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Al Ramsa Institute: Bringing culture closer through Emirati dialect

Al Ramsa Institute: Bringing culture closer through Emirati dialect
4 Mar 2024 08:31

SARA ALZAABI (ABU DHABI)


Since its foundation in 2014, Al Ramsa Institute has played a crucial role in teaching the art of Emirati dialects to non-Arabs, serving as a guide for individuals seeking to understand cultural nuances through language.

With a team of native Emirati speakers and a thorough curriculum, Al Ramsa Institute holds the belief that in order to genuinely feel at home, one must bridge the language landscape and the culture, according to its founder, Hanan Alfardan.

“Being surrounded by people of different nationalities at work helped me to understand the importance of Emirati Arabic. My colleagues expressed the desire to learn the Emirati dialect so that they could easily understand what was going on in meetings. Even though English is widely spoken, learning the Emirati Arabic dialect allows us to communicate with Emiratis at work or with customers,” Alfardan told Aletihad.

Al Ramsa Institute’s journey commenced in 2011, when Alfardan began teaching her coworkers voluntarily. The first step paved the way for a more in-depth investigation of the relationship between language and culture.

“Language and culture complement each other. That is why we started providing cultural information about visiting Emirati homes, coffee etiquette, and Emirati clothing in general,” she added.

Alfardan noted that teaching Emirati Arabic is difficult since there are no specialised training programmes. All of this was done in-house, based primarily on her teaching experience since 2011.

As for providing a dynamic learning environment, the institute utilises innovative resources such as Kahoot, PowerPoint, chatPDFs, books, and PDFs, which make the learning process entertaining and effective, according to Alfardan.
Alfardan underlined the necessity of hiring teachers passionate about teaching the Emirati dialect of Arabic, and who are fluent in English to facilitate effective communication as well.

“As an institute, we are licensed to teach different languages, but we choose to teach just the Emirati Arabic dialect since we recognise a need for that. We have mostly beginners enrolling in our course, and once they complete the first level, they ask us to continue, to go through other levels,” Alfardan said.

Overall, the institute has nine levels, categorised into three for beginners, three for intermediate, and three for advanced learners.

Elaborating on challenges, Alfardan pointed to “a scarcity of real Emirati Arabic materials”, highlighting the need for specialised materials on grammar, dialogues, and conversation, as well as specialised vocabulary for advanced levels, idioms, and field-specific terms. In addressing these problems, the institute promotes practicality, ensuring that materials are immediately applicable for effective learning, she added.

The institute incorporates “Arabizi”, a method of pronouncing Arabic words with English or Latin letters, to enhance the learning experience, Alfardan noted.

“Our students are happy because they are studying the Emirati Arabic dialect, which they utilise with their Emirati colleagues and their clients. Emiratis are delighted and amazed that their coworkers speak Emirati. At least, they are attempting to communicate, even if their words are simple; they seem to be overjoyed,” Alfardan added.

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