Arabic language school helping preserve culture for Saskatoon families

Enrolment at an Arabic school in Saskatoon is growing as families look to preserve their culture and share the language with their children.

Naqaa Abba, who runs the Alif Ba Language School of Saskatoon, said the focus is speaking, reading, writing and listening, mostly for children who have grown up in the city.

There were about a dozen students enrolled at the school when it first opened in September. Now, enrolment has quadrupled, with more students trickling in as the year goes on.

Students range in age from three to 15.

All of the teachers are volunteers from the community. 

Abba said some of the new students are from Syria and may have had their education interrupted for a number of years. She said they understand colloquial language, "but they cannot read or write modern, standard Arabic, which is what we are focussing on here."

Some of Abba's students aren't Arab, but she said their parents still want the kids to learn Arabic because it is the language of the Qur'an.

"If you lose that language, then you start losing many facets of your culture," she said.​

While some of the students aren't thrilled to give up their Sundays to school, Abba said many are excited to learn.

She expects enrolment to grow even more in the coming months.