I was thrilled to participate in the symposium on Arabic Language Learning in Europe: Realities of Policy & Practice, which took place in Brussels on May 8-9. As a language enthusiast, I have always been interested in the importance of language learning in education policies. I believe that the recognition of Arabic as the fifth most spoken language in the world is a significant development that warrants attention from language educators and policymakers.
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I am thrilled to share that I have been invited to be a special guest at the 14th edition of Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF23) in the United Arab Emirates. On behalf of Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) and its chairman Mr. Ahmad Al Ameri, I was extended an invitation to participate in the festival that is scheduled to take place from May 03 to 14, 2023.
As an author, educator, and an advocate for bilingual education, I am very excited to share my work and knowledge with the festival attendees. I have been asked to be part of a distinct discussion titled ‘The importance of raising a trilingual generation: Children with three languages.’ I am thrilled to share my expertise in this area and hope to benefit the thousands of readers and visitors who attend the festival every year.
Continue reading“Dad, why did you lose your tongue?” The question was asked by the five-year-old daughter of Le Monde journalist Nabil Wakim, born in Lebanon and relocated in France at around the same age. Why did Nabil Wakim lose his mother tongue? And why do many personalities in France, like Najat Vallaud-Belkacem and Myriam El Khomri, two former government ministers, or the singer Camélia Jordana, the journalist Nassira El Moaddem and many others, carry this contradiction in them? Namely: having spoken the Arabic language at a younger age before losing it. Worse, finding yourself almost unable to relearn it later. Here is the recording of an interview I recently had with author Nabil Wakim, as part of French Morning’s 2020 Bilingual Fair, and a discussion that I further develop in this blog post.
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I was fortunate to be a guest of Sharjah Book Authority during the 2019 Sharjah International Book Fair in the UAE. This was my first time participating in the fair which welcomed over 2 million visitors from the Gulf region and over 60 countries. I took part in a discussion panel debating bilingualism and what the future of diverse bilingual education and communities hold. I also launched the Arabic version of my book, The Bilingual Revolution, thanks to a partnership with Austin Macauley Publishers. Overall, this has been a unique experience which I will never forget.
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I am grateful to Austin Macauley Publishers for the release of my book, The Bilingual Revolution, in the Arabic language: الثورة ثنائية اللغة
I have written The Bilingual Revolution to help families and educators create and develop dual-language programs in their schools. Because I am committed to promoting the teaching of Arabic in schools in the United States, France, and other countries I have featured New York’s Arabic dual-language programs in my book and in articles like this one which was published by The Conversation. The case study that I wrote, Overcoming Prejudice: The City’s Arabic dual-language programs, is available on The Bilingual Revolution’s official webpage at CALEC.org. Through my advocacy, I was able to encourage my book’s many translations and give numerous presentations to encourage families to replicate the success stories of dual-language schools such as PS30’s Arabic dual-language program. I just wish there would be more of these programs around the world as they can truly build bridges between cultures, and foster mutual understanding and respect.
My thanks go to Mariam Moustafa and Majd Sarah for translating this book, Raymond Verdaguer for his powerful artwork, Jade Robertson and her team at Austin Macauley, and Seth and Sylvie Russo for their guidance.
I am thrilled to take part in the upcoming Sharjah International Book Fair where I will share the floor with an impressive list of participating authors, poets, bloggers, movie stars and award-winning musicians, including Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, America’s most-loved host, Steve Harvey, Nobel Prize-winning Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, Mark Manson, New York Times bestselling author, Elisabetta Dami, a bestselling children’s author from Italy whose Geronimo Stilton series that my daughters love, and many more authors according to Gulf Today: Over 60 luminaries to topline Sharjah book fair.
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P.S./I.S. 30 Mary White Ovington School in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn hosts New York City’s only Arabic dual-language program. From pre-K to 5th grade, and soon 8th grade, it is always a joy to see the children flourish in two languages. After several months of extensive collaboration and planning, the Arabic dual-language program at P.S./I.S.30 opened its doors in September 2013. The dual-language curriculum was designed as a split day, where morning classes are taught in Arabic and afternoon classes in English, or vice versa.
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I am thrilled to keynote during DC’s upcoming Multilingual Education Fair on January 26. Co-sponsored by the key education institutions of the District, the fair features 100 exhibitors covering 12 languages to allow you to explore and deepen your linguistic and cultural skills, and learn about careers where language skills are crucial.
The Fair will be located on the Gallaudet University campus at the I. King Jordan Student Academic Center (800 Florida Ave NE, Washington DC 20002).
I was thrilled to deliver the keynote speech during the STARTALK Fall Conference in Houston, Texas which was held on October 19 and 20, 2018, at the Royal Sonesta Houston Galleria Hotel. The STARTALK Fall 2018 Conference focused on sharing practices, innovative strategies, effective learning tools and resources, and insights uncovered by reflection practices that were experienced in various STARTALK programs.
STARTALK is a federal grant program funded by the National Security Agency and administered by the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland. STARTALK grants fund summer world language learning programs as well as professional development programs for world language teachers. STARTALK grants support programs for students and teachers of eleven critical need languages: Arabic, Chinese, Dari, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu.
Through these programs, the STARTALK program seeks to achieve three goals:
– Increase the number of students enrolled in the study of critical languages
– Increase the number of highly effective critical-language teachers in the U.S.
– Increase the number of highly effective materials and curricula available to teachers and students of critical-need languages
My speech focused on the Bilingual Revolution and how parents and linguistic communities can play a role in creating multilingual programs in schools. After the presentation I met many interesting people who were willing to translate my book in Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Portuguese, Turkish and more.
Cet article, extrait de La Révolution bilingue : le futur de l’éducation s’écrit en deux langues, a été repris par The Conversation, un média en ligne d’information et d’analyse de l’actualité indépendant. Continue reading
Fabrice Jaumont 