On which language you will base your children on??

weird question cause the logical answer should be arabic but the situation unfourtionatly on quiet not small number of families arise! specially in the Capital among Omanies regardless of their mixed roots!

Seen some children the other day i can say lost in their identity in terms of language. Speaking English, they are Omanies and their arabic broken.
And whenever such issue brought to such families they answer that todays world globalization neccesates the need of perfecting the English language BUT that offcourse on behalf of the supposed mother tongue language ...The Arabic language.!!! They will say that arabic can be tought in Schools! , friends that they will mix with! BUT believe me...BEST place to acquire pure correct languistic skills with correct pronounciation is home (assuming that the parents got strong mother tongue language ) in our situation Arabic.

We can deviate abit away from this but in some relation....an Omani will sit with an Omani and both are arabic as per mother tongue language But the language they communicate with each others will be an alien like Mixture language of arabic/English/Hip hop/Rap/Slang/Asian Stuff that can give you a big headache and makes you wonder....IS this again an Identity crises we are dealing with????

Lets go abit to another wave, some one who has perfect mother tongue language (example: arabic) but he is educated.. (so called) meets up with some one else (as well educated) might be in a higher standard in terms of education if you want to dicriminate abit, The guy will start speaking English!!!! NOT that to describe a scientific matter that arabic cant Hold or explain...BUT just to communicate!!!!!!! WHY? again are we dealing here with infiriority complex?? or shame from our beautiful arabic language????????????????


Wake up new generation !!! cause if you are NOT proud of your own identity and work accordingly...you have NO dignity...hence You dont deserve to belong to this country that awaits from you much much to repay some of the many debts that you owe to it!!!!!!!!!!

maybe I was abit harsh on my last paragraph.....your Thoughts!

small question:
arnt french known to be very proud of their language??
if so...what does that tell you???

well we are proud of our language... YES.. like u should be :mmhmm: and like anyone on earth should be indeed
and reading what u said ... it's a shame really, ppl should raise their child in their own language (which is arabic for u(omanies))
i'll raise my children in french coz here we only speak french but i might teach them abit of english aswell

I personally don't really like it when I see little Omani kids (or other Arabs) -who live in their countries and not some foreign country where they are forced to communicate in another language- speaking in English most of the time, and having broken Arabic language. It pisses me off when parents tell you -proudly- :rolleyes: that they have been teaching their child English instead of Arabic since he/she was young.
We are Arabs. Our language is the Arabic language. The language of Quran! Do you see Western people speaking in Arabic (I don't mean those with exceptions like some who live in our countries and study Arabic or whatever)? Teaching their children to talk in Arabic instead of English?
What also sucks is when you talk to a person in Arabic and they reply in English, when they can answer back in perfect Arabic. Oh and especially when they KNOW the other person doesn't speak English well!!
I won't lie. I do use some English words and sentences (maybe school and the internet played a big part in this), but overall I speak in Arabic.
Of course, if a person has a foreign parent or something else (other acceptable excuses) then I am definitely not against that. In my post I'm talking about Arabs who have Arab parents and live in Arabic countries and all that.
I am not against us studying English. I'm all for learning new languages and being fluent in them. I want to send my kids to bilingual schools. BUT their main way of communication should be in Arabic.

I personally really don't see how this is a big issue. People should use whatever language they are most comfortable using, and whichever language they feel they can express themselves best with.

Of course since we're living in an Arab country, you should be able to know enough Arabic at least to deal with other people who might not speak English, but when you're amongst family and friends, I don't see why there should be a set rule about which language you should use. As long as you guys understand each other, there are no problems.

I would want my kids to master both Arabic and English, so I'd speak to them in one language, and have their father speak to them in another.. not sure if that's possible - it might be confusing at first, but maybe there's a way around it. I know some people who do this with their kids, and it seems to work just fine.

I speak English 99% of the time. I speak in English with my family and friends. The only time I speak in Arabic is when I'm around strangers and I'm not sure whether or not they speak English, or if I know someone doesn't speak English well, then I'd speak in Arabic. Plus, there are certain family members/relatives who won't respond if I speak in English, so I make sure I use Arabic with them. Growing up, English was my first language and not Arabic so it was English at home, plus I went to a bilingual school and all my friends spoke in English, and now I study in the UK so I rarely speak Arabic. I'm just more used to English (I think in English), plus I feel that I can express myself a lot better and a lot quicker in English.

