Viewing the world through dual lenses

Shi Hongming, a pioneer of the Chinese School Dubai's Arabic education, and Noor Ahmed Jaber, his Iraqi teaching partner, have forged an alliance with the mission of bridging China and the Arab world.

When Shi joined the school in 2020 as its sole Arabic teacher, challenges loomed large. Students, mostly from non-Arabic backgrounds, struggled with the language's complexity. "Parents doubted if their kids could ever master it," said Shi, who graduated from Dalian University of Foreign Languages.

Obtaining the proper textbooks to teach Arabic was also an obstacle, he said. In China, they are designed for college students wanting to learn the language, but those in the UAE mainly focus on Arabic culture, not proper pronunciation or basic vocabulary.

For children, it is important to stimulate their interest in Arabic, he said. Different types of methods can be later used to enable them to achieve rapid improvement in a short period of time.

When teaching students, he always combines the excellent Arab culture with Chinese culture. "We compare the Great Wall and Forbidden City to Arab mosques, and link zodiac animals to Arabic vocabulary; it's about using dual lenses to view the world," he said.

In 2021, when tasked with adapting the Chinese folk song Jasmine Flower into a trilingual (Chinese, Arabic and English) anthem for the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, Shi hit a wall as no Arabic lyrics existed. "Translating poetry while preserving rhythm seemed impossible," he said.

After 12 drafts and collaboration with Noor, a native Arabic speaker fluent in Chinese, the song became a viral sensation online, and was even shared by Dubai's royal family.

Their partnership defies cultural divides. While Shi sticks to systematic education, Noor infuses her teaching with warmth.

Noor, who began studying Chinese at the age of 14, believes teaching at the school was her destiny. "My uncle lives in China — I've always felt connected," said the Ningxia University graduate who majored in education.

Teaching Arabic in Chinese is easier for children to understand, than teaching Arabic in English, Noor said.

She and Shi use playful teaching methods that include candy rewards and tongue-twister games. Also, Arabic's guttural sounds are linked to Chinese tones.

"A student with Serbian-German parents shocked her mom by speaking fluent Arabic within three months. That's our proudest moment," she said.

Noor said she used to be quiet, but teaching at the school had made her more lively as "kids need joy to learn".

She plans to enroll her sons at the school. "This place turns students and teachers into bridges. The East and the Arab world meet not as strangers, but as co-authors of tomorrow's lexicon," she said.

Shi, now head of the Arabic department of seven teachers, said: "We're not just teaching a language, we're nurturing global citizens."