About “When you listen to a child” (Arabic version by Dr. Rawya and her children)
This time, “When you listen to a child” was translated into Arabic by Dr. Rawya Jamous, who teaches Arabic at a university. She was introduced to us by Professor Kaoru Yamamoto, a specialist in Arabic literature and Middle Eastern sociocultural theory.
She told us, “Dr. Rawya’s children are also very good at reciting Arabic.”
I thought it would be a good idea while the children are on summer vacation.
So, I went to take film with my husband as soon as August started.
The children are Bailasan , the first grader at elementary school , Rand, the third grader, Yazan, a junior high school student, and Dr. Rawya and her husband are from Aleppo, Syria. Yazan was in Syria for a little while when he was a baby. Bailasan and Rand have never been to Syria. Their parents are carefully teaching their children Arabic so that they can learn it well.
“I think this reading challenge has been very inspiring, especially for Bailasan.” said Dr. Rawya. At the beginning, Bailasan was not a member of the reading group, but at her insistence, she was given a part to do the reading. In the video, you can see her working very hard and smiling.
Dr. Rawya is the organizer of LABINAT PROJECT.
The Labinat Project was established in 2021 in Japan and it aims to:
*Helping the Japanese community get to know the Arabic language and its culture and facilitating communication between Arabs and Japanese.
*Providing Arabic learning materials for young Arab and Japanese learners of Arabic.
We hope that this is an opportunity for you to take an interest in the Arabic language as well.
Why did we make an arabic version?
As everyone in Japan knows, Syria began a civil war in 2011. Dr. Rawya is very saddened that Aleppo is now largely destroyed, and there is no longer any trace of the beautiful historic city.
The year 2011 was the year of the Great East Japan Earthquake in Japan and the birth of this poem ” When you listen to a child ” (poem by Kumiko Hiramaru, read by Toshie Negishi).
And later, on February 6, 2023, there was a very large earthquake near the Syrian border in southeastern Turkey. The current situation added difficult to the hard work residents had been doing.
During our meeting with Toshie and Kumiko, Kumiko made a suggestion.
We want to tell ” When you listen to a child” in a language other than Japanese.
So, we decided to first create an English version and an Arabic version.
We look forward to reading challenges in various languages in the future.
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