Ɛla bali weš raku txemmu. Raku ḥasbin belli weddert ṭriqi, w belli keš waḥed ġadi yji l el-plaṭo, temm temm, w yredni, b el-ḍrafa, l kursiya. (Teṣfaq) Ṣratli dima fi Dubey. "Raki fi ɛuṭla, ya el-ɛziza.' (Ḍeḥk) "Jiti tzuri el-drari?" "Šḥal ġadi tebqay?"
I know what you're thinking. You think I've lost my way, and somebody's going to come on the stage in a minute and guide me gently back to my seat. (Applause) I get that all the time in Dubai. "Here on holiday are you, dear?" (Laughter) "Come to visit the children? How long are you staying?"
F el-waqeɛ, netmenna nzid neqɛed kter men hak. Ɛešt w qerrit f el-Xalij kter men 30 ɛam. (Teṣfaq) W f had el-weqt, šeft bezzaf tebdilat. Ḍerwek: el-'iḥṣa'iyat qrib texleɛ. <b>*</b><b>*</b><b><i></i></b> Luġat el-ɛalem: El-yum = 6.000 Menna l 90 ɛam: 600 W rani baġya nehḍer el-yum ɛla el-ḍyaɛa ntaɛ el-luġat w el-ɛawlama ntaɛ el-'engliziya. Rani ḥaba neḥkilkum ɛla ṣaḥabti elli kanet tqerri el-'engliziya l el-šarfin f 'Abu Ḍabi. F waḥed el-nhar šbab, ɛewlet teddihum l el-jnina beš tɛellemelhum šwiya m el-meklem ntaɛ el-xla. Beṣṣaḥ, f el-tali, hiya elli wellat tetɛellem gaɛ el-'esmawat ɛreb ntaɛ el-šṭeb f hadak el-muḍeɛ, w l weš yeṣṣelḥu -- f el-dwa, el-tezyan, el-ṭyab, el-ɛšub. Kifeš tɛelmu haduk el-ṭalaba gaɛ hadik el-meɛrifa? Bayna: men ɛend jdudhum w ḥetta men ɛend jdud jdudhum. Masqaš nqulkum šḥal muhhim ki neqqedru netwaṣlu ma bin el-jyal.
Well actually, I hope for a while longer yet. I have been living and teaching in the Gulf for over 30 years. (Applause) And in that time, I have seen a lot of changes. Now that statistic is quite shocking. And I want to talk to you today about language loss and the globalization of English. I want to tell you about my friend who was teaching English to adults in Abu Dhabi. And one fine day, she decided to take them into the garden to teach them some nature vocabulary. But it was she who ended up learning all the Arabic words for the local plants, as well as their uses -- medicinal uses, cosmetics, cooking, herbal. How did those students get all that knowledge? Of course, from their grandparents and even their great-grandparents. It's not necessary to tell you how important it is to be able to communicate across generations.
Beṣṣaḥ xsara: el-yum, el-luġat rahi tmut b waḥed el-xuffiya, ɛummer ma ṣrat kifha men qbel. Tmut luġa f kul 14 yum. Ḍerwek, f el-weqt datu, el-'engliziya wellat el-luġa ntaɛ el-ɛalem bla zyada f el-heḍra. Kayen hnaya ši weṣla? El-ṣaḥḥ, maniš ɛarfa. Beṣṣaḥ elli ɛla bali bih huwa belli šeft qoja tebdilat. El-xeṭra el-'ewla ki jit l el-Xalij, jit l el-Kuweyt f el-yamat elli kan fiha had el-muḍeɛ ɛad ṣɛib. F el-waqeɛ, mši gaɛ bekri bezzaf. Hadi šwiya qbel mennu. Beṣṣaḥ, kima kan el-ḥal, qebluni beš nexdem f el-British Council, mɛa qrib waḥed el-25 šix waḥduxrin. W kunna el-mši muslimin el-lwala elli qerraw, temmatik, f el-msayed ntaɛ el-dula f el-Kuweyt. Jabuna beš nqerriw el-'engliziya laxaṭerš el-ḥukuma kanet baġya tṭewwer el-blad w tqewwi el-šeɛbiyin b el-qraya. W bayna, Briṭanya stfadet men šwiya m el-xir ntaɛ el-petrol, el-ɛziz.
