The Mother Tongue in UK Arab Households

Al-Arab in UK (AUK) is going to reveal the findings of its survey on the status of Arabic language among the Arab Households in Britain. The survey involved around 1000 Arabs living in different parts of Britain. The survey aimed to explore how they use and maintain their mother tongue in their homes.

The findings will be announced on Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 4:30 pm at Gallery B 21, which is located near Euston and King’s Cross stations next to the British Library in central London.

Adnan Hamidan, the head of AUK, said that this seminar is the first in a series of seminars that will address the issues that affect the Arab community in Britain. He added: “We are proud to have Dr Heba Kamal, Dr Khalil Al-Agha and Dr Ishaq Al-Awri as our speakers in this seminar, which will be moderated by Mahmoud Murad, a renowned journalist and broadcaster of Al Jazeera Channel. In this seminar, we will present the results of a survey that we conducted for several months with the Arab community in various British cities to learn about their views on the situation of Arabic language in their homes”.

The seminar will cover the topic of teaching and preserving the Arabic language among Arab families in Britain from three perspectives:

• Dr Heba Kamal Hilbawi is a Ph.D. researcher in the field of training Arabic language teachers and developing their skills. She is also the director of training and development at the Jazi Arabic Foundation. She has worked as an Arabic teacher at SOAS Language Center for ten years. She has a lot of experience and knowledge about the methods and techniques of teaching Arabic in Western countries.
• Dr Khalil Al-Agha is a lecturer at Ulster University in the field of digital transformation. He is one of the few who can combine talking about issues of social integration, coexistence, identity preservation and the digital and electronic transformation that we face in our lives.
• Dr Ishaq Al-Awri is a specialist in radiology in Bristol – formerly Oxford. He has practical experience in teaching his two children classical Arabic with his own initiative. His experience is inspiring for many in this regard.

The seminar will be moderated by Mahmoud Murad, who is an Egyptian journalist and broadcaster. He was born in Giza and graduated from Cairo University with a degree in economics and political science.

He worked as a journalist for Al-Jumhuriya newspaper in Egypt, then moved to work for BBC Arabic TV, and currently works as a broadcaster for Al Jazeera News Channel. Murad is known for his media presence and skill in managing dialogues. He is also very involved with the Arab community in Britain and its activities.

AUK invites all those who are interested from the Arab community, whether they are parents, teachers, students or researchers, to join this seminar for discussion, debate and exchange of experience. Attendance is free but registration is required through this link.

AUK hopes to offer more similar programs soon in other cities besides London, as well as continuing additional programs in London.

To stay updated about the latest and most important activities that interest Arabs in Britain, visit AUK’s events page.