Are you considering learning Arabic? Or are studying Arabic now and wondering if you should continue? Learning a language requires huge investments of time, money and effort. And Arabic is a tricky language to learn. So what makes this language so special?

Explore a Rich Cultural Tradition

The Arabic speaking world can lay claim to some of the most ancient and impressive civilizations in world history. During the intellectual stagnation of the Dark Ages in Europe, Arabic speaking countries were making huge advances in astronomy, mathematics, architecture and more. Many of the Classics of Greek and Roman intellectualism were saved in the libraries of the Arabic speaking world, not the West.

Additionally, Arabic currently acts as a cultural adhesive holding together many very diverse cultures. As the language of the Koran, it is the common language of the world religion of Islam, and Muslims all over the world learn the language. Which leads to our next reason...

Promote Communication and Understanding

An estimated 200 million people worldwide speak Arabic to some degree, most of those being native speakers. Many of these speakers come from the same region of the Middle East and Northern Africa. And in a time of turmoil like we are in now, and have been for many years, a little cultural understanding will go a long way.

For some time now, Middle Eastern culture has been vilified by the West in the media. And since the other side of the story is often told in Arabic, there's little opportunity for a dialogue. Though it may sound like wishful thinking, it's a reasonable conclusion that improved communication can only lead to an improved relationship between the Western world and the Arabic speaking world.

Advance Your Career

Arabic is identified by the United States government as a language of "Strategic Significance." This is true in all aspects for foreign policy: finance and trade, security, and even domestic relationships with immigrants. This strategic importance is so pronounced that extra financial aid is offered to students of Arabic language.

The opportunities available to professionals speaking Arabic are also significant. Much of the Arabic-speaking world is growing in both population and wealth. Both translators and representatives will be needed to tap into this market. Arabic speakers are also grossly under-represented in law enforcement and military action in Arabic-speaking regions.

With these three reasons to study Arabic, the questions is no longer, "Why should I study Arabic?? The question is, "Why SHOULDN'T I study Arabic?" In the interest of fairness, I will point out a couple reasons why you may not want to study Arabic.

Arabic is very challenging to learn. It is vastly different from English in many ways. The alphabet is different, and includes sounds that don't exist in English. The grammar is different. This is also a very regionally specific language. While Muslims all over the world may study Arabic, they may not be able to communicate in that language. This makes it a very useful language in a very specific way.

For many people, it's a worthwhile pursuit for personal and professional reasons. This means that whether or not you learn Arabic is ultimately up to you, but if you have the opportunity it could be a truly enriching experience.

Daniel C Howard is a language teacher living in Asia. He has over a decade of experience teaching all ages a variety of subjects. For free info and lessons on Arabic, please visit his blog at here.

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