Language course in neighborhood center Bonn residents learn Arabic on the Brüser Berg
Brüser Berg · Amal Ibrahim gives an Arabic language course in the neighborhood center of Brüser Berg as a thank you for her new life in Germany. Many of her students are active in helping refugees.
“Amal means hope," explains Amal Ibrahim and smiles at the class. In the small room in the neighborhood center of Brüser Berg, ten Bonn residents have gathered, mostly older people, but also a university student. For those who are not familiar with the area, Brüser Berg is part of Bonn-Hardtberg on the eastern rim of Bonn. Amal Ibrahim is there to teach her students Arabic in the next six weeks - for free. It’s her way of saying thank you for the help she received when she made a new start in Germany. "Germany has done a lot for us," she says.
Ibrahim came with her family from Syria via Turkey to Germany more than one and a half years ago. In Aleppo, she had studied Arabic literature at the university and taught the language at a primary school. She and her husband and four children first fled to Turkey before the civil war. One month after the escape, her husband died.
Ibrahim completed an arts handicraft course and learned Turkish. "At the time, I really wanted my kids to go to school and get good grades," she says. Finally, she decided to go to Germany. She lives in Duisdorf with three of her children, and a son works in Turkey for the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (German service provider in the field of international cooperation).
Her students today are primarily people who engage themselves in refugee aid and look after refugee families. "I'm here because there are so many Arab children in the schools now," says a 24-year-old teacher trainee. Another woman says, "I've been married to a Syrian for 50 years and still can not speak Arabic." Another participant is interested in African literature and wants to study the Maghreb. "I attend the classes because I used to learn the language, albeit to a limited extent. I would like to reactivate that," says Lothar Heinrich. The 72-year-old used to work and travel privately in Morocco, Algeria and Iraq. In the neighborhood center on the Brüser Berg, he tutors refugee children.
Formal and informal forms do not exist
"In Arabic, we do not say Du (informal) or Sie (formal)," explains Ibrahim. The first exercise is the alphabet. Ibrahim wrote the latin letter corresponding to every Arabic letter from “A” to “Y”. Some of the letters are difficult to pronounce for German speakers, a little bit like the English "th" which is also hard for many German native speakers to say. While the class participants are already starting jumping to the first letter in the series, Ibrahim reminds them that Arabic is read from from right to left. The participants take turns trying to imitate the foreign sounds. Ibrahim patiently corrects them and indicates the point at the neck where the sound must be made. "Shukran," she says after reading aloud - "thank you."
When she is satisfied with the result, there is the next step for course participants. It involves using simple questions and answers to make introductions. "Ma ismok?" Or for a woman "Ma ismoki?" - what is your name? "Ana ismi ..." the participants answer in turn and introduce themselves. There are questions about origin, age and place of residence. Finally, Ibrahim distributes colorful cards, each with one of the previously learned questions or answers.
In the coming weeks, the participants will meet for one hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays and learn Arabic step by step. Amal Ibrahim herself continues to learn German. Every day she attends an intensive course. Five hours a day, plus three hours for homework. Soon, she hopes, she wants to start with the C1 level and later work as a teacher herself. The hope for a new life in Germany is no longer only in her name.
(Orig. text: Sabrina Bauer / Translation: ck)
