How I'm using LEGO to teach Arabic | Ghada Wali

翻译人员: Helene Batt 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

I come from Egypt,

我来自埃及，

which is also called Umm al-Dunya, the Mother of the World.

这里也被称作Umm al-Dunya， 意思是世界之母。

It's a rich country filled with stories of rebellion,

这一富饶的国家 充斥着反抗的故事，

stories of civilizational triumph and downfall

见证着文明的兴衰，

and the rich, religious,

还有着丰富的宗教、

ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity.

民族、文化以及语言多样性。

Growing up in such an environment,

生长在这种环境中，

I became a strong believer in the power of storytelling.

我变得十分相信讲述故事的力量。

As I searched for the medium with which to tell my story,

当我为自己找寻讲述故事的媒介之时，

I stumbled upon graphic design.

偶然发现了平面设计。

I would like to share with you a project

我想和你们分享一个项目，

of how graphic design can bring the Arabic language to life.

即如何运用平面设计 赋予阿拉伯语生命。

But first, let me tell you why I want to do this.

但首先，我想谈谈 为什么我要做这件事。

I believe that graphic design can change the world.

我相信平面设计可以改变世界。

At least in my very own city of Cairo,

至少在我的城市开罗，

it helped overthrow two separate dictators.

它帮助推翻了两任独裁者。

As you can see from those photos,

你可以从这些图片中看到，

the power and potential of graphic design as a tool for positive change

作为正面变革的力量和潜力， 平面设计的作用是巨大的，

is undeniably strong.

这一点毋庸置疑。

Egypt's 2011 revolution was also a grassroots design revolution.

2011年的埃及革命也是 草根设计的革命。

Everyone became a creator.

每个人都变成了创造者。

People were the real designers

人们是真正的设计师，

and, just overnight,

一夜之间，

Cairo was flooded with posters,

整个开罗就遍布了海报，

signage, graffiti.

标牌，涂鸦。

Visual communication

视觉交流

was the medium that spoke far louder than words

成为了比言语还要振聋发聩的媒介，

when the population of over 90 million voices were suppressed

那时，超过九千万的民众

for almost 30 years.

已经被压抑了近三十年。

It was precisely this political and social suppression,

正是这种政治和社会压迫，

coupled with decades of colonialism

以及几十年的殖民历史

and miseducation

和错误教育，

that slowly eroded the significance of the Arabic script in the region.

慢慢削弱了阿拉伯语 在这一地区的重要性。

All of these countries once used Arabic.

所有这些标注了颜色的 国家都曾使用阿拉伯语。

Now it's just the green and the blue.

现在只剩下绿色和蓝色的国家。

To put it simply,

简单来说，

the Arabic script is dying.

阿拉伯语正在消亡。

In postcolonial Arab countries functioning in an increasingly globalized world,

日益全球化的大背景， 为后殖民时期的阿拉伯国家

it is a growing alarm

敲响了警钟，

that less and less people are using the Arabic script to communicate.

使用阿拉伯语进行交流的 人数正在日益减少。

As I was studying my master's in Italy, I noticed myself missing Arabic.

在米兰读硕士的时候， 我发现我开始怀念阿拉伯语。

I missed looking at the letters,

我怀念看着那些字母，

digesting their meaning.

揣摩它们的含义。

So one day, I walked into one of the biggest libraries in Italy

于是有一天，我走进了意大利 最大的一座图书馆，

in search of an Arabic book.

找寻阿拉伯语书籍。

I was surprised to find that this is what they had

我惊讶的发现，这是他们在

under the category of "Arabic/Middle Eastern books."

“阿拉伯/中东书籍”分类下的藏书。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Fear, terrorism and destruction.

恐惧、恐怖主义，以及破坏。

One word: ISIS.

一个词：ISIS。

My heart ached

我不禁心痛，

that this is how we are portrayed to the world,

这就是我们如何被呈献给世界的，

even from a literary perspective.

甚至是从文学的角度。

I asked myself: Whatever happened to the world-renowned writers

我不禁自问：那些闻名世界的作家，

like Naguib Mahfouz, Khalil Gibran,

像是Naguib Mahfouz，Khalil Gibran，

iconic poets like Mutanabbi, Nizar Qabbani?

以及著名诗人，比如Mutanabbi， Nizar Qabbani，他们身上发生了什么？

Think about this.

想想吧。

The cultural products of an entire region of the world,

世界上一整个地区丰富，多样的

as rich, as diverse,

文化产物，

正在被视为文明的冗余，

have been deemed redundant,

if not ignored altogether.

几乎沦落到了被忽视的境地。

The cultural products of an entire region of the world

世界上一整个地区的文化产物

have been barred from imparting any kind of real impact

无法对世界媒体以及 当代社会的走向

on global media productions and contemporary social discourse.

形成任何实质影响。

And then I reminded myself of my number one belief:

然后我回想起我的第一信念：

design can change the world.

设计可以改变世界。

All you need is for someone to catch a glimpse of your work,

只需要让人们看到你的设计，

feel, connect.

感受并建立联系。

And so I started.

所以我开始行动。

I thought about how can I stop the world from seeing us as evil,

我思考着如何才能阻止世界 将我们与恶魔划等号，

as terrorists of this planet,

将我们等同于这个星球上的恐怖分子；

and start perceiving us as equals,

取而代之的是，开始将 我们视为平等的存在，

fellow humans?

视为人类同胞。

How can I save and honor the Arabic script

我怎么才能拯救阿拉伯语，

and share it with other people, other cultures?

并将它分享给其他人，其他文化？

And then it hit me:

然后我想到了：

What if I combined the two most significant symbols

如果我将两个最重要的 纯洁象征以及阿拉伯身份

结合起来会怎么样？

of innocence and Arab identity?

