World Arabic Language Day highlights importance of linguistic preservation

AMMAN — The Arabic language has a pivotal role in shaping Jordanians’ identity and shared culture, according to educators. 

On World Arabic Language Day, which is celebrated annually on December 18, Jordanian educators have underscored the need to treat the Arabic language as something essential for the well-being of Arabs, and to avoid bypassing it and making other languages their mother tongue.

“The Arabic language is a pillar of the cultural diversity of humanity. It is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, used daily by more than 400 million people,” the UN website wrote. 

“Our mother language has a unique place for us as Jordanians and Arabs. Through it, people express the maximum meaning of words,” Khloud Efishat, an Arabic language teacher, told The Jordan Times over the phone on Sunday. 

Efishat, who has been teaching Arabic for over 15 years, affirmed the need to instil a love for the language in children, wherever they might be living.

“The Arabic language is central to Islamic religious practices. Therefore, it is necessary that our children learn it in order to have a better appreciation for their culture, traditions and religion,” Dalal Monammad, an Arabic language teacher living in Italy, told The Jordan Times.

Teaching Arabic to Arab children living abroad helps develop a sense of belonging to a certain community and culture, Monammad said. 

“Nowadays we hear lots of Arab parents [who speak Arabic fluently] speak English to their kids, and that is just something really sad,” she said.

“Arabic is beautifully written; it is the language of our parents and grandparents, the language of the Koran. It should be our preference, not other languages,” she concluded.