Lebanon’s efforts to protect its official language

‘You speak to him from the east, and he replies to you from the west’.

The Lebanese Association ‘Fi’il Ammr’ or (Act Now) headed by Ms. Suzanne Talhouk has launched a campaign aimed it says at preserving the Arabic language in the multi-lingual country. The name of the campaign in association with the ministry of culture is ‘You speak to him from the east, and he replies to you from the west’. Arabic is the official language, however with French also widely spoken by most Lebanese as a result of its French colonial days and English also now widely spoken by the younger generation, this has led to a generation of young people who have often neglected the mother tongue and instead focused all their efforts on either French or English.

Many factors have contributed to this, from parents sending their children to French lycees or British and American curriculum schools, thinking that this would be better for the future when they grow up to look for work, to parents even extending this to speaking with their children in French or English in the home. Coupled with the fact that so many young people can often feel disillusioned with the huge gap between the classical Arabic and colloquial spoken Lebanese dialect, this has unfortunately led to huge neglect in young people’s Arabic reading and writing skills, with students as old as sixteen and seventeen unable to read, write or even express themselves in a coherent and articulate manner, speaking broken Arabic in a Middle Eastern country they have lived in their whole lives.

What is apparent is that this cocktail of circumstances can be seen in many other countries in the Arab world, such as in the UAE, Jordan, Egypt as well as most of the North African states where foreign schools are common, but this is the first time a campaign such as this has been launched by an association in the Arab world with the sponsorship of a ministry of culture, showing a degree of worry that the Lebanese government has begun to feel. The initiative organizes talks in schools raising awareness among pupils about the importance of protecting their mother tongue and taking pride in it, as well as festivals and activities for children such as the one seen in Hamra on 26^th June in which educational games took place with a ‘Kotobus’ or mobile library in the form of a small bus also in attendance.

It has been welcomed nationwide by teachers and professors in schools and universities as well as by the pupils and parents themselves.

"Our objective is to link the Arabic language to modern art and culture... to end the perception among young people that the formal language is outdated and dull," says Suzanne Talhouk, the president of Fi’il Ammr.

Ms Talhouk says the Lebanese will always embrace several languages, but she hopes to encourage the production of novels, theatre and other artistic works in formal Arabic.

"We're not fighting other languages as much as promoting the use of Arabic to go with all the changes in the world."

Lara Traad, a sixteen year old student at one of Lebanon’s many French curriculum schools, Notre Dame de Jamhour in Beirut, told us “it is sad, no one in our generation is speaking Arabic properly anymore, I really regret that my parents did not concentrate more on developing my Arabic, it’s too late now but maybe for the younger students in the country something can be done.”

Randa Makhoul, an Art teacher at Notre Dame de Jamhour school told the BBC: “I support these campaigns as it’s often frustrating to see young people who want speak their mother tongue in an articulate manner, but cannot string a sentence together properly.” She explained her frustration about asking her fifteen and sixteen year old pupils questions in Arabic on many occasions only to answered back in French or English.

What is interesting is that the Egyptian philosopher, Mustapha Safwaan once wrote in one his writings; ‘Why Arabs are not free- the politics of writing’ that the Arabic language is theoretically a dead language like Latin or ancient Greek, as a result of the wide gap between classical Arabic and its huge colloquial forms within the Arab world, something that Professor Mohamed Said, s senior Arabic language lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London completely contests.

 He says that, “on the contrary, there is huge proof in the Arab world of the classical Arabic form and its freedom of expression- it is the language of  communication, literature, science, philosophy, the arts and something that unites the Arab world. Professor Said adds that “colloquial dialects in the Arab world are not  separate linguistic entities in themselves, instead they are a continuance of the classical Arabic form.”

What is noticeable from this campaign is that it has drawn the attention of schools, parents and students alike, and raised awareness of the government’s urge to protect Lebanon’s official language. But it has also been seen as a first-time exercise in confirming Lebanese identity through its linguistic expression. Whether this will be enough to change the ways of Lebanon’s young generation in how they express themselves amongst friends and family will be something else.

Hesham Shawish