I don't see it as a big issue either. Besides some stuff are best said in english rather than arabic the same vice versa.. its just a matter of preference.

however I do blame schools for strictly enforcing the arabic language which caused me as well many young folks not be proud of the language due to its complexity. Its not simple or direct to the point and you can't be frank with others. The english language, due to its simplicity helps for the easier way of communication. I think the governments should do something about it. I am quite good in reading and understanding arabic however, I can't understand some arabic dialects and I was never good in arabic grammar due to its sheer difficulty. Teachers use to tell me that arabs created that many grammar rules so that it would be easier for foreigners to learn the arabic language. bull shit its downright difficult, a pain in the *** and they make the language seem as if its a chore where you're struggling to write off anything to finish the exam paper. Its as if its nothing more than a subject that will simply be forgotten as soon as the summer holiday comes..

My first language is also English. I used to talk to others in english almost all the time, now i find myself speaking in 80% english and 20% arabic. Arabic to my siblings, arab strangers, whoever cant speak english well.. and a few cousins. English to almost everybody else. I can honestly say that my parents dont speak arabic very well.. my father speaks fus7a (formal arabic.. no slang/accent. imagine speaking like that!!), and my mother can get by with it. Both are omani, but certain circumstances have it this way, and so the cycle continues. Identity crisis? i think not.
Still, i'd raise my kids to speak both languages well, as my sister has done. As arabs we have an obligation to at least speak it fluently.

I think I'll teach my children both english and arabic, but more arabic than english! :D

I grew up abroad, and was in an arabic school for one year. I speak english to my friends, and a few of my cousins. But a lot of the time I speak arabic. I do so for many reasons, one is because I don't take arabic at school, so I'm trying to improve my language. If I don't know a word in arabic, I'll say it in english, if I don't know a word in english, I'll say it in arabic. But around 99% of family members, it's in arabic. They also don't really like it when we speak english a lot! Lol! I speak 3 languages, but I try to never lose my arabic, EVER! And languages are important, just as long as you remember your own.

i hate it when kids speak in only english.. i dont mind them speaking it but not understanding Arabic now that's disgusting for an arab! i mean come on.. i mean arabs can go soo beyond n strip of their identity untel their Launguage! teach them whateva but ask them to use when nessesery..
coz some parents show off that our kids only speak english.. well mbrok ! lool
n what drives me really mad is when ppl just speak english to show that they know english! like give me a break ! even on msn id raither speak arabic then english..

i know english really well but i hate to speak it with another arab! i try my best not to bring up english words.. but with my friends i dont care much.. i bring some words.. but 99.9% is arabic unless it's with any1 that dosnt understand the launguage.. then im more then happy to etfalsah !
one i was in this islamic lecture.. n a bharaini gal grabs the mic n stars talking in arabic n english mix ! man every1 started to make fun of her ! come on ur in a public place..

I would first teach them arabic, without a doubt. I wouldn't want them to go through what I did. Of course I would like them to be fluent in both Arabic and English, but Arabic definitely would have the priority.

I'd do like what my mom did....
She know that as we r Arabs, then eventualy we'd end up speaking Arabic.. with friends, @ school, with relative....
So she was not worried bout that, therefore, she made sure she would base us on the English langauge.... some get surprised 2 know that me being an Arab n an Omani that my 1st language 2 be learned was English...
That's Y we never faced any peroblem in skool, Uni, work or life in general by means of communicating in English, nor any problem in Arabic at all.

I'd do like what my mom did....
She know that as we r Arabs, then eventualy we'd end up speaking Arabic.. with friends, @ school, with relative....
So she was not worried bout that, therefore, she made sure she would base us on the English langauge.... some get surprised 2 know that me being an Arab n an Omani that my 1st language 2 be learned was English...
That's Y we never faced any peroblem in skool, Uni, work or life in general by means of communicating in English, nor any problem in Arabic at all.

