São Paulo – Teaching the language of origin to children in Arab families living outside the Middle Eastern and North African countries. Such was Jinanne Tabra’s aim on creating the online bookstore Araboh.com, which now counts on approximately 1,5 titles available, including books, CDs and DVDs. The works have been sold in more than 80 countries, including Brazil.
The idea to create the website arose out of the personal experience of Jinanne, who was born in Scotland to a Scottish mother and an Iraqi father “I have never been passionate about Arabic language because it was too hard to learn,” she says of her childhood. “As a child I used to love to read, but I would read a lot in English, because it was easier for me. I think that if I had had access to the same books in Arabic, I would be a much better speaker now,” she claims.
The 24-year-old businesswoman lived in the United Kingdom until she was 12, when her parents decided to move to Qatar. “They wanted me to grow up in an Arab country,” she explains. The website was created in 2008, six months after Jinanne graduated in the first class in Administration at the Carnegie Mellon University, of the Qatar Foundation. According to her, the institution greatly supported the establishment of her company, which was founded in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
After marrying a Palestinian based in the United States, Jinanne moved to that country. The US are the leading market for books sold by Araboh.com. According to the businesswoman, this is due to the fact that the Arab North American community tries to preserve its culture of origin.
“Those who grew up in the West are more careful in trying to maintain the Arabic language than the families living in the Arab countries themselves, where they are less aware of this need,” says Jinanne.
“The Arabic language is very difficult. The grammar is very complicated,” says the businesswoman of the obstacles to learning the language. “But what is really hard is to try and express oneself in Arabic. You think in English and you try and translate it, but Arabic is not easily translated into from any other language,” she says.
According to Jinanne, many Arab countries make no effort in trying to preserve the language in their children’s upbringing. “Parents believe their children will be more successful if they speak English,” she says. “Especially in the Gulf, Arabic is getting lost a lot, English is much stronger now. If you travel to Dubai, you will see that there is a heavy Westernization process going on,” she says.
However, she also sees, in some places, a reaction in the sense of wanting to retain their original culture. “Countries such as Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have begun to wake up to the need for recognizing the Arabic language,” she claims.
In order to aid in the efforts to promote the language in the Middle East, Jinanne also started to pay visits to schools in Qatar and the Emirates, aside from promoting Arabic festivals to promote it among children. When asked if she has ever considered promoting the language in Brazil as well, she replies: “I think about it a lot, because it is part of my work. I would love to do it around the world, especially outside the Arab countries. Brazil has a very large Arab community and I would like to promote the language there.”
To maintain Araboh.com, Jinanne counts on 13 employees. The price of books averages at US$ 5. According to the businesswoman, the most popular products on the website are DVDs of cartoons produced by the Al Jazeera Children channel. “They are great and are not available in the United States,“ she explains. Jinanne says she does not have any children yet, but that when she has them, she will make a point of having them learn Arabic at home.
To visit the online store go to www.araboh.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum