Shatter the Stereotype

By Erica Kritt, *Students learn Arabic at Common Ground* - Carroll County Times - Westminster, MD, USA
Thursday, July 9, 2009

When writing Arabic, the scribe must be aware of which letters can connect, what form the letters take next to other letters, when to dip the characters below the guiding line and how they all connect to one another.

“It’s challenging,” Carol Zaru said.Zaru, who teaches Arabic at McDaniel College in Westminster, is teaching a weeklong course on the language at Common Ground on the Hill, which is a traditional music and arts foundation whose focal piece is two weeks of classes in summer.

This week, the class has learned day by day to write letters and say certain phrases.“You’re getting there, you’re getting there,” Zaru said to the class after practicing some writing Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier in the class, Zaru went from student to student, asking them questions like, “What is your name?” and “Where are you from?” in Arabic.The students have already learned basics and were able to answer her questions.

“You can have a whole dialogue going; it’s exciting,” Zaru said to the class.

Student Denise Diegel said the language sounds pretty. Samantha Evans, another student, said the language also looks beautiful when written by someone who hadn’t just learned.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, Zaru said there has been an increased curiosity about the Arab world. She said some of her students use it in careers, others to find out more about the language and culture, and others to try to learn the language.

“They love it for the challenge,” she said.

Those taking the Common Ground course also have varied reasons for choosing this class.

Samantha Evans, 15, of Reisters-town, said this class is an introduction for her.“I’d love to get to the point where I could read the Quran,” she said. Samantha said she is a Sufi, which she described as a type of Islam.

Betsy Garrett, of Towson, said she is a fan of languages.“Arabic is such a different language,” she said. Garrett said she would also love to be able to understand some of the Arabic calligraphy at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.

Diegel, of Glyndon, who teaches French and Spanish at Westminster High School, said she would like to become informed enough to start an Arabic program at Westminster.“It’s so needed these days,” she said.

Zaru said she hopes all of her students keep going with the introduction she is giving them to her native tongue.

Born in Jerusalem, Zaru lived most of her life in Palestinian territory and moved to Maryland in 2001. She started teaching at McDaniel in the fall of 2007.

“I’m hoping they will get a good taste for it,” she said. Zaru said she also wants people to become more aware of Islam, that not all people who speak Arabic are Muslims.

“[If people were aware of] the diversity of the Arab world, that would shatter the stereotype,” she said.

Picture: Instructor Carol Zaru demonstrates letters during an Arabic class at Common Ground on the Hill at McDaniel College in Westminster Wednesday. Photo by Dylan Slagle/Staff Photo.