By Pal Jonathan.
The Standard Arabic Language (ASL) is the mother tongue of more than 380 million people throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa. Being the official language of 24 countries in the Arab League, and granted the title of minority language in many more territories and independent states, Arabic is often used in official discussions or working language in a significant part of the world. Even though it is one of the hardest languages to master, taking approximately 2200 hours of active learning, speaking Arabic is considered to be a very beneficial ability to have in order to pursue a flourishing career outside of Europe.
Arabic as an International Language
To begin with, Arabic is a cultural heritage in numerous societies due to its state as the language of Islam’s holy book, the Quran. Offering speakers the opportunity to be integrated, accepted and respected in a vast expand of the globe, within and out of the Arab League. Statistically speaking, there are 57 Muslim countries, which, according to study made by the website ‘geeksforgeeks’, surpass about 25% of the world’s population. Its roots tracing back to the Islamic Golden Age, and powerful Khalifates, the aftermath of Arabic’s dominance of the ancient trade routes such as the Silk Road, resulted in claiming its position as one of the four major global trade languages, according to Bella zur Hausen (Nov 08, 2018). Furthermore, the biggest airlines such as Qatar, Fly Emirates or Etihad are all based in the Arab world, making Arabic a precious skill when flying throughout the globe.
Arabic in the Modern World
To continue with, one of the most developing parts of the globe is the Arab World, especially Saudi Arabia, UAE, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and Oman, that offer various possibilities to thrive for each and everyone. When it comes to cultural legacy and authentic architecture, Oman, Egypt and Jordan provide natural beauty, and also cities and towns that symbolize the core traditions of the inhabitants, keeping on the market jobs in tourism, and contributing to the rise of the Arab society. On the other hand, modern cities and the world’s latest technologies are found in the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia and UAE, that represent a playground for scientists, researchers and engineers. Last but not least, the energy industry is blooming in MENA (Middle East, North Africa), Algeria being one of the most undiscovered gems of the outside world, that in 2024 still has a quantity of resources that seem to have no ending.
The Developing Nation
Nowadays, experts calculate a certain region’s development using an index called HDI (Human Development Index). The HDI is a statistic developed and compiled by the United Nations since 1990 to measure levels of social and economic development. It is composed of four principal areas of interest: mean years of schooling, expected years of schooling, life expectancy at birth, and gross national income (GNI) per capita (Rasure, Rosenston, 2024). To continue with, numerous Arab countries such as Qatar, Bahrain, UAE or Saudi Arabia are granted the title of fastest growing HDIs of the planet, the United Arab Emirates having reached an astonishing score of 0.937, designated the 17th globally.
Another crucial aspect to consider when assessing economic status is GDP, and the Arab League is showcasing exponential growth in this field as well, as Qatar is ranking fourth on the globe with $112,283 (PPP, 2024). In addition to that, owing to their booming economy, the Arab society has become an international hub, tourism wise and career wise as well.
Taking into consideration these numbers, the Arab World is showing great potential, expected to be an influential nation in the future. Having countries topping world rankings already, the Arab society seems to have a flourishing time ahead.
Challenges of Learning Arabic
Mastering a new language can be tough, especially if it is not similar to any languages you have previously encountered. First of all, one of the early challenges students face is the alphabet of the Arabic language as it is different from most of the European languages. The Arabic Script is written cursively, contains 28 letters and employs different forms depending on the letter’s position in the word. To continue with, besides the fact that it is written from right to left, a confusing aspect of reading Arabic is its status as an “Abjad”, meaning that only consonants are featured, leaving the vowels to be deduced by the reader. Furthermore, the grammar of the language is very complicated for English speakers as the entire phrases are gender-based, including verbs that differ based on the person performing the action, according to an article written by Krystyna Trushyna in 2024. Last but not least, Arabic’s complexity lies also in its various dialects, shaped by the country of origin and ethnicity of the speaker, bringing into play expressions, words, and accents specific to each region.
Another discouraging factor regarding learning Arabic is the lack of access to teachers and opportunities to comprehend the language, leading to people ending their quest of pursuing their studies. A method to tackle this matter is to search for online lessons, through recommendations or by using a platform such as “Preply”, which is an online hub where tutors from all around the world gather in order to offer lessons in various languages for reasonable costs.
Conclusion
All in all, mastering Arabic as a second language is a very useful skill to have when it comes to pursuing many careers such as engineering, researching, telecommunication and the list goes on. Moreover, learning a language as complex and diverse as Arabic contributes to the development of the mind, challenging logical thinking, memory, and comprehensive abilities, ultimately preventing disabilities such as Alzheimer or Dementia. Even though Arabic claims the title of one of the hardest languages to become fluent in, requiring approximately 2200 hours of hard learning, with a little ambition and dedication you are bound to succeed.
