DOHA: Encouraging students to read, write and speak in Arabic was at the centre of the fifth annual Arabic Language Festival and Book Fair that concluded at the Qatar Academy yesterday.
A great deal of care and dedication from the Arabic Department went into the planning of the activities.
"It was great to see a recognition of the importance of the Arabic language. The profile of the language and the Arabic Department was raised significantly through the Language Festival," said Nerine Chalmers, teacher-librarian in the Primary School at Qatar Academy.
Yesterday, Baraen Channel filmed story telling sessions with the students in the libraries after being in Qatar Academy throughout the week. Marleen AwadAlala, an Arabic teacher at Qatar Academy, arranged for the TV crew to visit. "Our students loved the stories read by Ms Laylal. It was also very special for them to work with Rana to make arts and crafts," she said.
The week of celebrations began with the opening of the PTA sponsored book fair which was supplied by ARABOH.com .
Jinanne Tabra, the founder of ARABOH.com and a graduate of Qatar Academy said, "Arabic for All" was our focus in this festival whereby we ensured that non-Arabic speaking students were able to participate and enjoy the event just as much as the Arabic speaking children."
The visit by Emad Hefni with Grade 5 students was such a success, he will be invited for a return visit. He talked about the history of writing and demonstrated tools used. Doa'a Abu Jadeh, Arabic teacher at Qatar Academy, and one of the organizers of the festival said: "We had so many activities for the children. We wanted them to write stories in Arabic and to read. Many parents came to the school to read stories in Arabic in the classrooms. It is a great success."
ARABOH.com, one of the regions's fastest growing providers of Arabic learning resources, will publish the stories written by the students at Qatar Academy.
© The Peninsula 2010