But sadly, today, languages are dying at an unprecedented rate. A language dies every 14 days. Now, at the same time, English is the undisputed global language. Could there be a connection? Well I don't know. But I do know that I've seen a lot of changes. When I first came out to the Gulf, I came to Kuwait in the days when it was still a hardship post. Actually, not that long ago. That is a little bit too early. But nevertheless, I was recruited by the British Council, along with about 25 other teachers. And we were the first non-Muslims to teach in the state schools there in Kuwait. We were brought to teach English because the government wanted to modernize the country and to empower the citizens through education. And of course, the U.K. benefited from some of that lovely oil wealth.
Ṣaḥḥa. Ḍerwek, hada huwa el-tebdal el-kbir elli šeftu -- kifeš el-teɛlam ntaɛ el-'engliziya tḥewwel men kunu xedma fiha fayda l beɛḍna beɛḍ ḥetta wella, f el-ɛalem, ṣenɛa hayla - kima rahu el-yum. Mši ġir luġġa berraniya f el-qraya ntaɛ el-msid, w mši ġir el-muhhima ntaɛ el-yemmayen el-'Ongleter, wella el-jerrar elli tsuqu kul blad, fuq el-'erḍ, tehḍer el-'engliziya. W ɛlah lla? Kima kan el-ḥal, el-qraya el-mxeyra -- ɛla ḥsab el-testaf el-'exrani ntaɛ el-jamiɛat f el-ɛalem -- yetnelqa f el-jamiɛat ntaɛ Briṭanya w el-Marikan. 'Amala, gaɛ rahum baġyin qraya 'engliziya, ɛla ḥsab el-šufa. Beṣṣaḥ la ma kanetš hiya luġa't waldik, lazem ɛlik tfewwet xtibar.
Okay. Now this is the major change that I've seen -- how teaching English has morphed from being a mutually beneficial practice to becoming a massive international business that it is today. No longer just a foreign language on the school curriculum, and no longer the sole domain of mother England, it has become a bandwagon for every English-speaking nation on earth. And why not? After all, the best education -- according to the latest World University Rankings -- is to be found in the universities of the U.K. and the U.S. So everybody wants to have an English education, naturally. But if you're not a native speaker, you have to pass a test.
Fi mizkum, kayen ši ṣwab ki nḥawzu keš ṭaleb ġir ɛla jal el-qudra ntaɛu f el-luġa? Twali, ykun ɛendek ɛalem ntaɛ ḥawsaba elli huwa muxx. Zeɛma ġadi yeḥtaj nefs el-luġa kima waḥed muḥami, b el-mtel? El-ḥeqq, ma nḍenš had el-ši. Ḥna el-šyuxa ntaɛ el-'engliziya rana nḥawzu fihum, gaɛ el-weqt. Rana ndiru: Marka ntaɛ stop w rana nḥebsu fihum f ṭriqhum. Ma ɛaduš ynejmu yḥeqqu el-ḥelm dyalhum, ḥetta yetɛelmu el-'engliziya. Ḍerwek: Xelluni nqeddemha b had el-ṣifa: 'Ida tlaqit b keš waḥed yehḍer ġir b el-holandiya elli ɛendu el-dwa ntaɛ el-konser, nḥebsu w ma nxellihš yedxel el-Jamiɛa el-Briṭaniya ntaɛi? Ma nḍenš. Beṣṣaḥ, f el-waqeɛ, hada huwa weš rana ndiru. Ḥnaya, el-šyuxa ntaɛ el-'engliziya, rana kima el-ɛessasa ntaɛ el-saqya. W lazem ɛlik tqenneɛna, qbel, belli el-'engliziya ntaɛek mliḥa kima yelzem. Ḍerwek, teqder tkun el-ḥala waɛra ki neɛṭiw ṣulṭa, b el-zyada, l ṭerf m el-mujtamaɛ. Had el-ḥdada tnejjem tkun kayna tanik f el-ɛalem.
