Ben Dunbar Visits from DC

Ben Dunbar in the red tie, is the program director of TCLP (Teachers of Critical Lanugages Program) with American Councils for International Education. He, the man who facilitated bringing our exchange teacher Mohamed El Naggar from Egypt, was here today for a site visit. American Councils works closely with the State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. He observed our Arabic classes and met with administration, counselors, and district specialists to promote the Arabic program. We are excited to have him here as Utah is becoming a strong force for Arabic education at the public school level. He meets tomorrow with UFLA administration (Utah Foreign Language Association), Gregg Roberts (World Language Specialist at the Utah State Office of Education), people at the governor's office, and many more.

Arabic Club

Our next Arabic club meeting is Dec 14. We are watching West Bank Story.

Steven Berbeco's Marhaba Curriculum: "Letter Page"

Here is a sample of the "Letter Page" of the Marhaba Curriculum. Teaching this lesson is Marhaba's originator, Steven Berbeco.

KSL News

KSL News anchor Deanie Wimmer highlighted language programs at Provo High School during the Provo-Timpview game tonight. This is Mr. Mohamed El Naggar saying hello in Arabic on camera.

Deaf in Cairo

Check out this Vlog (video blog) of a KFC in Cairo where all the employees are deaf.

http://jehanne.wordpress.com/2008/01/19/my-visit-to-deaf-run-kfc-in-egypt/

Hosting a Jordanian Administrator

Abeer Harazneh, an administrator from Jordan, arrived to begin her 10 day visit to Provo High School and Brigham Young University. She will be staying with administrators from the high school shadowing them during the day. The Arabic department is helping to facilitate a cultural bridge between her Jordanian culture and her stay here in Provo.

She just met an all-star cast who instructed her and took her around BYU, which houses a world-renowned Arabic program and the National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC).

This is now the third program we’ve participated in with American Councils for International Education. This summer teacher, Audrey Bastian, participated in ISLI taking her 6 weeks to Egypt for intensive Arabic emersion. We are now involved with TCLP (Teachers of Critical Languages Program) by hosting an Egyptian teacher for a year, Mohamed El Naggar. This is the Host a Jordanian Administrator program. Our school and much of the valley has caught the spirit of the Middle East. Many are excited to have these visitors come into their classrooms and community meetings. Dr. Kirk Belnap and Dr. Maggie Nassif of the NMELRC have been very supportive and willing to help facilitate these experiences.

Mohamed El Naggar

Mohamed El Naggar is out exchange teacher this year. He is from Mansura, Egypt on assignment with American Councils for International Education and the State Department to help develop our Arabic program and help educate the community about Arabic.