Teachers cannot instil Arabic if parents do not

As Rym Ghazal clearly states in her column ( Why Arabic books don’t sell as well as those in English, January 21), unless parents sit and read with their children in Arabic, a passion for reading may never materialise.

A teacher’s job is not to fulfil the role and responsibility of parents, but to support and reinforce reading habits initially developed at home. Name withheld by request

Children receive 50 minutes of Arabic material per day in schools. How would that allow them to master the language sufficiently to read Arabic books?

We used to take French in primary school as literature, with the rest of the tuition all in Arabic until secondary school.

The base has to be founded from an early age. In my view, you can’t compare the Arabic language with French or English because it is more complex. Raja Ennouri, Abu Dhabi

Dubai is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, a place where you can learn and embrace different cultures, but apparently seven out of 10 expatriates have little or no knowledge about the heritage, culture and traditions of the UAE.

We all need to realise the onus is on us to learn Arabic. All it requires is the time, patience and the initiative to learn – it would help us both personally and professionally. Mathew Litty, Dubai

I believe the Government must take some initiative to teach expatriates Arabic. Muhammad Asim Rashid, Dubai