A Palestinian woman living in Italy launched an online Arabic teaching program that has attracted thousands of users from all over the world and earned her the title “phenomenon” in Italian media.
Maha Yacoub, a Palestinian-Italian living in the city of Livorno on the western coast, starting her teaching career with private tutoring then moved to the video sharing website YouTube where she launched the channel "Learn Arabic with Maha."
I can see from the students’ questions how unaware they are of the Arab world. They judge us according to the stereotypes they get from the media
Yacoub uses both English and Italian in her lessons and is hoping to launch her own website in the near future.
Yacoub’s project attracted phenomenal numbers. More than 11,000 students from all over the world are registered on her YouTube channel while almost another million watch her lessons on irregular basis.
The reason for this high turnout, Yacoub explained, is people’s keenness to learn about the Arabic culture and Islam, especially in the light of the rising prejudices in the West.
“I can see from the students’ questions how unaware they are of the Arab world,” she said. “They judge us according to the stereotypes they get from the media.”
Yacoub’s students have an extremely expansive age range since she has seven-year old children as well as 70-plus men and women.
“My students are also from different countries and different religions.”
Changing stereotypes
I get messages from several conservatives who ask me to go back where I came from and tell that they don’t need to learn Arabic
In addition to her interest to promote the Arabic language to non-Arabic speakers, Yacoub tries through her lessons to deliver an objective view of the Arab world and to refute the negative stereotypes that have been linked to the region.
“I deliver what I want to say in a very simple and light manner as if I am teaching children.”
She also uses special occasions to familiarize her students with the teachings of Islam.
“For example, when the holy month of Ramadan started, I talked to them about the concept of fasting and the spirituality which prevails in the Muslim world during that time. They were extremely interested.”
Yacoub did the same thing with Christianity when she visited her family in the village of Kfar Yassif in the Western Galilee during Easter in order to highlight the Christian presence in Palestine.
Yacoub’s project was greeted with enthusiasm on the part of several media outlets in Italy where she was described as a “phenomenon.”
However, despite her success she still faces the same problems of minorities in Europe.
“I get messages from several conservatives who ask me to go back where I came from and tell me that they don’t need to learn Arabic.”
(Translated from the Arabic by Sonia Farid)
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