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

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Yanyan Hong

I come from Egypt,

我來自埃及，

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

也叫做「Umm al-Dunya」， 意思是世界之母。

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

它是個豐裕的國家， 有很多反叛的故事、

stories of civilizational triumph and downfall

殖民勝利和殞落的故事，

and the rich, religious,

以及富裕、宗教、

ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity.

人種、文化，和語言的多樣性。

Growing up in such an environment,

在這樣的環境中長大，

I became a strong believer in the power of storytelling.

讓我非常相信說故事的力量。

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

當我在尋找有什麼媒體 可以用來訴說我的故事時，

I stumbled upon graphic design.

我撞見了平面設計。

I would like to share with you a project

我想和各位分享一個專案計畫，

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

說明平面設計如何 將生命賦予阿拉伯語。

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

但首先，讓我說明為什麼 我想要做這件事。

I believe that graphic design can change the world.

我相信平面設計能夠改變世界。

At least in my very own city of Cairo,

至少在我自己的開羅市，

it helped overthrow two separate dictators.

它協助推翻了兩個不同的獨裁者。

As you can see from those photos,

各位可以從那些照片中看見，

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

用平面設計有非常 強大的力量和潛能，

可以當作促使積極改變的工具。

is undeniably strong.

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

埃及 2011 年的革命， 也是草根設計的革命。

Everyone became a creator.

人人都成了創作者。

People were the real designers

大家是真正的設計師，

and, just overnight,

才過了一晚，

Cairo was flooded with posters,

開羅到處都是照片、

signage, graffiti.

招牌、塗鴨。

Visual communication

視覺溝通

was the medium that spoke far louder than words

所能發出的聲音比話語還大，

when the population of over 90 million voices were suppressed

因為超過九千萬人的聲音被打壓了

for almost 30 years.

接近三十年。

It was precisely this political and social suppression,

正是這種政治和社會打壓，

coupled with decades of colonialism

結合數十年的殖民主義

and miseducation

和錯誤教育，

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

緩緩地侵蝕掉了這個地區 阿拉伯文字的重要性。

All of these countries once used Arabic.

所有這些國家都 曾經用過阿拉伯語。

Now it's just the green and the blue.

現在只剩下綠色和藍色的國家。

To put it simply,

簡單來說，

the Arabic script is dying.

阿拉伯文字漸漸在消失。

In postcolonial Arab countries functioning in an increasingly globalized world,

後殖民的阿拉伯國家， 在一個逐漸全球化的世界中運作，

it is a growing alarm

這是越來越要注意的警兆，

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

提醒我們使用阿拉伯文字 交流的人已經越來越少了。

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

我在義大利攻讀碩士時 注意到自己忽略了阿拉伯文。

I missed looking at the letters,

我沒有去看那些字母，

digesting their meaning.

消化它們的意思。

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

有一天我走進 義大利最大的圖書館之一，

in search of an Arabic book.

去找一本阿拉伯語的書。

I was surprised to find that this is what they had

我很驚訝地發現， 在「阿拉伯／中東書籍」

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

這個類別底下的書是這樣的。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Fear, terrorism and destruction.

恐懼、恐怖主義，和毀滅。

One word: ISIS.

一個詞：伊斯蘭國。

My heart ached

我的心很痛，

that this is how we are portrayed to the world,

世界對我們的觀感就是這樣，

even from a literary perspective.

即使從文字的角度都是如此。

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

我問自己：世界知名的作家，

like Naguib Mahfouz, Khalil Gibran,

像是納吉布馬哈福茲 和哈利勒紀伯倫，

iconic poets like Mutanabbi, Nizar Qabbani?

或是具代表性的詩人，如穆太奈比 和扎爾格巴尼，都怎麼了？

Think about this.

想想這一點。

The cultural products of an entire region of the world,

世界上一整個區域的文化產物，

as rich, as diverse,

雖然很豐富、很多樣化，

have been deemed redundant,

卻被視為是多餘的，

if not ignored altogether.

甚至直接忽視掉。

The cultural products of an entire region of the world

世界上一整個區域的文化產物，

have been barred from imparting any kind of real impact

被阻攔封鎖，因而無法 以任何方式真正影響到

on global media productions and contemporary social discourse.

全球媒體產物以及現代社會論述。

And then I reminded myself of my number one belief:

接著，我想起了我最初所信仰的：

design can change the world.

設計可以改變世界。

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

你只需要讓某人能夠 看一眼你的作品，

feel, connect.

去感受、去連結。

And so I started.

所以，我開始著手了。

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

我想著要如何讓世界 不再把我們視為是邪惡的、

as terrorists of this planet,

地球上的恐怖分子，

and start perceiving us as equals,

開始把我們當作同類、

fellow humans?

人類伙伴？

How can I save and honor the Arabic script

我要如何拯救和發揚阿拉伯文字，

and share it with other people, other cultures?

把它分享給其他人、其他文化？

And then it hit me:

我靈光一現：

What if I combined the two most significant symbols

如果我能夠結合純真性

及阿拉伯身分的兩個 最重要的象徵，會如何？

of innocence and Arab identity?

Maybe then people could resonate.