Now can it be right to reject a student on linguistic ability alone? Perhaps you have a computer scientist who's a genius. Would he need the same language as a lawyer, for example? Well, I don't think so. We English teachers reject them all the time. We put a stop sign, and we stop them in their tracks. They can't pursue their dream any longer, 'til they get English. Now let me put it this way: if I met a monolingual Dutch speaker who had the cure for cancer, would I stop him from entering my British University? I don't think so. But indeed, that is exactly what we do. We English teachers are the gatekeepers. And you have to satisfy us first that your English is good enough. Now it can be dangerous to give too much power to a narrow segment of society. Maybe the barrier would be too universal.
Ṣaḥḥa. "Beṣṣaḥ," rani nesmeɛ fikum tqulu: "Weš el-ḥal ɛla el-beḥt? Kul ši rahu b el-'engliziya." Ha el-ktuba b el-'engliziya, el-jranin medyurin b el-'engliziya, beṣṣaḥ hadi nubu'a tebni ruḥha. Twajeb el-meṭlub el-'englizi. W hak yzid el-ḥal ɛla ḥalu. Nseqsikum: Weš ṣra l el-tarjama? 'Ida xemmemtu f el-weqt el-mesɛud ntaɛ el-'Islam, kanet kayna, weqtha, qoja tarjamat. Terjmu m el-latiniya w el-yunaniya l el-ɛerbiya, l el-farsi w men temmak tterjmu f el-luġat el-jermaniya ntaɛ 'Europa w el-luġat el-romansiya. W temmatik ɛad: el-ḍḍew newwer el-ɛehd el-meḍlam f el-'Örop Ḍerwek, masqaš teffehmuni ġlaṭ; ma raniš kontr el-teɛlam ntaɛ el-'engliziya, ntuma el-muɛellimin ntaɛ el-'engliziya Rahi rašqetli ki ɛendna luġa mentašra f el-ɛalem. Rana meḥtajin waḥda el-yum kter men 'eyy weqt. Beṣṣaḥ rani kontr el-stiɛmal ntaɛha b mqam el-ḥdada. Zeɛma ṣaḥḥ, rana baġyin nkemlu ɛla 600 luġa w tebqa ġir waḥda muhhima: el-'engliziya wella el-šinwiya? Rana meḥtajin kter men had el-ši. Win lazem ndiru el-xeṭṭ? Had el-sistem ysawi bin el-fṭana w el-meɛrifa ntaɛ el-'engliziya, Ḥaja elli hiya qrib medyura b kraɛ kelb.
Okay. "But," I hear you say, "what about the research? It's all in English." So the books are in English, the journals are done in English, but that is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It feeds the English requirement. And so it goes on. I ask you, what happened to translation? If you think about the Islamic Golden Age, there was lots of translation then. They translated from Latin and Greek into Arabic, into Persian, and then it was translated on into the Germanic languages of Europe and the Romance languages. And so light shone upon the Dark Ages of Europe. Now don't get me wrong; I am not against teaching English, all you English teachers out there. I love it that we have a global language. We need one today more than ever. But I am against using it as a barrier. Do we really want to end up with 600 languages and the main one being English, or Chinese? We need more than that. Where do we draw the line? This system equates intelligence with a knowledge of English, which is quite arbitrary.
(Teṣfaq)
(Applause)
W rani baġya nkakikum belli el-ɛamaliqa elli ɛla ktafhum rahi qayma el-'intelligentsya ntaɛ el-yum ma kanš lazem ykun ɛendhum el-'engliziya, ma kanš lazem ɛlihum yffewtu xtibar ntaɛ 'engliziya. Ḥala b el-dat, Einstein. F had el-šan, kan melzum ɛlih ydir durus 'istidrak, f el-msid laxaṭerš, f el-waqeɛ, kanet ɛendu disleksya. Beṣṣaḥ mziya l el-ɛalem, ki ma fewwetš xtibar ntaɛ 'engliziya. Laxaṭerš ma bdawš ḥetta 1964 mɛa el-TOEFL, el-xtibar el-marikani ntaɛ el-'engliziya. Ḍerwek el-ḥala rahi tfejret. Rahi kayna ɛayṭa xtibarat ntaɛ el-'engliziya. W mlayen w mlayen ntaɛ ṭalaba elli yfewtu had el-xtibarat kul ɛam. Ḍerwek, teqder txemmem, nta w 'anaya, "Ma fiha ḥetta bas mɛa had el-meṣruf; kul ši: ɛalama," beṣṣaḥ rahum yɛerqlu f šḥal men melyun bnadem zawali/faqir. 'Amala, b el-qeṭɛi, rana nrefḍu fihum.
And I want to remind you that the giants upon whose shoulders today's intelligentsia stand did not have to have English, they didn't have to pass an English test. Case in point, Einstein. He, by the way, was considered remedial at school because he was, in fact, dyslexic. But fortunately for the world, he did not have to pass an English test. Because they didn't start until 1964 with TOEFL, the American test of English. Now it's exploded. There are lots and lots of tests of English. And millions and millions of students take these tests every year. Now you might think, you and me, "Those fees aren't bad, they're okay," but they are prohibitive to so many millions of poor people. So immediately, we're rejecting them.
(Teṣfaq)
(Applause)
Hada yfekkerni b waḥed el-ɛunwan f el-xbarat šeftu hada mši bezzaf: "El-Qraya: El-Feṣla el-Kbira." Ḍerwek rani fhemt ɛlah el-nas rahi tlekkek ɛla el-'engliziya. Rahum baġyin ymeddu l wladhum el-furṣa el-mxeyra fi ḥyathum. W beš ydiru had el-ši, lazemlhum terbiya't gwer. Laxaṭerš w hadi bayna: el-xedmat el-mxeyrin yruḥu l el-nas elli txerju m el-jamiɛat gwer, elli nebbeht lihum men qbel. nruḥu nruḥu w nwellu l blaṣa waḥda.
It brings to mind a headline I saw recently: "Education: The Great Divide." Now I get it, I understand why people would want to focus on English. They want to give their children the best chance in life. And to do that, they need a Western education. Because, of course, the best jobs go to people out of the Western Universities, that I put on earlier. It's a circular thing.
Ṣaḥḥa. Xelluni neḥkilkum ḥkaya ntaɛ zuj ɛulama, zuj ɛulama ngliz. Kanu ydiru f waḥed el-tejriba ɛendha ɛalaqa b el-jinat w el-gwayem ntaɛ el-quddam w el-lurr ɛend el-hwayeš. Beṣṣaḥ ma qedruš yewweṣlu l el-natijat elli bġawha. Beḥretelhum weš ydiru, ḥetta elli ja waḥed el-ɛalem 'almani elli tkaka belli kanu yexxedmu b zuj kelmat beš yehheḍru ɛla el-gwayem ntaɛ el-quddam w el-lurr, win el-jenetik ma tmeyyezš binathum w la el-'almaniya, tanik. 'Amala bingo, el-muškila tḥellet. 'Ida ma qdertš txemmem keš texmima, 'amala, rak ḥaṣel. [Luġa - Texmima - Meɛrifa] Beṣṣaḥ, lakan luġa waḥduxra teqder txemmem hadik el-texmima 'amala, b el-mɛawna, neqqedru nḥeqqu w netɛelmu, kter w kter.
Okay. Let me tell you a story about two scientists, two English scientists. They were doing an experiment to do with genetics and the forelimbs and the hind limbs of animals. But they couldn't get the results they wanted. They really didn't know what to do, until along came a German scientist who realized that they were using two words for forelimb and hind limb, whereas genetics does not differentiate and neither does German. So bingo, problem solved. If you can't think a thought, you are stuck. But if another language can think that thought, then, by cooperating, we can achieve and learn so much more.
