Arabic language lessons for everyone with ALEF
In recent decades, globalisation has caused different cultures to intermingle and influence each other. As a result, speaking several languages has become an enormous bonus on the labour market. Besides world languages such as English, Chinese and Spanish, Arabic is on the rise and there appears to be more and more future in this language. Are you a polyglot and would you like to brush up your knowledge of Arabic? Then you have come to the right place at ALEF!
GO! Scholengroep Brussel and VUB have been offering Arabic language lessons as part of the withrefugee programme since 2016, in the midst of the refugee crisis. The language lessons became a great success story in no time with the main aim of ensuring that children with Arabic as their mother tongue continued to master the language. This way, they could easily continue communicating with their families in the home country and their parents.
In the meantime, several years have passed and VUB students are showing more and more interest in Arabic language courses. A survey shows that no less than eighty percent of the surveyed students would like to obtain a minor in Arabic. That seems a lot, but also not surprising in a diverse city like Brussels where about twenty percent of the population speaks Arabic!
Learning an additional language is not only an asset on the labour market. It will make you a true world citizen! After all, languages promote intercultural communication, which is desperately needed to create space for discussion and nuance. This is essential to combat radicalisation and misunderstanding, and you can play an active role in this. Neutrality is central to the lessons. The teachers come from different regions of the Middle East and emphasise Arabic as distinct from religion, because too often these two things are still taken for granted.
Convinced? Immerse yourself in the Arabic culture and language, and become the world citizen you always wanted to be!
Vacancy
You have
- A knack for languages that you would like to develop further
- An interest in learning more about the Arabic language and culture
What's in it for me?
- Knowledge of a world language that will give you many advantages on the job market
- You will prepare yourself for the globalised world of tomorrow
- You will learn a language whose knowledge can facilitate many discussions or conversations
Contact details
Projectleader: Sami Azar
E-mail: Sami.Azar@vub.be
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