@emirateslitfest EMIRATES AIRLINE FESTIVAL OF LITERATURE AND COSTA COFFEE ARABIC COURSE CONCLUDES

Emirates Airline Festival of Literature held a ceremony to award participants at the recently concluded Arabic course for non-native speakers. The nine-week course was held as part of the LitFest and Costa Coffee Open Door Programme, the LitFest’s year-round series of events.

The Arabic course was conducted by specialized Arabic tutors from Scriptor Translation Services, who have extensive experience teaching Arabic using the communicative functional approach.

“This course has been an excellent introduction to Arabic and we have covered so much ground. I would have no hesitation in recommending this class to anyone who wishes to be introduced to the Arabic language,” said Simon Putt, one of the participants of the course.

The Beginners’ Arabic course will be held again from January 12 at the World Trade Club from 7pm-9pm. Taster sessions for the course will be held on December 16 and January 8.

A pre-intermediate course will also be held for people with a basic written and spoken knowledge of Arabic and will start on January 12 from 10am-12pm.

The LitFest had another successful venture in the first Arabic Children’s Reading Group. The group, which is open exclusively to children between 9 and 12 years of age, will be a monthly event held at Costa Coffee outlets. Manal Al Ghdani’s “Obar: The Secret Tunnels” was the first book to be reviewed by the group.

The Open Door Programme is held during the winter months in the Festival’s permanent home at Dar Al Adaab in the Al Fahidi Historic Area. The picturesque heritage area is a perfect setting for the myriad events that make up the Open Door Programme.

Costa Coffee came on board as sponsors of the Open Door Programme in early June to realize their goal of promoting children’s education. Costa will also be sponsoring the Children’s Workshops at the 2014 Festival.

The Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2014 will take place in Dubai next year from 4 to 8 March under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President & Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and in partnership with Emirates and the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated Authority for culture, arts, and heritage. For more details of the Festival please visit www.emirateslitfest.com.