May be u managed to get the two real good...;) :cute:
But, i will be afraid that my children will lose their identity and language, i would like to hear them speak my raw accent..:p

" A language is lost every month or every 2 weeks, so within 100 years only 2,500 languages will be left out of the 7000 languages today for 6 Billions People. While in the past, 10,000 years ago, there were about 12,000 languages for 5-10 millions people. An Extinction of a language is counted if the number of speakers is fewer than 50."--[Click (http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1042069)].-rephrased by [x].


I think We should teach our kids [Muslims] Arabic first, and I prefer if they master it, not just slang like "وابوي انته مو باغي توو" hehe. I mean they should be able to read Quran, and write Arabic professionally unlike me. Then, let them learn any language they want, English is first option. Chinese is becoming stronger, who knows maybe in the future, we will have to learn Chinese to read some sites or some Chinese Harry Potter Novels.

Languages are related to Politics somehow and they depend on it. Superpowers always enforce indirectly its languages on others nations scientifically or culturally. For example, the lack of Translated Sources - from English to Arabic - from a more advanced Civilization makes people who don't speak English to learn English language to have access to those sources.

In the past, when we were more advanced, they learned Arabic and their language influenced by it such as Spanish and English, and translated our books, today it's the opposite, and we have to do what they did and what we had done too.

The fault can be our careless governments, which don't translate that many works into Arabic, like the West does. For example, Spain translates 10,000 books a year, and that number equals to Al-Ma'moon's era, Abassid, numbers of translated books. While today, Arabs translate only 300 books a year.

To Thugy: Teaching your child his mother tongue, Arabic, has nothing to do with his roots to his country, but to his Religion, and his Quran. He has nothing to repay to his country as well but to his Religion. And, those words you typed in your last paragraph, are too Arab Nationalist propaganda statements to get Arab Race support.

Finally, For the meantime, I think I should just teach my kids Chinese as a second language, and within 15years, the world will speak it.

P.S: I just hope I did not get little bit Offtopic

Salam-[x].

My Arabic is not as strong as my English because the language we spoke at home was mainly English. My father tried to get us to speak Arabic but at that young age, we weren't bothered to learn another language if we could communicate in English. As older children, we would communicate between ourselves in Arabic and that was great and then my dad encouraged us to speak Arabic with him as well while my mom made sure we spoke good English with her. So it was Arabic with my dad and English with my mum.

That would have been a great thing if my dad was fluent in Arabic. He wasn't, so we deteriorated in Arabic as a result. In School, I was always better in English than in Arabic and when I finally went to a bilingual school, my Arabic was in a unrecognizable shape [exaggeration] but you know what I mean.

Parents should make sure that their children speak both well. I want my children to be fluent in both- with equal priority. And if I can, lets squeeze Swahili in there too but I should learn how to speak it first :os

Golly!

Arabs don't speak Arabic?

Is this in Oman? Or are you just talking about expatriates? There are kids wandering around in Oman who don't speak Arabic? Or they speak English mostly? Really?

How many people are like this?

Is this because of the British connection? Or would it be the same in Saudi Arabia, for example, or Yemen?

BTW, Yemen is the country that never gets mentioned. How come? If you listen to Arabians, every other country comes up...Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait. Never Yemen. Is it like a black hole or something? Or it very poor and culturally different, so the other Arabians don't communicate much with them? Or I'm just missing it?

I've met lots of Arabs. Gulf Arabs and Saudis and Omanis seem very friendly. (Except Omanis are sorcerers, so you have to be careful not to make them mad or you might wake up in the morning with your feet on backwards. ;-) ) I've only met three Yemeni guys, no women. They seemed...grouchy is the best way to put it. And they never looked at you when they talked. Is that typical?

Another question: What do you think about talking in front of a third person who doesn't speak a language in a language that only two of you speak? For example, you and a friend speak English and the third person doesn't. Can you speak in English in front of the third one?

I have the same problem, and to me it is disgusting really. I finished the whole thanawiyah amah arabic so I'm okay, but when it comes to speaking :os I speak arabic with an english accent. lol Anyway nowadays I keep talking to my siblings and my Arab friends in UK in Arabic, so I can finally be fluent. I hate the fact that my mother tongue is English though, because I am an Arab. :bored: It's very embarrassing I have to say. I remember some weeks ago I was in London, and this Arab guy stopped me and we started talking, and he was like "You look like a typical Arab, how come your Arabic is not perfect?" Ya3ni utter humiliation. :alien:

Golly!

