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The Facebook page of
LearnArabic was launched on June 11, 2016 to
allow our users stay connected with LearnArabic
and receive our free self-study materials right
on their newsfeeds.
The interactive
platform was created as part of our wider plan
to engage with our learners through providing
them with a wide and varied range of dynamic,
interactive and engaging content updated on a
daily basis to help them improve their Arabic
vocabulary, and conversation skills..
Given that many of
our followers on Facebook page are novices or
people with zero prior exposure to Arabic, we
developed a curriculum that enables learners
identify Arabic alphabets easily and at the same
time get familiar with basic words and phrases
used in daily conversations.
The method I
followed to achieve this objective was based on
an anecdote that my now-96 years old grandfather
had once told me when I was a child. The
anecdote was about my grandfather’s own personal
experience with learning English alphabets from
match boxes that were once prominently used
before lighters became commonplace.
Drawing inspiration
from his experience, LearnArabic pioneered an
innovative approach that would allow our
learners to keep exploring and identifying
Arabic alphabets when they are offline, making
it easier for them to recall the letters as well
as the common names and phrases associated with
them. This led to the invention of “Learn Arabic
Through Street Name Boards and Brand Names” as
people in this part of the world spend long
hours on roads which they can otherwise utilise
to recall the letters they have learnt through
our Facebook page as they look around for street
/ area names that they are familiar with.
By introducing an
alphabet everyday through our Facebook page
along with easy-to-recognise examples from our
surroundings with the relevant character clearly
highlighted, we have provided the beginners from
our learning community with a rare opportunity
to master Arabic reading skills without much
effort.
Also as a
first-of-its-kind experiment, we have explained
the variant forms of each letter when short and
long vowels are used, applying a technique
inspired by the pattern of consonants in Indian
languages. This enables people to easily grasp
the variant forms of each letter with the help
of illustrated examples from their surroundings.
In following such a
systematic approach, we aimed to get our
learners familiar with all 28 Arabic alphabets
and most common words and phrases used in
everyday life. Following this, we started
introducing common expressions used in daily
conversations, both formal and informal,
involving sentences and complex syntactic
structures. These lessons are designed to enable
our learners to effectively express themselves,
their feelings, needs, activities, and ideas in
their daily lives.
Since it launch, our
Facebook page has brought to its followers and
the wider online community over 200 illustrated
lessons that have proven to be highly useful and
informative to our users. They have appealed to
a broad spectrum of users ranging from
professionals and blue collar workers to job
seekers and students.
As I devote such a
big chunk of my free time and effort every day
to research and develop the LearnArabic lessons
in an attempt to bring them closer to the life
situations of our users, I should admit that
this has been a tedious, time-consuming and
cumbersome exercise. However, when I read
through the comments and compliments on every
post, as well as the flurry of personal messages
received in LearnArabic Facebook inbox, I feel
gratified that this modest initiative, however a
small drop it may be in the ocean of digital
content, played a part in the empowerment of
those who reposed their trust in us.
As of June 18, 2017
the LearnArabic Facebook page has reached 26,100
likes. These likes are not merely numbers that
we brag about, but an indication of the trust
and confidence our users have reposed in us for
offering them brilliant and high quality content
that makes a real difference in their lives.
If you are
interested in joining this learning journey,
please like our Facebook page. If you have
already liked the page, please make sure to
select "See First" option by placing the mouse
pointer on "Liked" button in laptop and desktop
views, or tapping "following" on your mobile
after visiting the page at www.facebook.com/ownline.
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