Exchange Event at Department of Arabic of SIS for "World Arabic Language Day"

             Arabic is an ancient language that has played an important role in preserving and promoting human civilization. As a widely spoken language, Arabic is now mainly used in West Asia and North Africa. It is also the official language of 22 Arab countries and regions, and is one of the six main working languages of the United Nations. At present, the number of Arabic native speakers has exceeded 470 million worldwide.

            On December 18th, 1973, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) approved Arabic as the sixth official working language of the organization. To commemorate the event and increase the presence of the Arabic language in the Arab world and other areas of the world, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2012 decided to designate December 18th of every year as World Arabic Language Day, and to include it in the international days and weeks observed by the organization.

           On this year’s World Arabic Language Day, on behalf of Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), Associate Professor Ma Yanzhe, Chair of Department of Arabic of the School of International Studies (SIS), took part in an online international conference on celebrating the World Arabic Language Day. This conference was organized by Isra University in Jordan and has attracted the participation of about 120 experts and scholars from all over the world. During the conference, Dr. Ma introduced the history of SIS’ Department of Arabic, its current development and future teaching plans. He also expressed the expectation of further academic exchanges and cooperation between the Department and colleges and universities around the world.

           To observe the special occasion, Department of Arabic, SIS also held an offline exchange event on the afternoon of December 21st. Led by Dr. Ma and foreign teacher Dawood, students from four undergraduate grades and graduate students participated in the event.

          The event began with a speech by Dr. Ma, who introduced a series of general knowledge about Arabic to the students so as to enhance their understanding and knowledge of the language. He also expressed his great expectation for the students to continue their efforts in studying Arabic and conducting academic researches.

         Then Dawood recited a long poem passionately entitled The Arabic Language Mourns its Luck. The poem was written by poet Hafez Ibrahim in Arabic by the narrative tone of the first person. Through this poem, the poet called on all Arabic writers, scholars and those who study Arabic to protect the Arabic language and strengthen their confidence in learning and spreading this language, so as to pass such confidence on to the next generation. Moreover, Wang Zhilin and Pan Shuyi, two junior students of the Department sang the song Glorious Years, whose perfromance was so great that the audience was shocked.

         In the end, students and teachers of Department of Arabic enjoyed Arabic coffee and unique Arabic snacks together. Students talked about their confusion in learning Arabic and teachers shared their experiences in settling such problems. All the students took the opportunity to get along and exchange ideas. Participants said that this activity was meaningful and was helpful in relieving their study pressure and enhancing their friendship. It has also stimulated their passion for future study in Arabic.