We should all embrace the UAE’s diversity

With regards to your opinion piece, The UK sees Arabic as key.

The UAE should as well (July 20), seven out of 10 expats in the UAE have little or no knowledge about the heritage, culture and tradition of the UAE. The reason is that we are a bit too reserved and have anxiety about interacting with Emiratis or other nationalities.

This is sad. We are blessed to have people from various countries living around us. Dubai, for example, is one of the best cities in the world for someone to learn about and, more importantly, interact with people from many cultures.

But it requires time, patience and initiative for someone to open up to learning about a new culture. Teachers should motivate their students to read, write and speak Arabic, not for the sake of regurgitating it on an exam sheet and then forgetting it, but because it will help them at both a personal and professional level.

A pleasant greeting every morning in Arabic – “Salam allaikum” or “Marhaba” – is a great way to start the day and remind ourselves of where we live. Start with a simple greeting in the morning and embrace diversity. Matthew Litty, Dubai

More people should be taught Arabic. But Arabic script is very difficult. Perhaps some schools could teach Arabic written in Roman letters so that non-Arabs can understand it better. Bulelwa Nqabeni, South Africa

When I was living in the UAE, I used to learn Arabic in my free time. However, I got frustrated not being able to use it regularly since most of the people I had contact with in daily life were foreigners who didn't speak Arabic.

Full immersion in a language is the best way to learn how to speak fluently. Sadly, I was never able to do that while in the UAE. Omar Jaramillo, Berlin