Futurespeak: The Case for Teaching Your Child Arabic
arabic is a language of culture and commerce. what more could you ask for?
2008-02-18
By Albert Mokhiber

During the late 70’s when the Iran hostage crisis took place, it was reported that no one in the State Department spoke Farsi.  It’s a bit tough to negotiate with someone if you don’t speak their language.  This is as true in politics as it is in business.

Too often, we learn this too late.  Hence the FBI scramble to recruit Arabic speaking agents after September 11. Reportedly they still have only a few dozen agents who are now proficient in the language.

Part of this problem stems from the English-only movement that has not only dumbed down our society linguistically, but has put us at a serious disadvantage in various arenas.  This movement is not new.  Many immigrants from the 1900’s were discouraged from teaching their children their native tongue for fear of being considered less American.  As a result we have lost generations of Americans who could have been bi-lingual in languages from Italian and German to Arabic and Chinese. 

African Americans, more than any others in the U.S. have suffered irreparably from this phenomenon. In Africa, it is estimated that there are between 2,000 and 3,000 languages spoken, with possibly as many as 8,000 dialects.   Who in America can name even 10 percent of these languages, let alone speak them?  What a loss for all of us.

 Of course, Arabic is one of those languages, as a major concentration of Arabs are in Africa.  Arabic is one of the ancient Semitic languages, which include Aramaic and Hebrew, with which the three great monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam used to write their holy books and proselytize.  However, unlike most ancient languages, Arabic is very much alive. 

In fact, thousands of Arabic words are shared by other languages throughout the world including Swahili, Spanish and English.  From “admiral” to “zenith”, Americans use Arabic words in their daily parlance, usually without awareness. The Arabs also offered much to civilization in the way of music, arts, medicine, science and mathematics, to name a few areas.  Algebra, chemistry and Arabic numerals are still cornerstones in education today.

On the business side, knowledge of Arabic opens doors not only to the market of a quarter billion plus population, but also to the economic boom in the region, especially in the Arab Gulf.  It is estimated that 30% of the world’s cranes are operating at construction sites in the Arab emirate of Dubai. Trillions of dollars in oil revenues have stimulated unprecedented growth in all business sectors of the region resulting in unlimited opportunities.  Incredibly, the majority of people living in the Gulf are foreigners; many however speak Arabic, especially those who want to succeed in business.

Major American universities recognize the value and benefit of reaching out to the Arab world as is evidenced by the longstanding existence of the American University of Beirut, the Lebanese American University and the American University of Cairo and the more recent establishment of campuses by Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, Texas A&M, George Mason and Virginia Commonwealth in the Arab Gulf.

Multilingual societies also tend to be less xenophobic and more accepting of cultural diversity. 

Education and language are powerful tools that, when properly employed, advance human civilization and harmony.  With respect to learning Arabic, let’s start with two of the most commonly used words on a daily basis: Salaam aleikum…peace be upon you.

Albert Mokhiber is a public interest lawyer based in Alexandria, VA, and the former executive director of the American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee.

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