Arabic declared as official language of the UAE

"Arabic has been confirmed as the official language of UAE federal authorities, the government announced on Sunday.

The move has been lauded by commentators who have campaigned to combat the growing use of English in government departments.

Ebtisam Al-Kitbi, professor of political science at UAE University told UAE daily Gulf News the decision would “enhance the presence of Arab speaking people in the labour market and restore the national identity”.

“To my knowledge, there is no nation that allows an invasion of foreign languages in government institutions the way we did in the UAE. The move will correct the imbalance,” she said.

“People [in other countries] use foreign languages, but you will never see them in the workplace other than their national languages. English is widely used in the government in the UAE and this is unacceptable,” she added."

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Speak pidgin?

The language, not the bird. :)

Hey UAE bloggers, I've got a question. Or two. Or three. This is for everyone.

My friend has just moved to the Emirates, enthused about the possibility of using the skills acquired from her Arabic Language Degree. Her use of classical Arabic has made me appreciate how little Arabic I know; about half of the worlds I think of as Arabic are not Arabic at all. Not even close!

After reflecting on the pidgin Arabic that I use, I am curious - what language(s) do you speak here and to whom? Do you switch languages as a sign of respect? How do you communicate? Who else uses pidgin Indo-Anglo-Arabic and how do you use it?