Students at the Advanced Learning Academy had the opportunity to choose Arabic Language and Culture as an elective this year.
The new course is taught by Larbi Hachard, a teaching fellow in the Teachers of Critical Languages Program.
ALA is one of only 21 schools across the nation and three in Texas to host a teaching fellow in this year's program, which is sponsored by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
Teachers of English in China, Egypt, Morocco, and Taiwan could apply to teach Arabic or Mandarin in U.S. schools for the one-year fellowship.
Hachard is a middle school teacher of English in Ahfir City, Morocco. At ALA, “Mr. Larbi,” as the students here call him, teaches the Arabic Language and Culture class to grades 4-7 on the Fox Tech campus, and leads weekly cultural activities at the Euclid campus as well.
Teaching Arabic to non-Arabic speakers takes a great deal of preparation, Hachard said. The Arabic alphabet takes three forms, so it is very complicated. Hachard says instead of focusing on the alphabet right away, he follows the natural way that children acquire language.
“In the beginning, we just listen and speak. If they can listen and speak well, I can move to reading and writing. That is the natural order of the skills,” Hachard said. “By the end of the year, students will be able to speak basic Arabic, engage in a short, informal conversation, read and decipher a short Arabic text and write a short text about themselves.”
He teaches three sections of the middle-grades class. While there are not any native speakers in his class, he was impressed that several students came in already able to say some expressions in Arabic.
“Some had some special classes in the summer with Culturingua,” Hachard said. “Others, when they heard they were going to have Arabic classes, went to YouTube and started searching for Arabic expressions, which is really great to me.”
He said he’s proud to be teaching a critical language, with more than 300 million people speaking Arabic worldwide. His students have quickly picked up on conversational phrases, greeting him in the hallways.
“Whenever I meet them or cross them in the stairs, they say ‘marhaba,’ the expression for ‘hello,” Hachard said. “Whenever I’m on duty at lunch and I hear ‘Marhaba!’ it makes me happy. Especially when I am tired or homesick, when I see kids do that it gives me energy.”
He is far from home. Morocco is a six-hour time difference, so he has to plan carefully when he can call home to talk to his wife and mother.
But Texas, he said, has exceeded his expectations. He didn’t get to choose where he was placed, so before he arrived here in August, he expected to find the Texas Moroccans learned about in the movies.
“In Morocco they believe that Texas is distant, that the weather is harsh, it is a desert,” Harchard said. “But once I arrived here, I found that the weather is fine for me. There are green spaces like the River Walk, there are monuments, and what is most important is that the people are very sociable and approachable.”
When he returns to Morocco next summer, he said he looks forward to being an ambassador of Texas. In the meantime, he is an ambassador of Morocco here, filling his lessons at both campuses with cultural knowledge, and bringing cultural artifacts for his students to experience.
“What makes it more enjoyable is when you integrate culture into language,” Hachard said. “Just telling people is not enough. You need to bring them something they can experience. They will never forget that lesson.”
On a recent Friday activity at the Euclid campus, Hachard gave a lesson on Moroccan hospitality, treating the students to a traditional welcome into someone’s home: a plate of dates to eat and milk to drink.
“This is how you promote mutual understanding when people experience your culture,” he said. “They can see it and touch it. They feel a kind of connection. They see what I am talking about is real.”
While Mr. Larbi is teaching his students, this program is designed to also be teaching him, improving his skills as a teacher of English by immersing him in that language as well.
“It is going to help me grow professionally to improve my language because working every day with native people who speak English, it is an opportunity for me to learn how they pronounce some words, how they accent, some expressions they use in certain contexts, expressions I cannot find sometimes in books,” Hachard said. “It is a privilege. This will make me a kind of master teacher because I went to the United States and I taught here.”
Becario ofrece clases de árabe en los campus de ALA
5 de octubre de 2023
Los estudiantes de la Advanced Learning Academy tuvieron la oportunidad de elegir Lengua y Cultura Árabes como asignatura optativa este año.
El nuevo curso lo imparte Larbi Hachard, profesor del Programa de Profesores de Lenguas Críticas.
ALA es una de las 21 escuelas de todo el país y tres de Texas que recibirán a un profesor becario en el programa de este año, patrocinado por la Oficina de Educación y Asuntos Culturales del Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos.
Los profesores de inglés de China, Egipto, Marruecos y Taiwán podrían postularse para enseñar árabe o mandarín en escuelas de Estados Unidos para obtener una beca de un año.
Hachard es profesor de inglés en una escuela secundaria en la ciudad de Ahfir, Marruecos. En ALA, el "Sr. Larbi", como le llaman aquí los estudiantes, imparte la clase de Lengua y Cultura Árabes a estudiantes de 4º a 7º curso en las instalaciones de Fox Tech y dirige también actividades culturales semanales en las instalaciones de Euclid.
Enseñar árabe a personas que no hablan árabe requiere mucha preparación, dijo Hachard. El alfabeto árabe adopta tres formas, por lo que es muy complicado. Hachard dice que en lugar de centrarse en el alfabeto de inmediato, sigue la forma natural en que los niños adquieren el lenguaje.
“Al principio, simplemente escuchamos y hablamos. Si pueden escuchar y hablar bien, puedo pasar a leer y escribir. "Ese es el orden natural de las habilidades", dijo Hachard. "A finales de año, los estudiantes podrán hablar árabe básico, entablar una conversación breve e informal, leer y descifrar un texto breve en árabe y escribir un texto breve sobre ellos mismos".
Enseña tres secciones de la clase de grados medios. Si bien no hay ningún hablante nativo en su clase, le impresionó que varios estudiantes llegaron ya capaces de decir algunas expresiones en árabe.
“Some had some special classes in the summer with Culturingua,” Hachard said. “Others, when they heard they were going to have Arabic classes, went to YouTube and started searching for Arabic expressions, which is really great to me.”
He said he’s proud to be teaching a critical language, with more than 300 million people speaking Arabic worldwide. His students have quickly picked up on conversational phrases, greeting him in the hallways.
“Whenever I meet them or cross them in the stairs, they say ‘marhaba,’ the expression for ‘hello,” Hachard said. “Whenever I’m on duty at lunch and I hear ‘Marhaba!’ it makes me happy. Especially when I am tired or homesick, when I see kids do that it gives me energy.”
He is far from home. Morocco is a six-hour time difference, so he has to plan carefully when he can call home to talk to his wife and mother.
Pero Texas, dijo, ha superado sus expectativas. No pudo elegir dónde lo colocarían, por lo que antes de llegar aquí en agosto, esperaba encontrar a los marroquíes de Texas que conoció en las películas.
"En Marruecos creen que Texas está lejos, que el clima es duro, que es un desierto", dijo Harchard. “Pero una vez que llegué aquí, descubrí que hacía buen tiempo para mí. Hay espacios verdes como el Paseo del Río, hay monumentos y lo más importante es que la gente es muy sociable y cercana”.
Cuando regrese a Marruecos el próximo verano, dijo que espera ser embajador de Texas. Mientras tanto, es embajador de Marruecos aquí, llena sus lecciones en ambos campus con conocimiento cultural y trae artefactos culturales para que sus estudiantes los experimenten.
“Lo que lo hace más divertido es cuando integras la cultura en el idioma”, dijo Hachard. “No basta con decírselo a la gente. Necesitas traerles algo que puedan experimentar. "Ellos nunca olvidarán esa lección".
En una reciente actividad del viernes en el campus de Euclid, Hachard dio una lección sobre la hospitalidad marroquí, invitando a los estudiantes a una tradicional bienvenida a la casa de alguien: un plato de dátiles para comer y leche para beber.
“Así es como se promueve el entendimiento mutuo cuando la gente experimenta su cultura”, dijo. “Pueden verlo y tocarlo. Ellos sienten una especie de conexión. Ellos ven que lo que estoy hablando es real”.
Mientras el Sr. Larbi enseña a sus alumnos, este programa está diseñado para enseñarle también a él, mejorando sus habilidades como profesor de inglés al sumergirlo también en ese idioma.
“Me va a ayudar a crecer profesionalmente para mejorar mi idioma porque trabajar todos los días con personas nativas que hablan inglés, es una oportunidad para mí de aprender cómo pronuncian algunas palabras, cómo acentúan, algunas expresiones que usan en ciertos contextos. , expresiones que a veces no puedo encontrar en los libros”, dijo Hachard. “Es un privilegio. Esto me convertirá en una especie de gran maestro porque fui a Estados Unidos y enseñé aquí”.