Learning from children
Children, sometimes show us what we have already forgotten.
When kids are meeting Aravrit for the first time, they simply read the words. We, as adults, often need a hint on how to first approach the coded symbols. But the young minds are free from preconception. They recognise parts of letters they recently learned to identify, and that is enough for them to understand the content.
We see this time and time again in workshops: there is always a child who is late, and by the time he or she gets the explanation on how the system works and how to design a new own word, they are already halfway through. The ease of reading for them is astonishing for grown-up eyes.
Not long ago, I was invited to collaborate with the President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, and two children, a Hebrew and an Arabic native speaker. As preparations for the recreation of an Aravrit greeting to the Ramadan, I asked them to tell me if they can try and read the words. They immediately read. To my surprise, I asked if they knew beforehand what they are going to be reading, and they replied: no. I asked them to identify the letters, and quickly they extracted the letters in the language that they felt most comfortable with. Then, I cried for the first time in relation to Aravrit. Uriel and Mary-Ann, made me realise the potential in Aravrit for young readers.
What becomes familiar is not scary anymore. We can know that there is another language around us, and the two can live together. I have many exciting plans for the future involving children. I want to see what can be learned from the way they approach Aravrit, simply, and how it can be adapted for us, the adults.
Here is the full video:
