LOC11:36
08:36 GMT
(With photos)
KUWAIT, Jan 20 (KUNA) -- The Babtain Central Library of Arabic Poetry is
gearing up to set up an Arabic Language Center in Eckerd College in Florida,
Board Chairman Abdelaziz Saud Al-Babtain revealed Sunday.
Al-Babtain said the center would offer Arabic Language courses for
different levels of competence and for learners of different age groups. It is
expected to start with an annual 100 graduate, he said.
Discussions had been ongoing between library officials and peers at
American Universities through which a deal was made to found the center in
Florida, he said. He added the initiative was well received by the US side and
the center is to launch soon.
Al-Babtain also announced a new program undergoing planning to teach
American students Arabic, but in Kuwait. The library is ready to receive 20
students between next December 15 and January 15, and the students are of
different majors and there would also be some learners who are employed with
the UN.
This program, he said, would offer a well-rounded cultural experience in
cooperation with the language center in Florida and the ministry of
information.
"The program was weighed to offer a pleasant while educating experience to
best represent the spirit of our true Arab culture and identity," the figure
stressed.
Once a foreigner masters Arabic, he would gain access to Arabic literature
and culture without mediation or translation which often distorts facts and
image and leads to confusion.
The library had last year organized an Arabic language course for 10
students from Missouri in Jordan, and the success of the experience prompted a
consideration for another such activity in Kuwait.(end)
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