Arabs don't speak Arabic?

Is this in Oman? Or are you just talking about expatriates? There are kids wandering around in Oman who don't speak Arabic? Or they speak English mostly? Really?

How many people are like this?

Is this because of the British connection? Or would it be the same in Saudi Arabia, for example, or Yemen?


It is to do with Omani history. Many Omanis immigrated out of the Arabian Peninsula in the 19th century, due to many reasons - Omani Empire extending all the way down to East Africa. The name of the language Swahili, spoken in East Africa, actually comes from the plural of the Arabic word sahel, sawahil -meaning "boundary" or "coast" - many of the words in the language being derived from the Arabic language, due to the Arab influence. These Arab settlers, many of them started to speak in swahili as their native language, rather than Arabic. Later, there was a revolution, when the Arabs where pretty much forced out and had to go back to the their native land - Arabian Peninsula. In 1970, with the coming of the new Sultan, Arabs were called back into Oman, but obviously many of them were not as fluent/or did not know Arabic, due to the above reasons, and did not speak Arabic in their homes. Some would speak swahili, although I see many of them preferred to speak English (being the other language they were fluent in) to their children, I suppose they thought that it would be the most beneficial to their children, rather than swahili.

Anyway that's a short summary when it comes to the Omanis who went to East Africa.

I will speak to my kids in both English and Arabic, and probably Spanish too. I want them to be exposed as much as possible, given that as kids their brains are kind of like sponges and can absorb anything. I don't have one priority: I think both English & Arabic are priorities. And as long as I have the knowledge and fluency in them its my responsiblity to pass it on and give them as much as I can.

through their growing years & before they go to school, I'll only speak to them Arabic & teach them that. But when the time comes & they go to school & start learning English, then I'll help teaching them more English but I'll NOT speak to them at home in English, I will only use Arabic. If my kids wish to speak English in order to be more fluent in speaking, then they should speak with each other, but not the whole time.

Thanks Sofis; very interesting...

Golly!

Arabs don't speak Arabic?

Is this in Oman? Or are you just talking about expatriates? There are kids wandering around in Oman who don't speak Arabic? Or they speak English mostly? Really?

How many people are like this?

Is this because of the British connection? Or would it be the same in Saudi Arabia, for example, or Yemen?



I've heard that Omani's have the best grasp of the English language in the Gulf, but I always thought that it was most concentrated in private schools, which are basically bilingual, and all lessons are taught in English, except for Arabic, Islamic and Social Studies. When I talk to people who have studied in government schools, they speak much better Arabic than most private school students.



BTW, Yemen is the country that never gets mentioned. How come? If you listen to Arabians, every other country comes up...Saudi, Qatar, Kuwait. Never Yemen. Is it like a black hole or something? Or it very poor and culturally different, so the other Arabians don't communicate much with them? Or I'm just missing it?

I barely know anything about Yemen, except that there are a lot of Bedouin tribes there (I don't even know if that's true)... , a high Jewish population and that people are very violent there? OH and loooots of drugs.


Another question: What do you think about talking in front of a third person who doesn't speak a language in a language that only two of you speak? For example, you and a friend speak English and the third person doesn't. Can you speak in English in front of the third one?

I would speak the language that we all understand, but usually if the third person is a British/American teacher, I would instinctively lean towards speaking Arabic.. isn't that mean?! I'm just so used to saying things that they wouldn't wanna hear :p

The mother language is what lear with their first step, being Arab/Muslim Arabic should be the first language child will learn and should be perfect 100% it's your belonging to your religion and country.. Other language can be learn after that as a second language.

Personally, I will make sure 100% that my kids lear Arabic then I will let them learn English.

I speak Arabic at home, with friends, relative ( I migh use some English words that they know it if it doesn't have refernce in Arabic ), I speak English with person can't speak Arabic .. as simple as that !

I barely know anything about Yemen, except that ... a high Jewish population and that people are very violent there? OH and loooots of drugs.

??? jewish??

all i know is that compared to the other gulf countries, it's not as.. civilized?

It is important to me that they speak both languages fluently and I will not favor either one. I want them to be able to enjoy what I enjoy and I can't see that happening if they totaly neglect english. There are so many jordanians over here who barely understand english...they truely don't know or understand the language and it has always been a barier between us cause we can't enjoy the same music or movies or even internet sites...so yes..Arabic and english equally.

??? jewish??

all i know is that compared to the other gulf countries, it's not as.. civilized?

Yeah like Jewish Arab tribes from way back when.. I saw them on tv it's a bit confusing cos they wear arab dress (white dishdasha looking thingy) but they have the long curly hair sideburns, it makes you do a double take...

It is to do with Omani history. Many Omanis immigrated out of the Arabian Peninsula in the 19th century, due to many reasons - Omani Empire extending all the way down to East Africa. The name of the language Swahili, spoken in East Africa, actually comes from the plural of the Arabic word sahel, sawahil -meaning "boundary" or "coast" - many of the words in the language being derived from the Arabic language, due to the Arab influence. These Arab settlers, many of them started to speak in swahili as their native language, rather than Arabic. Later, there was a revolution, when the Arabs where pretty much forced out and had to go back to the their native land - Arabian Peninsula. In 1970, with the coming of the new Sultan, Arabs were called back into Oman, but obviously many of them were not as fluent/or did not know Arabic, due to the above reasons, and did not speak Arabic in their homes. Some would speak swahili, although I see many of them preferred to speak English (being the other language they were fluent in) to their children, I suppose they thought that it would be the most beneficial to their children, rather than swahili.

Anyway that's a short summary when it comes to the Omanis who went to East Africa.


You neglected lawatis and balushi's.

sorry left out ba7arnah:D

You neglected lawatis and balushi's.

I do not know much of their history. There is no point in speaking of what I have no knowledge of.

Oh, Miss Monkey, tell me about lawatis and balushis! :-)

It was nice to hear someone mention Jewish Arabs. Arabs can be Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Yezidi, Mandaean and even other things...

I will speak to my kids in both English and Arabic, and probably Spanish too. I want them to be exposed as much as possible, given that as kids their brains are kind of like sponges and can absorb anything. I don't have one priority: I think both English & Arabic are priorities. And as long as I have the knowledge and fluency in them its my responsiblity to pass it on and give them as much as I can.

My sister being a speach and language thearpist, told me this could not be very easy .. kids end up not fluent in any of those languages and mix up grammers of each language with the other.

Swahili!! Gotta stick to our roots!

My sister being a speach and language thearpist, told me this could not be very easy .. kids end up not fluent in any of those languages and mix up grammers of each language with the other.

Research tells you thats true in the beginning, they start out slower than kids with one language, but in late elementary years or around that time, kids not only start grasp both languages perfectly they are more likely to be better not only in school but at learning a third language. I'm really interested in this whole thing so I've done a lot of reading and inquiring about it.

i speak a mixture of arabic and english and always thought that once i have a child i will most likely speak in both with a little stronger focus on english from my side and arabic from my husband's side.. but i found myself naturally speaking to my child in arabic most of the time with very few references in english.. i would say bye and hi and i love you in english along with small things like give me five and hug and clap.. but everything else is in arabic.. i believe that a child should be raised to know as much languages as possible.. but until the child starts speaking ,, focus should be on one language.. whether its arabic or english .. its up to the parents to decide.. but no language should be neglected and arabic is a must.

I will teach them arabic , no doubt about it ,, i will teach them arabic as their mother language.

in my opinion ,, here in oman ,, th languages tht most omani speak is arabic, english and u can say swahili.
but imagine with me ,, if u tought ur child english ,, when he will speak arabic ,, sum letters might b hard for him to pronounce like (3 , 7 , 6 , etc (arabic in english letter :P )) but if u tought them arabic ,, they will be able to pronounce every single letter in english n swahili too ..
and its a shame for an arabian person to have a weak arabic.
true tht they will mix up with friend who speak arabic ,, but the parent can teach his son english after he finishes teaching him arabic basics. :)

i will let arabic be the priority of languages then maybe english but i really want them to be fluent to both



ya scarhead (muhu) if they can speak arabic it will be easy
but i knw a speach therapist tht says tht if u like mix up arabic and english words(like we all do in chattin):D it wil mean tht they r fluent in both languages

Isnt the root for a strong mother tongue language comes from home?!

