Why Mandarin? 

Mandarin is worth Learning for it truly connects our students with Chinese culture and challenge their minds. China has a rich and vibrant culture and learning their language is the key to open the door of its culture for our students. 

Learning Mandarin seems to focus on the booming Chinese economy, particularly in the light of shifting trade relationships post Brexit, an opening up to foreign investment, and the need to give our students relevant skills for the future jobs market. 

Also, Mandarin symbols and characters require a steady hand. The written words are actually iconographic characters rather than letters. Last but not least, it has been proved that Mandarin speakers use both sides of their brains and this certainly keeps brains motoring. 

Why Spanish? 

Spanish is one of the most commonly spoken language in the world; it has great value as it is expected to boost our students’ employment prospects, make them globally recognized, connect them to a highly rich and vibrant culture that would enrich their knowledge, broaden their perspectives of the world and their own selves, and make a strong hold on the social front wherein they can effortlessly communicate with people from different origins but who belong to the same humanity.      

Moreover, for our students, whose mother tongue is Arabic, for most of them, and whose Language of Instruction at Gateway is English, studies indicate that Spanish for English and Arabic speakers is an easy learned language. Also, the Spanish Language has affected and has been affected by both the English and Arabic Languages. Last but not least, Spanish has always been a go-to language to learn due to its practicality and wide reach. It is a phonetic language for the most part as its words are pronounced the way they are spelled.   

German Language: An asset in a rapidly changing world

With around 100 million native speakers, the German language is currently the most widely spoken language in Europe. It is also an increasingly popular foreign language, in particular in the Middle East and South America. At present, millions of non-native speakers worldwide learn German. Accordingly, Gateway International Montessori School, in the Academic Year 2023 -2024, is planning to introduce German as a World Language, besides Spanish and Mandarin, Which will be an option starting in Grade 4. Learning German is a promising investment. It is the second most commonly used scientific language in the world; thus, reflecting Germany’s outstanding role in future-oriented research and innovative development. In fact, it ranks second as the most commonly used scientific language. But

Why German?

Equipping the younger Egyptian generation with foreign language skills enables graduates to find the right answers to global challenges in a rapidly changing world. This is due to the fact that learning German opens up a world of opportunity for students who are looking for the advanced education in an approach that gives them an edge in the international economy. Also, Germany is the world’s largest exporter of chemical products, goods, vehicles, metals, etc. Multinational business opportunities subsist throughout the Eastern European countries and the European Union where German is the second widely spoken language after Russian. Companies like Siemens, Lufthansa, BMW, Bosch and many others need international partners. Apart from the jobs perspective, those who are interested in writing can also be amazed to know that 10 percent of all the books published worldwide are written in German. Germany is also the land of poets and thinkers: Some of the world’s greatest innovators spoke German and created their works of art in German. Goethe, Kafka, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Schumann, Wagner Freud, Nietzsche _ just to name a few. Moreover,German universities offer a top-notch education with zero costs: With German fluency comes free education.Tuition is free in most German universities (even for foreign students)._’German universities like Technical University of Munich, Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität München or Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat Heidelberg are all in world’s top 100 Universities.

Is German an easy Language to learn as it is claimed? Here are four reasons why it is easier than it is thought.

• The pronunciations are predictable
• Only one present tense
• Compound words are commonly used
• Easy to identify German nouns

Why Arabic then is of great importance at Gateway? 

Arabic is the mother tongue of most of our students at Gateway, besides it is the official language of Egypt , where gateway is located and where our students live, grow , learn and are shaped. 

The mother tongue meaning for a child involves more than just language and includes the child’s personal, social and cultural identity. The choice of words and expression carry different meaning across cultures and where in one language asking direct questions is considered intrusive, in another it is inquisitive. This means that the language chosen when speaking is thought about before it is delivered.

Language and mother tongue also play a huge role in the development of personal, social and cultural identity. Children with a strong foundation in their first language often display a deeper understanding of themselves and their place within society, along with an increased sense of wellbeing and confidence. Naturally, this flows down into every aspect of their lives, including their academic achievement.

It’s also well known that a strong mother tongue foundation equips children with the skills they need to learn additional languages, allowing them to transfer their understanding of the structure of language to several new languages. The intuitive understanding of grammar that develops when children learn their first language can easily be passed on to other languages.

Since Gateway is a multilingual school where many World languages are taught and practiced, we focus our resources on establishing a strong mother tongue program. We are determined to reflect through our educational system to our students and their parents the importance of the mother tongue, because many parents mistakenly believe that they should only speak to their children in the school’s language of instruction, often contributing to children not gaining complete fluency in either their first or second language.

Advantages of mother tongue in education

There are many benefits to a child learning in their mother tongue language in the classroom:

• Mother tongue makes it easier for children to pick up and learn other languages
• Mother tongue develops a child’s personal, social and cultural identity
• Using mother tongue helps a child develop their critical thinking and literacy skills
• Research shows that children learning in mother tongue adopt a better understanding of the curriculum
• Skills learnt in mother tongue do not have to be re-taught when when the child transfers to a second language
• Children learning in mother tongue enjoy school more and learn faster due to feeling comfortable in their environment
• Self-esteem is higher for children learning in mother tongue
• Parent child interaction increases as the parent can assist with homework
• Studies show that children that capitalize on learning through multilingualism enjoy a higher socioeconomic status earn higher earnings

Moreover, and as a language, whether it is the mother tongue of the learner or not, Arabic has its importance in the world. It is the fifth spoken language in the World, it connects you to a rich history and civilization, and  it is essential to understanding the world's second –largest religion, Islam, Also as it is spoken in around 20 countries , where Arabic is its official language  and where these countries' economies are growing rapidly , so proficiency in the Arabic language opens up opportunities to travel, work, and explore in all of these Arabic speaking countries. Studying Arabic will give our students greater access into understanding more of the nuances and intricacies of Arab culture, which is often misunderstood and misrepresented through Western cultural lenses. How can we fight stereotypes and surface-level interactions? Learning a language is a powerful way to fight ignorance of places and people.