Aliens Quote by Hassan Blasim
“All the children in the world, when they go to school, have the right to study in their mother tongue. But we go to school and run into literary Arabic as children. It sounds like a foreign language. The words for "house" or "table" or "lamp" are not the same as the words we use at home, and most of the other words are alien to children at school. Classical Arabic is one of the prisons of the Arab world.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Interview on language policy, Arab world, 2020
Education should be delivered in children’s native language; imposing a foreign literary form hinders learning and cultural identity.
In simple terms: Children learn best in their mother tongue; using a foreign literary language blocks understanding.
Key Takeaway
Advocate mother‑tongue education and curriculum reform.
Themes
education
language rights
culture
identity
policy
Mood
concerned
hopeful
Type
political
educational
When to use this quote
- schools
- curriculum design
- teacher training
- policy advocacy
Key Concepts
linguistic imperialism
cultural preservation
cognitive development
Questions to Reflect On
- How does language affect learning outcomes?
- What steps can protect cultural identity while modernizing education?
A Different Perspective
Changing language policy faces political resistance and entrenched elite preferences.
![“One may guess that the commissioning of this work [a logical textbook and translation into Arabic of Aristotle and Porphyry] must have come from a wish to have in Arabic what students were reading in the Christian schools as part of their general education,28 and that somehow this wish was related…” quote by Dimitri Gutas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4fb/dimitri-gutas-30388_education_one-may-guess-that-the-commissioning-of_2824131.jpg)