Research tells you thats true in the beginning, they start out slower than kids with one language, but in late elementary years or around that time, kids not only start grasp both languages perfectly they are more likely to be better not only in school but at learning a third language. I'm really interested in this whole thing so I've done a lot of reading and inquiring about it.

I asked my sister again, and she said it would happen if you dont have consistency with the child. Like if you a parent and you speak to your kid in arabic, speak arabic all the time .. and if the father speaks english to the kid, he should speak english all the time.. this will not confuse the kid .. but if you speak both languages togther, is when the kid starts to get confused.

Yes actually I spoke to a university representative once who happened to also have a major in linguistics and had learned quite a few languages, and she said that every time you learn a language, your ability to learn them increases as well. Like when I told her that I wanted to learn spanish, she said it wouldn't take long because of the languages I already know.

So it doesnt have to be one or the other, kids can learn a lot of languages.
BUT i would still teach them Arabic first :p

I was born and bred in the US but we have always spoke Arabic. But I speak Arabic, English, Malay, Urdu/Hindi and some Farsi and French.

First of all I would like to thank Thug4Life, for bringing up on of the new phenomena’s that is going to affect our society in a short or long term. I have realized this thing not so long ago, and I was shocked.

There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that kids stay at home with housemaid and speak English all the time, and when the parents see their children speaking in English they feel happy and start encouraging them.
Well as most see that there is nothing wrong with encouraging, but parents should also notice that their kids don’t speak good Arabic (in this case).
I know young girl that speaks fluent Tagalog (Philippines language) :o .

As an Omani I am still not worried about this phenomenon, because as Thug4life said it is only in the capital. But I assure you if this will continue to go on it will turn into a challenge between families and they will compete with each other, whose child or kid speaks better English.
The thing that worries me the most is when I see a grownup that can’t write a letter in Arabic, or can’t communicate in the right way because of his broken Arabic :think: . As you come to think of it, it is sad to see that the mother languge is at risk.

BTW I’m not against learning English (or any other languge). English is the language the world communicates with and it is very important, but not to ignore Arabic.

Once I read about a professor of Latin who brought up his kids to speak Latin fluently. (Everybody knows Latin is a dead language, right?)

Anyway, when they got old enough to go to school, they simply stopped speaking Latin! When he would talk to them in Latin, they would refuse to answer!

And I see many kids of immigrants here in America who simply don't learn the language of their parents well because of the pressure of their peers.

^^sad story :(

I'd teach my kids Arabic no doubt about it but i'll also focus on English because it'd be very important for their future :) so i'll try to balance between the 2 languages

when i was a kid, my parents knew how important English is so they mostly spoke English with me..then my grandmother(may she rest in peace) got really mad coz she couldn't communicate with me :p lo0ol i didn't speak Arabic
so then they started focussing on improving my Arabic
so basicly i was good in both languages :D

arabic comes first..no matter what..it's our mother tongue let alone our Quran's language..

i wouldn't care if my kids can't spill out a word in english as long as thier arabic is perfect..i know that nowadays english is a NEED!! but to me..my language is part of who i am..and since i am an arab arabic is a part of me..i watched my youngest cousins grow up with both strong languages..they speak arabic at home and english at school..and they got them both perfectly...

i personally learned English by myself coz school english sucks and no one speaks english with me at home..so i decided to learn it by myself :angel:

(i guess my parents thought that the english teacher must be Talented) :hehe:

Some how I feel that if some one can master the arabic language most of world wide languages specially english can be learnd witha better pronounciation and accent!>

Arabic ofcourse, they could learn English in school like I did.

Arabic ofcourse, they could learn English in school like I did.
is today;s English Subject taught in school strong enough?>:os

In private schools they are but they're nowhere near strong enough in government schools... The government documents from the Ministry of Education have SPELLING ERRORS on them... they're not setting good enough examples!!

I want my children to learn Spanish first.. Seriously.

How come spanish?

(I looove it, but why that one specifically?!)

My kids will learn Latin. In fact, my son's already starting...

Wish I could learn Japanese!

