View Content #7226
| Contentid | 7226 |
|---|---|
| Content Type | 1 |
| Title | Article: Bridging Cultures, and Taking Arabic to Iowa |
| Body | From http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/education/02education.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin Bridging Cultures, and Taking Arabic to Iowa By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN January 2, 2008 KALONA, Iowa Zahra Al-Attar drove down the two-lane highway from Iowa City to her morning classes here. As she entered Kalona, population 2,200 and change, she rolled past the harness shop and the veterinary clinic. She noticed, too, a horse-drawn buggy on the shoulder, an unexpected cue for memory. When she was growing up in Baghdad nearly 40 years ago, she had ridden a similar cart to school. On occasion, the driver would let her hold the reins. Here and now, the buggies belong to the Amish. And into their part of Iowa, she had come to teach Arabic. Yet when Ms. Al-Attar bounded into a kindergarten early last month, one Muslim in a roomful of Caitlins and Haileys, the walls decorated with paper candy canes for Christmas, she was greeted with the chirping chorus of an Arabic song. Over the next 30 minutes, until the first period ended, Ms. Al-Attar led the class through the Arabic numbers 13 through 19 and the Arabic words for “hand” and “pencil.” Together, they sang an alphabet song, with the letters pegged to familiar objects like a duck, a lemon, the sun. Two hours later, when Ms. Al-Attar took her first break, she said with a touch of rapture, “Every day, I’m like, whoa, how did this happen?” Read the entire article at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/02/education/02education.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin . |
| Source | New York Times |
| Inputdate | 2008-01-13 09:37:46 |
| Lastmodifieddate | 2008-01-13 09:37:46 |
| Expdate | Not set |
| Publishdate | 2008-01-14 00:00:00 |
| Displaydate | Not set |
| Active | 1 |
| Emailed | 1 |
| Isarchived | 1 |