也許這樣就能讓大家共鳴。

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

有什麼會比樂高 更純潔、純真，且有趣？

It's a universal child's toy.

它是全世界兒童的玩具。

You play with them, you build with them,

你玩樂高，用樂高來建造，

and with them, you imagine endless possibilities.

還可以用樂高來想像無限的可能性。

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

我的「我想到了！」時刻就是

為阿拉伯教育找到 一種雙語的解決方案，

because effective communication and education

因為有效的溝通和教育

is the road to more tolerant communities.

能夠帶來更包容的社區。

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

然而，阿拉伯和拉丁文字 不只代表不同的世界，

but also create technical difficulties for both Eastern and Western communities

也在日常生活中對東方和西方社區

造成技術上的困難。

on a daily basis.

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

阿拉伯語和拉丁文字的 不同之處有好多，

but here are some of the main ones.

以下是一些主要的差異。

Yes, both use upward and downward strokes,

是的，兩者都用 向上和向下的筆劃，

but have completely different baselines.

但它們的基線是完全不同的。

Arabic tends to be more calligraphic

阿拉伯文字比較像是書法，

and connectivity is important to the Arabic language,

在阿拉伯語當中， 連接性是很重要的，

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

大部分的字母必須要接在一起 才能連成一個特定的字詞。

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

它也使用完全不同的 發音和變音符系統。

But most importantly,

但，最重要的，

Arabic has no capital letters.

阿拉伯文字沒有大寫字。

Instead it has four different letter forms:

取而代之，它的文字 有四種不同的形式：

initial, medial, isolated and final.

主格、受格、屬格、切格。

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

我想要把阿拉伯語介紹給 年輕學習者、說外語的人，

but most importantly help refugees integrate to their host societies

但最重要的是要協助難民 融入收容他們的社會，

through creating a bilingual learning system,

而做法是創造一個雙語學習系統，

a two-way flow of communication.

一種雙向流通的溝通。

And I called it "Let's Play."

我稱它為「咱們來玩」。

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

想法很簡單，就是要創造出 一種有趣和吸引人的方法，

Modern Standard Arabic through LEGO.

來透過樂高， 學習現代標準阿拉伯語。

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

這是阿拉伯語的「咱們來玩」。

Every colored bar marks an Arabic letter.

每一種顏色的長條底色 代表一個阿拉伯字母。

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

各位可以看見，這個字母的格位、 發音都能被解釋出來，

and examples of words in function,

還有實際用在字詞中的例子，

in addition to the equivalent in Latin.

以及在拉丁文中的對應字。

Together, they form a fun pocket book

全部合起來就成了 一本有趣的口袋手冊，

with the 29 Arabic letters and the four different forms,

內有 29 個阿拉伯字母 以及四種不同的形式，

plus a 400-word dictionary.

外加四百個字詞的字典。

So this is how the page looks like.

這些是手冊內的頁面。

You have the letter, the transliteration in Latin

你可以找到一個字母、 它的拉丁文翻譯，

and the description underneath.

下面還有描述。

I'll take you through the process.

讓我跟各位說明這個過程。

So first in my tiny studio in Florence,

首先，在我佛羅倫斯的 小工作室中，

I built the letters.

我會建立字母。

I photographed each letter separately,

我把每個字母分別拍照下來，

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

接著我重新潤色每個字母， 選擇正確的顏色背景

and typefaces to use.

以及字體來使用。

Ultimately, I created the full letter set,

最後，我創造出完整的字母集，

which is 29 letters times four different forms.

包含 29 個字母， 乘以四種不同的格位。

That's 116 letters build just in one week.

那就是 116 個字母， 在一週內做出來。

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

我相信那些資訊應該是且能夠是 很好玩的、可攜式的。

This book is the final product,

最終成品就是這本書，

which I would eventually like to publish

我最後會希望能將它出版，

and translate into as many languages in the world,

並翻譯成世界上的許多語言，

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

讓阿拉伯語的教與學變得很好玩、

很容易，且全球都可以取得的資源。

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

有了這本書，我希望能 拯救我的國家的美麗文字。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you.

謝謝你們。

Working on this project was a form of visual meditation,

做這個專案計畫 是一種視覺化的冥想，

like a Sufi dance,

就像蘇菲舞蹈，禱告有更好的地球。

a prayer to a better planet.

One set of building blocks made two languages.

一組積木就做出了兩種語言。

LEGO is just a metaphor.

樂高只是個象徵。

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

因為我們都是 由相同的積木單位所構成的，

is that I can see a future

我可以預見一個未來，

where the barriers between people

在那個未來，人與人之間的障礙

all come tumbling down.

都會不復存在。

So no matter how ugly the world around us gets,

所以，不論我們周遭的 世界變得多醜陋，

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

或有多少本讓人感到沮喪 關於伊斯蘭國、恐怖組織團體的，

and not Isis, the ancient Egyptian goddess,

或是非伊斯蘭國的、 古老埃及女神的

continue to be published,

書籍不斷被出版，

I will keep building one colorful world.

我依然會繼續努力 打造一個充滿彩色的世界。

Shukran, which means "thank you."

Shukran，也就是謝謝的意思。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you. Thank you so much.

謝謝你們，非常感謝。

Thank you.

謝謝你們。