Celebrate UNESCO’s World Arabic Language Day by enhancing your Arabic skills!
Theme of World Arabic Language Day celebration in 2020: Arabic Language Academies: Necessity or Luxury?
Artwork by the Tunisian calligrapher Karim Jabbari which illustrates the following piece of poetry
"He who imbued languages with the highest qualities
Bequeathed to Arabic the secret of beauty"
— Ahmed Chawqi
The Arabic language is a pillar of the cultural diversity of humanity. It is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, used daily by more than 290 million people. World Arabic Language Day is celebrated every year on 18 December since 2012. The date coincides with the day in 1973 that the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Arabic as the sixth official language of the Organization.
In the diversity of its forms, classic or dialectal, from oral expression to poetic calligraphy, the Arabic language has given rise to a fascinating aesthetic, in fields as varied as architecture, poetry, philosophy and song. It gives access to an incredible variety of identities and beliefs and its history reveals the richness of its links with other languages. Arabic has played a catalytic role in knowledge, promoting the dissemination of Greek and Roman sciences and philosophies to Renaissance Europe. It has enabled a dialogue of cultures along the silk roads, from the coast of India to the Horn of Africa.
Arabic Language Day is a great day to invest in your Arabic learning! MEI offers the following opportunities to support your Arabic language learning journey:
Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships
FLAS Fellowships support undergraduate, graduate and professional students in acquiring modern foreign languages and area or international studies competencies. FLAS Fellowships are available for the academic year 2021-2022 and Summer 2021. Full academic year fellowships combine modern foreign-language training with international or area studies. Summer fellowships cover students' travel and living expenses to cover intensive summer language study in the U.S. or abroad. The FLAS fellowships are funded under Title VI grants from the U.S. Department of Education and are for US Citizens. Deadline: February 11th 2021 More details here.
The Theodore de Bary Language Study Fellowship
The Theodore de Bary Language Study Fellowship complements the FLAS, making study abroad funding available to undergraduate international students who are not American citizens or permanent residents. These awards can be used for intensive summer language study in the U.S. or abroad and offers funding towards summer program tuition and living expenses. Deadline: March March 30th 2021. More details here.
Language Conversation Practice:
MEI offers students fully-funded Language Conversation Practice online in collaboration with NaTakallam. NaTakallam connects language learners with refugees and displaced people who provide conversation practice in their native Arabic, Persian, and Kurdish via Skype. MEI offers scholarships that cover 10 fully-funded sessions with a NaTakallam Conversation Partner. The current round of applications is open here.
Language Maintenance Tutorials:
MEI offers subsidies for students seeking to improve their Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, and Persian through Language Maintenance Tutorials (LMT). LMTs are offered through Columbia’s Language Resource Center for students who want the opportunity to maintain and advance their skills in a second language. MEI funds subsidies of $350 for students seeking to improve their Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, and Persian. Registration for students interested in taking a tutorial is open at the start of every term. For more information about the registration process, please click here.