Alam Simsim - Language Learning

Language Learning

There is an interesting situation with the language of Alam Simsim, which has to do with early childhood education. The letter and reading segments are taught in Modern Standard Arabic which is the language that all Arabic children will use for reading and writing. However the skits are all in Egyptian Arabic dialect, that used in Egypt for regular interaction. For example, a segment on the letter Sin will show a picture of a car and call it by the Standard Arabic name, Sayara. However, cars that appear in skits will be called by the word 'Arabiya, as they are commonly known in Egypt. In this way, children learn that there are two words for the object depending on the context and therefore are not confused when learning to read Modern Standard Arabic. This is the same way that a bilingual child learns words in different languages at the same time.