If Arab states have no oil, will Arabic be useful in future?

23223   Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:23 am GMT
I am curious that if Arab states have no oil. Will Arabic be useful in future?
movin'up   Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:25 am GMT
Arabic will go like French... useless!
Muhammad al-Husseini   Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:38 am GMT
And islam would finally crumble.
arabic   Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:53 am GMT
Arabic won't be important even if they do have oil.
Said   Tue Aug 11, 2009 8:01 am GMT
arabic is spoken in the desert, this language have no future
007   Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:02 am GMT
At least, many places of United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Syria, and Jordan are much better than "super" city slums of dirty India.
Guest   Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:03 am GMT
<<arabic is spoken in the desert, this language have no future >>

Agreed. Once their oil money runs out, they'll be out of luck.
Guest   Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:59 am GMT
Well, Arabic people is aware of the prestige of their language in Muslim World.

It is right that without oil money, their economies will be poorer. Anyway, there are 2 important points to consider:

1. The demographic situation: Arabic will be spoken by 500 million in the near future. For instance, a lot of companies can see 500 million of potential customers.

2. The prestige of Arabic in Africa and Asia: Arabic was official in 20 countries. Nowadays is official in 26! Erythrea and Somalia, for example, have added Arabic as official languages.

In some African and Asian countries, like Mali, Niger, Senegal, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, etc, some people study Arabic. Perhaps, in the future, Arabic will be a popular choice in these countries.

It is difficult to predict it.
Ibérica   Tue Aug 11, 2009 12:50 pm GMT
But progress they won't make, as studying the Qu'ran and the Hadith takes up all their time. So it'll remain the language of the camel herding industry.
L.A. LAw   Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:06 pm GMT
Arabic is the language of oppression. Women, black, gays are treated like microstock, even cattle has more rights.
L.A. LAw   Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:08 pm GMT
At least, many places of United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Syria, and Jordan are much better than "super" city slums of dirty India.

//
But I as a gay would rather live in India than in any of those ''super cities'' where they kill gays just for fun, with a stone or by hanging.

I would rather live in Portuguese-influenced Goa than in fakey AbuDhabi.
blanc   Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:42 pm GMT
I'm a gay but I would love to learn ARabic. Who cares about muslim countries I just love the language... In addition Morocco or Tunisia are not Saudi ARabia fortunately..
Ibérica   Tue Aug 11, 2009 3:39 pm GMT
Saudi Arabia is the shame of the Arab world, sadly it contains the most holy city in islam and has a huge amount of oil dollars to fund and influence mosques throughout the whole world. There's little to no rebelry in the kingdom of Saud which makes this tragedy all the sadder.
SOS   Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:00 am GMT
Do those foreigners who majored in Arabic really have a bright future (good job, high salary)?
Goin'up   Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:10 am GMT
Arabic will go like Spanish... no use!