Arabic learning made easier for children with blocks

Tariq Ali

A single alphabet in the Arabic language can be written in four different ways, said Tariq Ali, Managing Director of Word Maker Limited.
"Arabic is the second toughest language in the world, and it is very tough for young children to learn," added Ali.
However, Ali and his team of researchers at the Word Maker Ltd in Scotland have made reading and writing of Arabic a breeze for small children.
Word Maker Ltd is a set of cube-shaped building blocks, with all forms of each of the Arabic alphabets printed over it.
Children can link together the blocks to form readable letters. This is, in fact, Word Maker Ltd's second year at the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF).
"The hardest thing for children, while learning Arabic, is to understand that the letter is the same, but the shape keeps changing. This makes it hard for them to understand," said Ali.
"As a standalone letter, each alphabet has one form. and it looks different when it is placed in the beginning, the middle, and the end of the word," he added.
For infants, the toys can be used as counting tools.
"However, as the child grows older, he or she learns to link the different blocks together to form words." The owner of the company insists that there is no other learning resource of this kind in the market.
"There are also small blocks of the tashkeels and the haracats, which can be attached to the short vowels to form full words," Ali said.
The toys are very popular among children, especially since they love playing.
"Children love building and learning. Building blocks are one among the best learning tools for small children. As soon as children start working with the blocks, they start by making their names on it. This makes them familiar with the product," he added.
The learning blocks have also been very popular with parents and school teachers.
Ali said one of the main reasons he decided to venture into the industry is to encourage more children to learn it. "It is such a beautiful language," added Ali.
The company is currently targeting the product in the Middle East market.
"We're trying to sell the product to Europe, UK, and Pan Asian countries as well," he added.
A double block set of the learning tool costs Dh200, and a single learning block set is priced at Dh80.
Other learning tools and e-learning software are also very popular among parents and school children.
Laksiri Elanyake, the District Manager of ELT Leaning Dubai, who was also present at the SIBF, said that learning tools are always popular among parents and school children.
Developers of these education toys and tools said parents don't mind spending extra on children so that they understand concepts.
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

• Sharjah International Book Fair
• Sharjah

Dhanusha Gokulan

dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com