How I brought my children up with Arabic as one of their languages - despite not being an Arab.
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Arabic is not my first language. I grew up reading the Qur'an & not understanding it until I was 16 and went to Egypt to learn Classical Arabic. So how did my kids learn Arabic?
#RaisingBelievers
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Arabic is not my first language. I grew up reading the Qur'an & not understanding it until I was 16 and went to Egypt to learn Classical Arabic. So how did my kids learn Arabic?
#RaisingBelievers
Children have the propensity to learn languages like a native until they are around 12 years old, when their brains change modes and certain types of language acquisition and pronunciation become harder. Children learn languages through osmosis - essentially immersion.
So first of all I recited Qur'an to my child (having studied Qur'an recitation myself) till they began memorising Qur'an themselves. Apart from the blessings of learning Qur'an, this meant my child's brain was becoming used to Arabic sounds and cadence.
I took them to Egypt for Summers or other periods of time and put them into Arabic classes or even schools so that they would absorb Arabic.
When we were in the UK, I got weekly online tutors from Egypt for Arabic language...during these lessons, the teachers spoke only Arabic and used online whiteboards and learning aids instead of translating into English....this helps a child THINK in Arabic and not merely translate
Alongside this, my children were memorising Qur'an which meant their vocabulary in classical Arabic was increasing. Knowing Arabic made their Qur'an memorisation experience richer as they could actually understand and reflect on what they were learning.
They also had classes to learn Arabic for GCSE.
Ultimately, learning Arabic is a lifelong journey and I hope they continue building on the foundation they built in childhood. The journey is by no means over.
Ultimately, learning Arabic is a lifelong journey and I hope they continue building on the foundation they built in childhood. The journey is by no means over.
Taking advantage of that 0-12 year-old window sets children up for a deeper experience of language acquisition. So I hope parents will take advantage of that window of opportunity to give their children a richer linguistic experience with multiple languages.
#RaisingBelievers
#RaisingBelievers
Immersion included using multi media of course. Here is one cartoon series they learned a lot from: youtube.com
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