A Moment with
A MOMENT WITH
MOHAMMED BAMATRAF
BY LEISA GRACE WILSON
I
have been living in the United Arab
Emirates for the past eight years
and ever since my arrival, I keep
promising myself to learn Arabic.
Through my work in Education and
working closely with local teachers and
students, I have managed to pick up
a few useful words and phrases here
and there. Undoubtedly being able
to speak, read and write Arabic would
be an asset for me, both personally
and professionally, but for some
reason I have not been able to fit the
Arabic classes into my already packed
schedule. Xblended,
formally
known
as
Arabicollege,
was
founded
by
Mohammed Bamatraf. Mohammed
who was born in Hadramout in
Yemen, pursued a BBA and an MBA in
international business administration
at the University of New Brunswick
in Canada. Even though his studies
were not in languages, he always had
a deep love for Arabic. By combining
his business acumen with his love
for the language, Arabicollege, now
Xblended was born.
Recently I was made aware of a
programme which seeks to help
people like me, to learn the language
at my own convenience and at my own
pace, not only that, the lessons are
taught by native speakers of Arabic
and it is completely on demand and
at my fingertips. The programme, I am
talking about is Xblended. I went along
to meet the CEO of Xblended at his
Dubai offices to find out more about
his ground breaking programme and
how it can benefit students, teachers
and other members of the community
who wish to learn Arabic. In this interview
feature, I introduce
you to the man with
a mission to make
the teaching and
learning of Arabic,
easy, fun and
convenient.
How did you become involved in the
teaching of Arabic?
Studying in Canada, I met several
second and third generation Arabs,
who struggled with learning Arabic
- which is essentially their mother
tongue. I had a similar experience in
Dubai, meeting expats that couldn’t
understand the local language.
I found that the available options
were too expensive, rigid and time-
consuming. That’s what inspired me
to launch Arabicollege. Arabicollege
relies on technology and is flexible, to
suit a variety of schedules, aptitudes,
and lifestyles.
Arabicollege was launched in 2007
with a mission to offer 1 to 1 Arabic
tutorial sessions to students, over
the internet, offering an authentic
educational experience. We recently
changed the name to Xblen