so great that theinstitute is struggling to meet it.

However, the trend to learn Arabic is not just linked to September11 and the war in Iraq. Nora points to other factors which havecontributed to generating people’s interest in Arabic. Several of her students are solicitors and bankers who plan totravel to places such as Dubai. Others are polishing theirlinguistic skills as the prelude to a backpacker’s trip tothe Arabic-speaking world. Still others are employed in the charitysector.

Indeed, in Zoe’s case, factors other than September 11 alsoplayed a role in her decision. Before she was born, her parentslived in Morocco for a time. Added to that was the fact that France is home to a large numbersof immigrants from North Africa and also has strong links to theregion’s colonial past. “It’s a social issue inFrance as well,” Zoe confides.

Dr Otared Haider is a specialist in Arabic literature andjournalism at Oxford University’s Oriental Institute. Shebelieves the trend towards Arabic has strong historic roots andcannot be considered just a passing phenomenon.

Mirroring the media “Arabic contributed to European civilisation as much as theRomans and the Greeks,” she said. “Europe has alwaysinteracted with the Arab world, which is considered to be likesouth Europe. Maybe there is some increase but in Oxford it wasalways popular because the Arabic department is very famous.”

Arabic is a particularly useful language to know for Westernjournalists and reporters who plan to work from the region. Withthe BBC launching its new Arabic-language television on March 11,the appetite for Arabic-language speakers in the media appearsgreater than ever. The corporation’s Arabic service has 250people who speak the language.

This does not include those Arabic-speaking BBC employees who arescattered across its various departments around the world . “The key thing is that we are responding to the way theArabic-speaking world is changing,” said Mike Gardner, headof media relations at the BBC World Service. “Arabic isextremely important for the organisation [BBC]. [Arabic speakingpeople form] a large part of our audience. Arabic is the largestnon-English language service that we have in the BBC, so it is oneof our priorities.”

A case in point is journalism student Harriet Alexander. Sherecently took up classes at her university and is getting to knowthe nuances of the language. Learning Arabic is a way for Harrietto realise her career goals. “I would love to be able to go to the Middle East and be ableto work there,” she said. “My ultimate aim is to beable to function as a journalist there. I want to be able to dointerviews — to talk to people and ask them what they thinkabout things.” One of those rare Britons fluent in more than just English, Harrietspeaks French and Spanish as well. Her impressive knowledge oflanguages has helped her understand the connection between Arabicand the European languages. For instance, the word for beans inArabic is lubia and in Spanish it is alubia. In fact, for Harriet, one unique benefit of learning Arabic is thatshe has finally begun to understand the meaning behind words shehears in the news all the time. “Madrassa obviously meansschool and I have never really put two and two together,” sheexplains. “Taliba means student as in the Taliban and medinameans city.”

Curiously, British security personnel are also keen to tap into themarket for Arabic speakers. Nora revealed that she has had students who are police officers oremployed by what was until recently known as the UK’sNational Criminal Intelligence Services.“I get a few people who work for MPs as well,” shesaid. “Lots of people working for the government, they nevertell you what they do. They are ‘civilservants’.”

Indeed, one slightly suspicious British student, Brendan, didintroduce himself as a “civil servant”. Brendan’strue identity is shrouded in mystery — for the purposes ofthis article, he neither supplied his second name nor agreed tohave his photograph taken. He is learning the language for variousreasons but denied any of them were linked to his present job. Brendan is fascinated by the political and economic climate of theMiddle East and hopes to visit some of the Arabic-speakingcountries in the future. When asked whether he works as a spy, hereplied in the negative and laughed: “Even if I was, Iwouldn’t say yes, would I?” Syed Hamad Ali is a writer based in London.