As a way to teach students the fundamentals of the Arabic language, juniors Saeed Haddad and Abdul Hindi founded a new club at Athens, known as the Arabic Language Club.

            “The main reason Saeed and I wanted to start the club was that many of our friends who were not familiar with the Arabic language would always ask about different Arabic words and how to say them,” said Hindi. “Saeed and I thought that we should start the club to let people become more familiar with the language.”

            Arabic has over 225 million speakers worldwide, and it has been a literary language for over 1,500 years. The majority of people who speak it are Muslim, as it is the liturgical language of Islam. A member of the Semitic language family which is made up of languages mainly spoken in the Middle East, the history of the language goes back thousands of years. It is the official language of over 20 countries. Today it is estimated that there are about 3 million Arab Americans living in the United States.

            “Because I am Arabic and since I live in America, I thought I could get down to my Arabic roots,” said Muhammad Samara, freshman.

            The club focuses on teaching students the basics of the Arabic language. In a recent meeting, Omar Kineo, sophomore and vice president of the club, taught students few letters of the Arabic alphabet and basic word structure. Though there are many different dialects of Arabic, the club focuses on mainly teaching a very general form.

            “It is a place for interested and curious students who are surrounded by Arabic speaking students to learn a little about the language and speak it,” said Hindi. “I think this club is very important because it is a new idea and will hopefully produce positive results.”

            One of the goals which the club was founded upon is the possibility of having enough interest in the Arabic language to possibly add an Arabic Language course to the Athens’ curriculum. However, for now the officers of the club work to teach the fundamentals of the language.

            “There is no Arabic Language course, so we are the only outlet for interested students,” said Hindi. “We are hoping that later on an Arabic Language course is introduced with the help of the club.”

            Officers of the club hope to have a structured environment where students can learn something new without the feeling of being in an actual class. They hope for the club to be serious but enjoyable at the same time.

            “Arabic is a beautiful language and more people need to know about it,” said Samara. “We want to bring out the goodness of Arabic.”

            The club is just now getting started, with only a few weeks left in the school year, so the main focus for it right now is to get organized and gather members.

            “We are planning on continuing the club next year and hopefully after my class graduates the younger members will keep the club alive,” said Hindi. “We started the club pretty late, but we are just trying to advertise and establish the club.”

            The Arabic Language Club meets every Thursday during “A” lunch in room 1708. Students and teachers are welcome to join.