Benti jat l 'Inglitra m el-Kuweyt. Hiya qrat el-ɛulum w el-riyaḍiyat b el-ɛerbiya. F msid ɛerbi metweṣṣeṭ. Kan lazem ɛliha tterjem b el-'engliziya f el-kulij ntaɛha. W kanet el-mxeyra f el-klaṣa, f had el-mawad. El-ši elli yqulenna belli ki el-ṭalaba yju l ɛendna men berra, neqqedru ma nmedulhumš kfaya tiqa ɛla weš yeɛɛerfu, w huma yeɛɛerfuha b el-luġat ntaweɛhum. Ki tmut keš luġa, ma neɛɛerfuš weš nḍeyɛu mɛa had el-luġa.
My daughter came to England from Kuwait. She had studied science and mathematics in Arabic. It's an Arabic-medium school. She had to translate it into English at her grammar school. And she was the best in the class at those subjects. Which tells us that when students come to us from abroad, we may not be giving them enough credit for what they know, and they know it in their own language. When a language dies, we don't know what we lose with that language.
Hada huwa -- Maniš ɛarfa la tferrejtu f el-CNN hadi mudda qlila -- ki ɛṭaw el-jayza ntaɛ Heroes Award l waḥed el-raɛi ṣġir, men Kinya, elli ma kanš yeqder yeqra, b el-lil, f el-dešra ntaɛu, b ḥal gaɛ el-bzuza f el-dešra, ɛla jal el-lampa ntaɛ el-kirozen: kanet tdir el-duxxan w ɛeṭbetlu ɛeynih. W kima kan el-ḥal, ɛummer ma kan temmatik el-kirozen kima yliq, laxaṭerš weš ġadi yeqḍilek dollar meṣruf f el-nhar? 'Amala xtareɛ waḥed el-lampa temši b el-šmisa w ma yliqelha ḥetta meṣruf. W ḍerwek el-drari f el-dešra ntaɛu rahum yeqraw mɛa beɛḍ f el-msid kima el-bzuza elli ɛendhum el-ḍeww f dyurhum. (Teṣfaq) Ki nál el-jayza ntaɛu, qal had el-klimat elli yeġwiw: "El-bzuza ntaɛ Friqya ynejmu yeddiwha men weš rahi ḍerwek, qara meḍlama, l qara mḍewya." Fekra sahla, beṣṣaḥ tnejjem tkun ɛendha šḥal men natija kbira.
This is -- I don't know if you saw it on CNN recently -- they gave the Heroes Award to a young Kenyan shepherd boy who couldn't study at night in his village, like all the village children, because the kerosene lamp, it had smoke and it damaged his eyes. And anyway, there was never enough kerosene, because what does a dollar a day buy for you? So he invented a cost-free solar lamp. And now the children in his village get the same grades at school as the children who have electricity at home. (Applause) When he received his award, he said these lovely words: "The children can lead Africa from what it is today, a dark continent, to a light continent." A simple idea, but it could have such far-reaching consequences.
El-nas elli ma ɛendhumš el-ḍeww, ḥeqqani wella b el-meɛna, ma yeqqedruš yfewtu el-xtibarat dyalna, w ɛummer ma nnejmu neɛɛerfu weš yeɛɛerfu. Masqaš nxelluhum w nxellu rwaḥtina f el-ḍlam. Xelluna neḥtaflu b el-tenwaɛ. Thella fi luġtek. Steɛmelha beš tenšer fkar kbar.
People who have no light, whether it's physical or metaphorical, cannot pass our exams, and we can never know what they know. Let us not keep them and ourselves in the dark. Let us celebrate diversity. Mind your language. Use it to spread great ideas.
(Teṣfaq)
(Applause)
Ṣeḥḥitu b el-bezzaf. Šukran!
Thank you very much.
(Teṣfaq)
(Applause)