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IC Features
I
t is the official language of 25 countries. It is spoken by
almost 200 million people. It is the largest living member
of the Semitic language family and has 27 sub-languages.
t is the language used in the Holy Koran. And it is the mother
tongue in Lebanon.
And yet Arabic continues to be ignored by many parents.
“We are receiving children who don’t speak their own lan-
guage,” said Randa Khoury, the director of the preschool. “We
tell them: speak Arabic. They answer: mommy doesn’t let me.”
Every year, the challenge begins: instilling the love of Arabic
in their young charges.
Lucky for those charges, IC has completely revamped its
method of teaching the language. The aim is no longer just to
read and write but develop a love for Arabic. Today it’s stories,
games and more games.
In an unusually boisterous classroom in the third floor of
the preschool building, the children are cheering and clapping.
Their Arabic teacher, Nawal Hammoud, had just announced
the winner: a little girl stood in the middle looking embar-
rassed but pleased. She was presented with a large sticker: she
was the quickest to jump when she heard the sound of a new
letter. The class was soon dispersed around the room to find
trinkets which began with this new letter.
“We play with the letters. We jump with the letters. We live the
letters. We eat the letters (through culinary activities). We use the
letters. We sing the letters. We circle the letters in newspapers. At
the very end, we just open the book to read the letters in a differ-
ent place,” explained Ghada Maalouf, the assistant director at the
preschool and PYP (Primary Years Program) coordinator.
Children are unknowingly introduced to the letters at the
KGI level by seeing classmates’ names written around the room.
By the age of four, they recognize each other’s names and by the
age of five, most are reading and writing. And yet formal les-
sons have barely begun.
Down the hall in the same building, another Arabic class is
underway. Three groups of children are playing bingo, puzzle
and a matching game. Their veteran teacher of 36 years is
watching them proudly.
For the Love of Arabic
Arabic bingo
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