I am sick and tired of seeing girls talking to each other in English instead of Arabic. It's so annoying..you have ur own language to be proud of!

I only speak English to who does not speak Arabic, or faces difficulty with speaking Arabic..like many girls!

I want my kids to learn both languages and be fluent in both languages. Then they will learn another language: Italian :D

In private schools they are but they're nowhere near strong enough in government schools... The government documents from the Ministry of Education have SPELLING ERRORS on them... they're not setting good enough examples!!
and I thought they improved !!!!:bored::bored:

eeerr I don't know what it was like before it improved, but you can be sure that the standard needs to go up if they want to have a functional knowledge of the language!

i would love my childs to be strong in both arabic and english ....cos they need the arabic first to deal with the life stuffs in a country like oman ...
but also i hope them to be strong in english cos as everybody knows that its the world language and everyday the people need it in the time we live it ...


also i wish them to learn spanish cos i want myself to speak it but i've not started ..loooooooooool

Ya in private schools Thug4life,

I'll learn Italian and teach them that too :p

I personally think, I want my children to know more English than arabic like me. I was raised like that and I actually enjoy it. Yes, I did take arabic school, but that wasn't enough for me. Right now, I can't read a lot of arabic, I can't write, and also, my arabic is like broken when I speak. But, I still enjoy it. I do want my children learning arabic and actually speaking it better than I. But, I also, want them to know English to be their first language and arabic to be their second. But, you see, they are going to be reading, writing, and speaking arabic better than I, god willing.

Well, that's what I want, and think for now.

Thanks.

I personally think, I want my children to know more English than arabic like me. I was raised like that and I actually enjoy it. Yes, I did take arabic school, but that wasn't enough for me. Right now, I can't read a lot of arabic, I can't write, and also, my arabic is like broken when I speak. But, I still enjoy it. I do want my children learning arabic and actually speaking it better than I. But, I also, want them to know English to be their first language and arabic to be their second. But, you see, they are going to be reading, writing, and speaking arabic better than I, god willing.

Well, that's what I want, and think for now.

Thanks.
as long as they dont forget or Ignore their true Root Mother tongue language..
I find this fine!
:rolleyes:

Well, you should find it 'fine,' because, that's what I think and want, and no one can change that :P.. Don't worry, the arabic language, is a good and an interesting language.

(Don't take anything offensive, I like to joke around).

It has been shown by academics that if someone speaks more than one language then they find it easier to pick up other languages - something to do with the way the brain stores words and concepts - so

Of course, make your children bilingual

I think it's important to speak Arabic (well that is if you are an arab or if you are living in an arab country)...however I think it is necessary to speak english to your children from a very young age...this allows them to be comfortable with speaking english....

It will prove to be one of the best things you could impart unto them...(i.e: in terms of education...job opportunities etc)...

Most of you here I'm sure...are effectively bilingual....so whats the issue? Infact..I know alot of people who are effectively trilingual...

ok i didn't read all the post..but I scanned through them and caught some words like "identity crisis" ..

mmm I think ...language does play a part in forming identity...but if youre a smart parent that wants both arabic and english for your kids (in the same light as maintaining traditional ideas as well as encouraging positive western perspectives)...just enforce it!

"fool, you call me baba and not daddy or I'll whack you with this kondara"

English & Arabic .... most 2 important languages..... in Oman @ least.

arabic
swahili
english

I didnt speak arabic until I was like 6, all English. I'll do the same with my kids but I wont teach them Arabic until they're at least 10.

I didnt speak arabic until I was like 6, all English. I'll do the same with my kids but I wont teach them Arabic until they're at least 10.
may I know why?:mmhmm:

Eek!! Till they're ten?? Believe me it's gonna be very harsh on them! They would not grasp the language as well as if they learned it at an earlier age, especially one as difficult as arabic..

It is good to teach them both Arabic & English at the same time :)

But I think at these days u have to speak swahili in Oman:o

How come spanish?

(I looove it, but why that one specifically?!)

He is half spanish... mother's side.

Both English and Arabic are important thus, i will teach them both of the languages! I will speak to them in Arabic at home maybe put abitaa english here n there. I would love ma children to go to a bilangual school the way i did in that case they will learn english in school.

I'd make sure they know both languages very well! Just like myself!