Sheikh Mohammed announces new free initiative to promote Arabic

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World Arabic Language Day, Sheikh Mohammed,

Dubai - This came on the World Arabic Language Day that is celebrated today.

By Staff Report

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Published: Wed 18 Dec 2019, 1:04 PM

Last updated: Wed 18 Dec 2019, 11:57 PM

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has announced the launch of Arabic language lessons on Madrasa e-learning platform. This came on UN Arabic Language Day that’s observed annually on December 18.

Taking to Twitter, Sheikh Mohammed said the new curriculum includes 1,000 videos in Arabic for different skill levels. “Madrasa is the biggest Arabic educational website that has benefitted 60 million students in just under a year. The preservation of the Arabic language needs more than just classes.” Sheikh Mohammed tweeted.

Fifty million Arab students from kindergarten to grade 12 will have access to free online Arabic language educational content, which will add up to 1,000 videos by the end of 2020. The lessons, produced in interactive high-tech videos, facilitates learning among students and non-Arabic speakers.

Sheikh Mohammed had announced the platform in 2018 to provide 5,000 free Arabised videos in general science, math, biology, chemistry and physics to 50 million Arab students.

Four phases

The e-learning platform, which exceeded two million subscribers and drew an average of 6,000 new users daily in its first year, will provide Arabic language videos through four phases. Basic Arabic lessons will be provided in the first phase, moving to Arabic educational material for primary school students in the second that will produce 25 per cent of the new content. The third phase covers 50 per cent of the content, leading up to the last phase that will see 1,000 Arabic language videos for students from kindergarten to grade 12.

Arabic educational content on Madrasa was originally produced in coordination with a committee of specialised academic experts, teachers and professors from Zayed University and Ministry of Education. The team developed the original content from the research and writing process in coordination with specialised video editors, producers and voiceover artists.

The lessons aim to support Arab students and non-Arabic speakers in mastering different linguistic skills and cater to different school age groups.


 

Valuable addition

Dr Waleed Al Ali, director of Madrasa, said: “The Arabic language lessons are valuable addition to over 5,000 educational videos in math and science to students across all school grades.”

He said the new content reflects the progress of Madrasa platform from providing Arabised lessons to creating original content. “The Arabic videos will cover listening, speaking and writing lessons, besides the grammar, poetry, comprehension and dictation in simple and engaging manner that will support students, teachers and parents.”

He added that the new content improves the student learning experience. “Online contests also promote self-learning and encourage the exploration of the Arabic language. Through Madrasa, we aim to empower a generation capable of generating Arabic content to contribute to the overall knowledge in the Arab world.”

On future plans, Al Ali noted that the platform will include content in computer science, engineering, programming, artificial intelligence, and space science.

reporters@khaleejtimes.com


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