As part of the cultural programme of Al Dhafra Book Festival 2023, the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) organised a seminar titled ‘The Relationship of Arab Youth Today with the Linguistic Heritage of the Arabic Language’, featuring young content creators to discuss the current state of the Arabic language and their role in promoting Arabic content on social media.
Moderated by Amer Mohamad, writer and presenter of the show ‘Bil Fus’ha’, the session brought together Jawaher Al Ameri, expert in high-power lasers, classified as an Emirati thinker in 2023 in the ‘Mufakiru Al Emarat’ initiative at the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, and Ahmad Rachdan, content creator and linguistic content producer for the past three seasons of the Arab Reading Challenge. Both speakers are members of the Arabic Language Youth Council, the first of its kind in the world, aimed at enriching linguistic work with contemporary and young ideas.
Jawaher Al Ameri spoke about her love for the Arabic language a
nd her journey with it, which began with her admiration for her mother, inspiring her to start composing Nabati and classical poetry. She said there has been a significant disconnect from the Arabic language due to openness to other cultures, and people speaking English as a common language. ‘Our limited use of the Arabic language has led our self-expression to decline,’ she said. ‘This is where our role begins in designing creative initiatives to preserve the language and communicate our message.’
Al Ameri called on young people to connect their expertise with the Arabic language, saying, ‘I love to connect my expertise in lasers with the Arabic language, and my goal is to make it the language of the sciences, including energy and artificial intelligence, where there are Arabic equivalents for only a few limited terms. In my field of work, there are no Arabic terms, and my ambition is to introduce them for this field, and stop using any non-Arabic ones.’
For his part, Ahmad Rachdan talked about his relatio
nship with the Arabic language, which began from a young age amidst the transition from paper to advanced digital technology. This influenced him to use his language talents for content creation, he said, ‘The prevailing stereotype is that the Arabic language is boring and heavy, and in the Arabic Language Youth Council, we decided to break this stereotype and present it to everyone in a simple and engaging way.’
Rachdan said that he tries to make a difference in presenting the Arabic language in a simplified manner on his show ‘Basita’, which is dedicated to explaining Arabic grammar. He also has a programme called ‘Midad’ that aims to create visual content that brings the young generation closer to Arabic calligraphy. ‘We should take advantage of modern media, which provides a good platform to communicate our message,’ he asserted. ‘We should all work together on the idea of reviving Arabic content.’
Source: Emirates News Agency