Natakalum Al-Arabi (We speak Arabic)

Young adults are learning their parents' language, a very difficult one too. DP

By Lauren FitzPatrick, Staff writer

DailySouthtown.com: "There's so many dots," says Deina Musa, groaning, as her friends echo, "the dots," outside their Arabic classroom at Saint Xavier one Friday morning.

"The dots and the lines pretty much tell you what the letter is -- how you say it," explains Musa, a 21-year-old from Oak Lawn, who's finally learning to read and write the language she's grown up speaking with her Jordanian parents.

As if the Arabic script didn't look complicated enough, what with its right-to-left direction, its tiny dots are crucial, she's quickly learned.

Their number and placement changes a letter from a "b" to an "n," a "t" to a "th," an "s" to an "sh." Worst of all are the multiple "s," "d" and "t" sounds.

But a bunch of dots won't stop her or 22 other young 20-somethings from waking up early three days a week to pack into a Saint Xavier classroom where they are learning to read, write, understand and speak Arabic.

"It's my language; it's my culture," Musa said. "I think everybody should know how to read and write in their own ethnicity and culture."

This growing demand among proud immigrant children, future politicians and teachers is fueling the study of Arabic nationwide, and now the Southland has added its own options to the mix. Saint Xavier University in Mount Greenwood heard the call and kicked off its first year of Arabic language instruction, now in its second semester.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.