ALCASA on Sunday 19 March 2017
The children had an enjoyable time painting their fruit clay creations followed by a story telling
session by Zain about a group of animals and a carrot.
We had a few new children and I’m glad to see everyone introduced themselves and learned a little more about each other like whether they liked the owl (بومة) or the rabbit (أرنب)!
I can’t help but be amused as the children acted out verbs like pulling or jumping to help them learn into their memory and to understand. Thanks to Hassan for taking the children through the charade game.
This was followed by a handwriting practice session. It was good to see the children practise writing in Arabic some of the words they learned during the session.
We were all pleased to have watched a short solo play by Moris who acted out the little story crafted by young Salma, a member of the ALCASA Children’s Group. It was a short story about a little bug who ate all the leaves and grew fat!
Then we had an Arabic calligraphy workshop where we welcomed Safaa AlKhazraji, a talented calligrapher from Iraq. He has been here in Australia since 2001. Safaa says that as a young boy he had already found his passion!
Safaa first explained how he uses the reed to draw, and how the tip of the reed is shaped. He explained that each letter must be drawn proportionally according to certain lengths.
He drew the word ‘Al Insaan’ (The Human) and then demonstrated how he transfers the intricate patterns to decorate his work.
Of course, Arabic calligraphy is an art and has a rich history behind it and so there is of course a variety of how they can look like!
We thank Safaa for his time and sharing his passion with us!
Following the workshop, we had our conversation practice with native speakers. We worked on role plays which allowed some learners to practise telling recent past events (Advanced and Intermediate 2 levels). Others practiced self-introduction and describing their families.
A big thank you to the ALCASA volunteer native speakers, for coming along and offering your time and skills to help non-native speakers learn the Arabic language!
Finally I want to say we welcome Arabic speaking families to join the children’s session. We certainly welcome the public to join our cultural workshops. Please check out our Eventbrite page for future workshops http://www.alcasa.eventbrite.com.au/
And of course, if you’re interested to learn the Arabic language, get in touch with us!
Hafiz Abdul Nasir