Do Yourself a Favor: Study Arabic
I believe, as a professor teaching Arabic in Yeshiva University (YU) and in Magen David Yeshiva high school (MDYHS), that there are many reasons for Arabic to be taught both in high school and college. Arabic is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and is considered one of the official languages of the United Nations.
The first and main reason is that the “new generation,” children of Arabic speakers who were born here in America, must recognize the language of their ancestors. They must realize that this is the language that their parents and grandparents spoke, read, and wrote for centuries in their native countries like Syria, Lebanon, Egypt. Moreover, some members of the previous generation still speak Arabic in America to this day. It would be exciting for these parents to talk to their children and grandchildren in the same language they used to communicate in the Middle East. Arabic allows the different generation to connect and understand each other.
I remember when I gave the first Arabic lesson in YU the students were eager to learn more to be able to talk to their grandparents in Arabic. When they learned how to use new words and expressions they were very excited. One of the students told me that her grandmother gave her a present when she spoke to her in Arabic. My student was elated that she understood what her grandmother said to her in her mother tongue, and her grandmother was proud that my student was learning to connect to her roots. Arabic, a beautiful language, has the power to connect people to their pasts as well as build new connections in the new world.
In addition, since the students at YU are familiar with Hebrew, Arabic would be a relatively easy second language for them to learn. Arabic is actually the twin sister of Hebrew since the two languages are derived from the same roots, shorashim, and Semitic source. Although the pronunciation may differ somewhat, there are many words, names, verbs, and prepositions that are almost the same- especially the verb conjugations, which follow the same rules in both languages. The prepositions and some of the symbols, like the vowels and consonants, are also very similar. Similarly, both of them are written from right to left. It would be easy for our community’s members who know Hebrew to learn Arabic quickly because of these similarities.
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, students of all majors should learn Arabic for communication purposes. It is estimated that hundreds of millions of people around the world speak, read, and write Arabic. It follows that in order to communicate with this large worldwide population, one would need to learn Arabic. Whether one interacts with these people in their native Arab lands, or if they are immigrants in a new land, learning Arabic would make these interactions easier and more pleasant. When traveling in foreign Arab lands, if one knew Arabic, he would be loved and respected by the people to whom he is speaking because it would display that the foreigner cares about the Arabic culture to the extent that he even took the time to learn the language. The traveler would, in turn, feel like one of the locals: he could read the traffic signs, behave like them, and be able to function in their society.
Professor Katri taught Arabic at Stern College for Women