Producing children’s videos in colloquial Arabic ‘well worth the effort’

EGYPT — The Arab world is an oral culture where important things are often spoken rather than written. The prevailing illiteracy rate of at least 50 per cent makes the use of audio and visual media crucial in reaching the people of Egypt with the Good News.

Complicating the matter, though, is the difference between spoken Arabic, on the one hand, and classical, written Arabic, on the other. The formal language of the Arabic Bible is a very different language from that spoken by Egyptians in daily life. So even if an Egyptian can read the Bible, he will still hear God speaking to him in what is, in effect, a ‘foreign’ language.

High quality

Pre-school children, and even those in their early years of school, understand little classical Arabic, and so the Bible Society of Egypt (BSE), in co-operation with Christian broadcaster SAT-7, has translated and dubbed four high-quality video series, originally made in English, into Arabic: Testament, Storykeepers, The Beginner’s Bible and Kingsley’s Meadows.

The Testament and Storykeepers series, both geared to older children, have already been rendered into classical Arabic and both have proved very popular.

Appreciation

When the series The Beginner’s Bible was dubbed into colloquial Arabic, however, it met with special appreciation and success. A half-price offer in the summer resulted in sales of 12,500 copies.

The response has encouraged the BSE to produce more videos in colloquial Arabic for younger children in an effort to introduce the children to the Word of God before they encounter worldly and Islamic influences at school and in society.

The means the BSE is using to reach children of pre-school age is the Kingsley’s Meadows, a series originally produced by the American Bible Society, featuring charming, comical puppet characters. Drawing valuable lessons from the Bible, its stories demonstrate the relevance of God’s Word to typical situations that children face every day.

The process of getting Kingsley’s Meadows dubbed into colloquial Arabic was quite complicated. Besides the actual translation, a choir had to be formed to learn the songs, and musicians and studios hired for recording and dubbing.

For all videos, the censor’s approval and official permission have to be obtained before distribution can take place. In some cases, this can take several years.

Over and over

However, the Society believes that its efforts are well worthwhile for the sake of putting an excellent product in the hands of grateful Egyptians and of knowing that the videos will be played over and over again in homes, Sunday Schools and Christian nursery schools. (WR 392/13 - 04/5.05)

Story adapted from the 2004 annual report of the Bible Society of Egypt.