Help a Gazan improve their English
Volunteer for Gaza? We need conversational English speakers.
Held reduce a Gazan’s isolation, learn a few Arabic words and do what you do best- speak English with them. We use Zoom, WhatsAp and Messenger to give Gazans free 1-1 video sessions in improving conversational English. If you can give just 30 minutes a week for six weeks, please email us at info@twingaza.com. The aim is to help Gazans earn money online- doing translation, website design, graphics- in fact anything that can be done on the internet- even your accounts. Sometimes we do group sessions too- here is a picture of one of our volunteers with a youth group in Gaza, along with a video clip from a class:
Here are two girls practising English on a day out that we funded to the Gaza Zoo; we also paid for tee-shirts and a trip to the beach:
Pay a Gazan to help you learn Arabic
Arabic is spoken by around 422 million people, making it one of the five most-spoken languages in the world. Everywhere from Morocco to Oman you will find Muslims and others who will approach you in a far more positive way if you communicate with them in their native tongue.
And of course, Arabic, is the language of Palestine. For the next few years, it will be more important than ever to speak the language of the oppressed and here is a way to learn it that will help Gazans too.
Local dialects vary ( in Morocco, two is “juge” and in Palestine it is “itnine”) but most of the words are the same- Arabic is all based on the Koran, after all, so every Muslim, even to as far as Bangla Desh, knows some Arabic). The Palestinian Arabic is closer to Koranic Arabic than lands more distant from Mecca. And of course, Palestine holds the Al Aqsa Mosque in Al Quds, (or Jerusalem), the third most holy place in Islam (pictured on the book cover, below).
The book with CD is £50 from Café Palestina in London or from the Edina-Gaza Twinning Association. The conversation classes are with communication experts and graphic designers Ali Awni and Rozan Khazendar, who both live in Gaza City and speak good English.
Classes are £20/hr, on the free applications WhatsAp, Messenger or Zoom– sessions are 1-1, by arrangement, as often as you like. Zoom sessions are free up to 40 minutes, so if you wanted to use Zoom, you could do two 30-minute sessions, one after the other.
Pay Ali and Rozan direct using Western Union or Shift or via the Edina-Gaza Twinning Association.
If you want to learn more, please email info@twingaza.com
If you are interested in commissioning graphics, videos etc, take a look at Ali’s portfolio at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1pAmEK5_xCbeZ_sTT21gWtez–ez5vlkD?usp=drive_link