Modern Foreign Languages at
The British School Al Khubairat (BSAK)

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you
talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. - Nelson Mandela

Languages are an essential part of BSAK’s broad and balanced curriculum. Not only
do they provide an opportunity to communicate more effectively with others,
something that will be even more vital in a post-Brexit world, they also help
students to understand what it is to be a global citizen; including the importance of
tolerance and understanding. They explicitly celebrate difference and highlight that
which we all have in common. This is crucial knowledge in today’s world.

There are numerous benefits to learning a language. They are a skill for life and
something students should enjoy and find rewarding. Our objective as a department
is to enable students of all abilities to develop their language skills, equipping them
with the knowledge to communicate in a variety of contexts with confidence. The
Modern Foreign Languages Department boasts excellent results at both GCSE and A
Level. Not only do we offer core languages such as Arabic, French and Spanish, we
have also supported students in Italian, Greek, Russian, Mandarin, German, Welsh
and Dutch examinations.

Arabic is one of the world’s great languages. Spoken by more than 400 million
people, it has been the vehicle of many significant contributions to the development
of science and culture, from the earliest odes of the pre-Islamic poets through to
the cutting-edge research of the philosophers and mathematicians of Islam’s golden
age, to the novels of Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. It is also one of the official
languages of the United Nations and was recently identified as one of the ten most
important languages for the UK’s future.

Building on our unique local heritage, we believe that students should be immersed
in the Arabic language and its culture, therefore we have an ambitious vision that all
our students leave BSAK with an Arabic GCSE and we are committed to striving to
achieve it.

Charlie Davies

Head of MFL