The Arabic Language is a sea – QFI discovery session at TEDinArabic

“The Arabic language is a sea,” panelist Meg Grieve told a full room at the TEDinArabic Doha Summit at a Discovery Session hosted by Qatar Foundation International (QFI). The session, “Knowledge of Languages is the Doorway to Wisdom,” was a standing-room only event featuring six non-native speakers from Brazil, Germany, and the United States. 

“After seven years of study, I’m just skimming its surface.” Grieve, a student from the United States, described how learning Arabic, first in high school and now in university and abroad, has been a life-changing experience, but “there’s always more to learn.” 

For the past fourteen years, QFI – a member of Qatar Foundation – has been supporting teachers and students to swim in that sea. With extensive experience in Europe and the Americas, QFI supports educators, administrators, students, researchers, and other experts across the Arabic language ecosystem to advance the value of teaching and learning Arabic as a global language. Because of QFI’s work, students and educators like the Discovery Session panelists have access to lifechanging opportunities, networks, and support. 

The three student panelists learned Arabic through QFI-supported secondary-school programming in the United States. “Our experiences learning Arabic have been great because of Ustaz Fadi,” both Susie Hayes and Shelby Holloway said of their Arabic teacher at Lindblom High School in Chicago, Illinois. “Because I learned Arabic,” Hayes added, “I’ve gotten to know some of the best people in my life.” 

All six panelists in the Discovery Session, both students and educators, learned Arabic as non-native speakers. “Even as I teach my students, I learn from them,” said panelist Paula Caffaro, an Arabic lecturer at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Caffaro, Paula Roetscher and Caroline Sibley all began their language studies in school and now teach Arabic at the secondary schools and universities in the Brazil, Germany, and the United States respectively. All shared how the language continues to change their lives.  

“I don’t have words to describe how the Arabic language has changed me,” said Caffaro. "Honestly, I am a better person because I learned Arabic.” 

QFI envisions a future where Arabic is a preferred language choice in classrooms beyond the Arab world. Through providing access to Arabic language education, students enjoy the benefits of a worldwide community of learners and a lifelong connection with a modern, dynamic culture and language. To make that vision a reality, QFI is committed to helping Arabic educators enhance their skills and giving them access to research-informed methodology so they can establish the most effective and cutting-edge teaching practices. 

Primary and secondary level education faces a critical, global gap in Arabic language learning. QFI is the only organization that addresses this gap by supporting Arabic educators at the primary and secondary levels, as well as of social studies, math, science, and the arts who intend to explore Arabic and the Arab world as part of their curriculum. The six non-native speakers at QFI’s Discovery Session all started learning Arabic at an early age, demonstrating the impact of introducing the language in primary and secondary schools. 

“On my first day of Arabic class,” panel moderator Sibley said, “The teacher wrote, ‘The Arabic language is a sea. We’re going to swim in it.’ I’m so glad that I did.”