Symbols in human cultures occur in different formats. Language is one of the most distinguished symbols in a culture it differs from culture to culture. Cultures and societies relay mostly on language for immediate communication. Observing my own culture and surroundings I can say that Arabic is the language in my culture and society, but lately English came along and put down strings of importance that made people want to learn and speak it fluently in order to keep pace with the vast development that is going on. With the development of Qatar English language is becoming even more important than before. Importing a large number of expats, contracts that are made with foreign companies, ..etc. made a need of having a language that is international in order to communicate with others.
Having English as a second language in Qatar made people aware of the importance of learning different languages. But some people took it a step further with exaggerating or overdoing it focusing on learning English. Some think that it enhances the social status of the individual, makes them look smarter, or even more accepted in the society or higher classes. That took their focus away from learning Arabic maybe just relaying on it being the mother language thinking that it is enough. That affected this generation the most having them not knowing their language properly and even not the very basics, some even don’t understand or speak Arabic because of the foreign education. For example the alphabets I went and tested a couple of graduates and students by asking them if they know the Arabic alphabet in order. One of them said yes, so I asked if I could test her and I asked her about two letters what comes before the other and those letters look alike so she answered I don’t know your question is too specific. But all who I asked were people who were educated in English and international schools which focus on English leaving the Arabic as a secondary subject. I continued asking them about if they faced any problems with their Arabic language? Most of them answered yes since we are local graphic designers we are expected to design bilingual graphics and we face a lot of problems when it comes to the Arabic part. Those problems I a face my self and during socializing with my extended family sometimes I add English words not realizing that the older generations such as my grandparents don’t understand English. In my opinion English language is breaking a barrier between our culture and other cultures, as well as creating a barrier within our culture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCOP44K3_C4
