November 6, 2014 – Amman
On Thursday November 6th, fourth year translation students from the School of Languages visited Al Majma Organization( www.majma.org.jo).
This academic field trip is part of their course Translation Studies and Intercultural Communication. In line with GJU’s vision in applying theory to practice, the goal of this trip was to acquaint students with the richness of the Arabic language and some translation fields in which their major is utilized.
The students were welcomed by the organization’s employees and attended a small presentation about the non-profit organization’s mission and achievements. The presentation was given by one of the organization’s researchers. The students were briefed about the importance of preserving, reviving, and unifying the Arabic language.
The main issue that highlighted the visit was the educational system in the Kingdom and its role in preserving and enriching the Arabic language through its curriculums. The organization stresses on the importance of spreading awareness on how the Arabic language is no longer being used efficiently in society by the new generation and how standard Arabic is limited only to the academic field concerned with the language. The researcher also shed light on how the new generation uses its own version of Arabic with Latin letters.
As for the organization’s accomplishments, it publishes its own newsletter twice year. One of the projects it has successfully completed is an Arabisation dictionary conducted by several Jordanian PhD. students who collected everyday colloquial words from different regions in the Kingdom.
The most influential project our students were concerned about was the translation of scientific works. The visit was concluded by a short tour of the organization’s library and a closer look at its numerous publications.