Arabic in Iowa

The New York Times had an article called Bridging Cultures, and Taking Arabic to Iowa in today's paper. This article was forwarded to me by directly by Susie Swartzendruber, who drove the effort for the Arabic program at Kalona Elementary. Thanks Susie!

First of all, I will say that I think it's great that they're teaching Arabic to the kids in Iowa, and I wish that it had worked out better for me to do some collaborative work between my students at the Friends School and the kids in Kalona. (It's not impossible, but it's looking less likely, now that I'm down to just doing after-school programs, and we have an existing cooperative project to do with a school in California).

Language-learning is a great way to learn more about a culture. I think that the diversity of the Arabic-speaking world and the culture are widely misunderstood across the USA, so on that note, kudos to Mid-Prairie* for opening the door for greater understanding and hiring an Iraqi to teach Arabic, even though (and perhaps I should say ESPECIALLY because) there were xenophobic reservations from some quarters.

(After watching the whole Khalil Gibran International Academy debaucle unfold in New York City, it seems like the concerns mentioned in the article were hardly worth mentioning.)

However, I also felt a bit ill at ease with all of the publicity this program is generating.

At first I thought it was the premise: teaching Arabic in rural Iowa--how novel! I get that teaching Arabic in rural, mostly lily-white Iowa may seem a bit incongruous. But by that logic, most foreign languages are a bit out of place.

Then I thought that I was just being overly protective of my origins. How many examples of small-town Iowa do you need to include in order to pound home that, why yes, this seems like a highly unlikely place to learn Arabic? The Amish and the Mennonites! The Rotary Club! Ice-cream socials! I suppose these sorts of things are particularly colorful to a journalist in New York City, but to me, they are just part of where I grew up. It's nice small-town Americana, but really...is this essential to the article?

But what I think it really is that hit me is that the whole idea of teaching Arabic is a novelty, and there is a clear "other-izing" of Arabs and Muslims.

It may be couched in a polite way "Bridging Cultures", but there is something dark about this piece:

the "language of the enemy" comment,

the fixation on the fact that Ms. Al-Attar is *gasp* Muslim who is *gasp* teaching Christians (totally secular language education) and the fear that "Christians are being taught to be Muslims"

the drama of her experience with the regime of Saddam Hussein,

and fact that people can be "reassured" that the grant is funded by the Bush Administration (a National Security Languages Initiative grant, by the way).

It's a shame to me that in an article that purports to be about bridging cultures, there is so much emphasis on differences and fear.

I suppose "Kids take to learning languages like ducks to water and are, in general, more open to new things" or "people from different cultural backgrounds can coexist quite nicely" wouldn't make for a very interesting article.




*I graduated from Mid-Prairie. Kalona is the town right next door to Riverside, where I grew up. Home sweet home.