Maybe then people could resonate.

或许那样，人们就会有所共鸣。

What's more pure, innocent and fun as LEGO?

还有什么比乐高更纯洁和有趣呢？

It's a universal child's toy.

这是世界性的儿童玩具。

You play with them, you build with them,

人人都玩乐高，搭乐高，

and with them, you imagine endless possibilities.

有了乐高，就有无限的可能性。

My eureka moment was to find a bilingual solution for Arabic education,

灵光乍现时，我想到要寻找 阿拉伯教学的双语方案，

because effective communication and education

因为有效的沟通和教育

is the road to more tolerant communities.

能够带给我们更加包容的社区。

However, the Arabic and Latin scripts do not only represent different worlds

但是，阿拉伯语以及拉丁语 不仅仅代表了不同的世界，

but also create technical difficulties for both Eastern and Western communities

而且时刻都在为东方和西方的群体

on a daily basis.

设置技术性障碍。

There are so many reasons why Arabic and Latin are different,

为何阿拉伯语和拉丁语系 如此不同，有许多原因，

but here are some of the main ones.

这只是其中主要的一些。

Yes, both use upward and downward strokes,

是的，两者都用了上行和下行的笔锋，

but have completely different baselines.

但有着完全不同的基线。

Arabic tends to be more calligraphic

阿拉伯语更加注重书写，

and connectivity is important to the Arabic language,

连接性对这一语言很重要，

whose letters have to be mostly joined in order to articulate a given word.

字母大都连在一起，以表达某个词语。

It also uses an entirely different system of punctuation and diacritics.

它还使用了一套截然不同的 停顿和变音符号系统。

But most importantly,

但最重要的是，

Arabic has no capital letters.

阿拉伯语没有大写字母。

Instead it has four different letter forms:

它有四种不同的字母形式：

initial, medial, isolated and final.

首字母、中间字母、尾字母和独立字母。

I want to introduce the Arabic language to young learners, foreign speakers,

我想将阿拉伯语介绍给 年轻的学习者和外国人，

but most importantly help refugees integrate to their host societies

但更重要的是，通过构建双语学习系统

through creating a bilingual learning system,

帮助难民融入他们的接收国，

a two-way flow of communication.

即建立一种双向的交流。

And I called it "Let's Play."

我称之为“Let's Play” （“一起玩耍”）。

The idea is to simply create a fun and engaging way of learning

其背后的想法是，通过乐高构建 一种有趣且引人入胜的

Modern Standard Arabic through LEGO.

学习现代标准阿拉伯语的手段。

These are the two words. "Let's Play."

这就是阿拉伯语中的“Let's Play”。

Every colored bar marks an Arabic letter.

每个彩色条都表示一个阿拉伯字母。

As you can see, the letter is explained in form, sound

你可以看到，字母通过形状、声音、

and examples of words in function,

以及在例子中的运用被诠释出来，

in addition to the equivalent in Latin.

还有拉丁语系的翻译。

Together, they form a fun pocket book

这一同组成了一本有趣的口袋书，

with the 29 Arabic letters and the four different forms,

其中包括29个阿拉伯字母 以及它们的四种形式，

plus a 400-word dictionary.

还有包含四百个词语的字典。

So this is how the page looks like.

页面看上去是这样的。

You have the letter, the transliteration in Latin

包含字母， 拉丁语种的翻译，

and the description underneath.

以及下方的解释。

I'll take you through the process.

下面我来解释一下我是怎么做的。

So first in my tiny studio in Florence,

一开始我在佛罗伦萨的小单间里，

I built the letters.

构建了这些字母。

I photographed each letter separately,

我给每个字母单独拍照，

and then I retouched every letter and chose the correct color background

然后给每个字母润色， 并选择合适的背景颜色，

以及将使用的字体。

and typefaces to use.

Ultimately, I created the full letter set,

最终，我完成了一整套字母，

which is 29 letters times four different forms.

即29个字母乘上四种不同的形式。

That's 116 letters build just in one week.

一周之内，我完成了116个字母的设计。

I believe that information should and can be fun, portable.

我相信这种知识应该并且 可以变得有趣，便于携带。

This book is the final product,

这本书就是最后的成品，

which I would eventually like to publish

我希望最终可以出版，

and translate into as many languages in the world,

并可以被翻译成世界上的多种语言，

so that Arabic teaching and learning becomes fun, easy and accessible globally.

这样阿拉伯语教学和学习就可以 在全球范围内变得有趣、简单且无障碍。

With this book, I hope to save my nation's beautiful script.

通过这本书，我希望能够 拯救祖国的美丽文字。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Thank you.

谢谢。

Working on this project was a form of visual meditation,

完成这个项目的过程 是一种视觉冥想，

like a Sufi dance,

就如苏菲舞，

a prayer to a better planet.

是对更好的世界的祈祷。

One set of building blocks made two languages.

一组基石成就了两种语言。

LEGO is just a metaphor.

乐高只是一个象征。

It's because we are all made of the same building unit,

这是因为你我生来本无差异，

is that I can see a future

我能看到这样一个未来，

where the barriers between people

存在于人与人之间的障碍

all come tumbling down.

最终都将倒塌。

So no matter how ugly the world around us gets,

无论我们周围的世界 变得有多么的肮脏，

or how many discouraging books on ISIS, the terrorist group,

或是充斥着令人沮丧的 恐怖组织ISIS相关的书籍，

and not Isis, the ancient Egyptian goddess,

而与埃及女神伊西斯（Isis）有关的传说，

continue to be published,

却无法持续被出版。

I will keep building one colorful world.

我仍会继续构建一个多彩的世界。

Shukran, which means "thank you."

Shukran，意思是“谢谢”。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Thank you. Thank you so much.

谢谢。非常感谢。

Thank you.

谢谢。