Page 208 - Records of Bahrain (5) (ii)_Neat

528 Records of Bahrain

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Tin- Teaching of Arabic. I was sorry to find nearly all tbo masters at
Ibe hIio. is pressing for au increase in Iho teaching of English, at llio
tmune <»f i bo teaching of Arabic. Thin i8 un utterly wrong and uttorly
niistukvii idea. Everywhere I went, 1 heard the sumo demand for moro
].;i,,,|j>li, and I was surprised to find that ovon Iho youngest babies in tho
infants' classes woro being taught tho English letters, alongside tho Arabia
letters. Many reasons were given to ino in support of this demand. Somo
yflhenT wens as follows: "English is tho international languago of tho
world."—'" English is tho languago of commerce."—“ English is tho
ofliciul language of Bahrain."—" Bahrain is becoming a cosmopolitan state,
aad mc»t of the foreigners who como here know English: wo cannot
communicate with them unless wo know English too."- " Ninety per cent
of the schools1 past students nro earning their living through their
knowledge of English."- “ Wo cannot obtain Iho good posts in tbo Oil
Company unless we know English."
All tbo above statements may be truo, and it is also truo that while
there are 200,000,000 peoplo who speak tho English tongue, only about one-
fifth of this number speak some form of Arabic. Nevertheless, it is utterly
wrong that the same importance should bo given in tbo Bahrain schools to
English us to Arabic. In tbo fir.-t place, a student’s first linguistic duty
is to his own nulivo tonguo. No Arab can consider himself an educated
or u cultured persou until ho can speak and writo Arabic fluently and
correctly. Secondly, tbo function of a school is to impart true education, and
not to provide its pupils with jobs. Finally, it is not possible for uny Arab
to learn English well until bo knows Arabic well, and ho cannot know
Arabic well without a long and painstaking study of Arabic grammar and
composition. Show mo a student who is good at Arabic, and I will show
you one who will tutor bo good at English.
In my opinion, it is much to bo regretted that in eomo of tbo Arab
countries the study of Arabio is becoming moro and more neglected, hi
the-'O countries tho education authorities think it better to provide their
students with a miscellaneous fund of almost valueless facts, taken from eemi-
scienlilic American summaries, rather than to equip them with a sound know­
ledge of their own noble languago. Ono of tho curious results of this policy is
that in the great universities of Europe, where there are SohooE of Oriental
Lungiiagcs, it. is uourly always the Arabs who fail in tho Arabio papors,
Hud tho Europeans who pass. Surely this is a shameful stato of allairs,
when a great language is nob properly known by its own people. Let us
iiot iimko the sauio mistake io Bahrain, or listen to thoso who ask that
greutcr impurlanco shall bo given in tho schools to a foreiga languago
.than to the nutivo tonguo.
I nm not in any way opposed to tho teaching, in tho Bahrain schools,
English to a high standard : bub ib is absolutely essential, if success in
English is to ho expected, that tho first place, and tho most timo, should bo
pven to the study of Arabic. Tho teaching of tho English letters to tho
k i4 Cim (^° 110 and it could bo allowed to continuo : but they
s ouldon no account bo allowed to go beyond that in English, or to loam
j*uy English at all until they arrivo at tho Second Stago. I recommend
™ i °!,r * ^■fjUno3s should issue firm instructions that Arabic is to bo
o$3h • ,,uiuo first importanco as a subject of study in tbo schools