Responding to the growing diversity in South Portland, as well as to growing demand for instruction in less traditional foreign languages, the city’s adult education program is offering a course in beginning Arabic this fall.

It will be the third year South Portland Adult Ed has offered the class, which is taught by Gorham resident Mohamed Kebdani, an immigrant from Morocco whose first language was actually French.

David Brenner, the director of adult education in South Portland, called Arabic “a rich language” and said the two foreign languages that seem to attract the most students are Arabic and Spanish.

He added that Kebdani’s “energy level and passion for languages is phenomenal. So we hired him to teach.”

Brenner first met Kebdani three years ago, when he signed up for South Portland’s general equivalency diploma, or GED, program, and said that in addition to French and Arabic, Kebdani is also fluent in English and Spanish.

Kebdani works as a family independence specialist for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

In addition to teaching in the South Portland Adult Ed program, he also teaches adult education classes in Portland.

He was born and raised in Morocco, although his family is originally from Algeria, which they fled in 1975 due to the political upheaval plaguing the country.

Kebdani said his own father never learned Arabic, and only spoke French, so “I grew up in a Francophone family.”

Kebdani speaks both the darija Maghrebiya dialect, which is native to Morocco, and Tifinagh or Amazigh, which is an Arabic dialect that’s native to several North African peoples.

In primary school, Kebdani was taught in both French and Arabic and said that children continue with those two languages until they reach secondary school, where they are required to add a third language – either English, Spanish or German.

Kebdani moved to the United States in 2008.

“I probably knew a couple hundred words in English and could barely compose a sentence,” he said.

He started taking English as a Second Language classes with the Portland Adult Ed program but he did not like being “treated like a child” and learning from texts written specifically for young children.

However, because learning English was important to him, Kebdani worked with friends, colleagues and his ex-wife to learn the language.

It was in 2012 that he first began taking GED classes in South Portland, where he lived at the time. He enjoyed it so much that he took all the required courses and earned his GED.

His Arabic class is focused on teaching modern standard Arabic and helping students to speak, read and write in the language.

“In my classes, students are introduced to the Arabic language and will gain a clear knowledge and understanding of important facets of the language, such as the Arabic alphabet, pronunciation of Arabic words, the use of verbs and nouns and how to read and write simple sentences,” he said.

Kebdani added, “We also discuss some historical events, geography and even delicious Arab cuisine. Learning the words is not enough. Any language (should) come with piles and piles of culture.

“I deeply believe that it’s very important for people to open up to other cultures. And I believe it’s not that hard. With the technology that we have today it’s easy to look up history or traditions or read a book about it.”

In addition, Kebdani said, “The main thing to remember is that everyone, no matter what their cultural background, has different opinions, habits and ways of life. The quicker we accept that everyone is different, the easier it becomes to understand and embrace cultural differences.”

Mohamed Kebdani, who lives in Gorham, teaches beginning Arabic for the South Portland Adult Education program.Courtesy photo

Copy the Story Link