Arabic Tops 200

This is only the fourth year that Arabic has been taught at the UO in a classroom setting (self-study courses have been available for a number of years). With more and more students signing up each year, they rapidly filled first- and second-year classes and created enough momentum that third-year Arabic was successfully offered for the first time last year. All three years of study will continue to be offered in 2009-10.

What’s behind the growing trend? While interest in Arabic may have been inspired by the “war on terror” a few years ago, that is no longer the main impetus, said Jeff Magoto, director of the World Languages Academy, which has been responsible for Arabic language instruction at the UO.

Instead, current student interest reflects a more complex understanding of the Arab world. Consider this diversity of reasons provided in a recent student survey:

• I wanted to become fluent in a language that would be helpful to me as a future journalist.

• I am an architecture student, so I was not required to take a language course in college. I took this class because I am interested in the culture.

• I have already earned my BA requirement credit with Japanese, but I am looking forward to studying Arab and Middle Eastern affairs in graduate school.

• I'm Arab and don't speak Arabic. I know the culture but not the language.

• There is an obvious need for Arabic in today's world. I also find it fascinating and beautiful.

Or as one student summed it up: “Within the next decades, we will become witness to an unprecedented cultural exchange with the Arab world, and being able to speak the language of our fellow man is an essential skill in the ever-changing world.”
 

— Lisa Raleigh