The Newspaper Ad about Language

My job requires that I complement the fonts to the layout of the printed materials that I design. My daily acquaintance with typography has led me to appreciate the Arabic fonts. It has many variations, just like its English counterpart, and I especially like the distortion and the arrangement that can be done with the letters. You can stretch the letters for as far as you like, and they never lose their form and meaning.

I don’t read nor write Arabic. I just copy and paste what my Arab officemates give to me. But if I were to choose, I would’ve learned to read, write and speak Arabic. It is clearly an asset to my profession. But since we came here late, I couldn’t learn it anymore.

Below are some stores with beautiful Arabic fonts. I will share with you more on my next posts as I stroll along the streets of this beautiful city.

And speaking of language, I came across this newspaper ad last week, got curious about it, and asked my officemate what it meant. The ad said Saudis love their beautiful language. And the Ministry of Commerce and Industry which placed the ad, requires that all commercial forms such as quotations, billings, checks, receipts, etc. use Arabic as its primary language.

And that ad made me contemplate on my kids’ Filipino language proficiency. Gabby and Sunday just finished their summative exams for the month and most of their mistakes were in Filipino. Would you believe my kids don't even know duyan (cradle or hammock)? This ad was an eye-opener for me. If Saudis love their language, so should we. And so just after those exams, I began teaching Gabby and Sunday not-often heard Filipino words such as kabuluhan (meaning or worth), tampisaw (wade in water) or pulong (meeting).

I hope it's not too late.

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