Saudi literature commission hosts seminar in Seoul book fair

The Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission organized a seminar on Sunday titled “The Role of Saudi Arabia in Teaching Arabic in Korea” at the Seoul International Book Fair 2024, where Saudi Arabia was the guest of honor.

The event featured Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Dayel, the cultural attache at the Saudi embassy, who emphasized the profound historical importance of the Arabic language, Saudi Press Agency reported.

Al-Dayel elaborated on Saudi Arabia’s extensive efforts to promote Arabic, highlighting its roots as one of the Semitic languages. He explained that Arabic diversified into several dialects until the revelation of the Quran in Classical Arabic, the dialect of the Quraysh, Tamim, Hawazin, and Al-Azd tribes, which unified the linguistic variations in the Arabian Peninsula.

Al-Dayel underscored Saudi Arabia’s pivotal role in achieving recognition for Arabic as an official global language at the United Nations, one of the six internationally approved languages.

This milestone led to the establishment of World Arabic Language Day, celebrated annually on Dec. 18.

The cultural attaché highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts in organizing seminars both domestically and internationally to promote Arabic learning. He noted the availability of institutes and colleges in Saudi universities for those interested in studying Arabic, as well as scholarships and free study programs to spread the language globally.

Among the most significant initiatives, he mentioned the King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language, which significantly contributes to promoting the language through poetry competitions, an online Arabic dictionary, and the Arabic Hackathon to support technology and artificial intelligence ideas.