Students get chance to learn Arabic

Every Tuesday at 6:15 p.m., the Arab Student Union sponsors an Arabic Class in Bate 1027. The class meets for an hour every week and is open to all students, faculty and staff.

The class is comprised of 50 percent Arab-speaking students and 50 percent non-Arab students. Students come to the Arabic Class for three reasons: work related concerns, general interest or some Arab-American students just come to brush up on their native language.

"It's a good experience because other people benefit and learn about our culture and language," said Fatemah Mohammad, an international Kuwaiti student.

Mohammad, a junior urban planning major, is an instructor of the class.

"I teach, on average, 15 students a week and they're quite a diverse group of people," Mohammad said.

The president of the Arab Student Union, Faten Odeh, a junior double majoring in journalism and political science, said the class is serving as a temporary outlet until ECU establishes Arabic as an official foreign language taught at the university.

Odeh has been the president of the Arab Student Union for the past three years and has been trying to work with Frank Romer, the foreign language department head, in an attempt to get Arabic recognized as an official language taught at ECU.

The weekly classes involve instruction in reading, writing and speaking of formal Arabic. Classes move at a moderate pace, allowing students the ability to get a better grasp of the Arabic language.

"Formal Arabic is the form of the language that is used in the Quran and the most useful in studies such as this one," Odeh said.

Randy Siefker, a graduate student concentrating on history and international studies, has been taking the Arabic course for almost five weeks now. Siefker will soon be teaching history internationally in Egypt.

He said he decided to study Arabic and chose Egypt as his destination because he is "deeply interested in the historical aspects and culture of the area."

"I figured what better place than Egypt to teach history," he said.

The class is a way for students from diverse backgrounds to come together to learn a language and to gain better insight into Arabic culture.

As a part of Diversity Month, the Arab Student Union is sponsoring another event called "Hoops for Gaza" this Friday at the Rec Center, tipping off at 7 p.m. and lasting until 9:30 p.m.

According to Odeh, the main goal of the event is to raise money and awareness for the recent casualties in the Gaza Strip and to help show unity no matter what religion, race or cause attendees support.

The cost is $5 and all proceeds will be donated to Humanitarian Aid and the Islamic Relief Fund.

This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.