The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation, MBRF, has announced the launch of a new programme, as part of the "Bil Arabi" (In Arabic) initiative and in co-operation with Al Oula Radio in Dubai, as a follow up to the success of the Bil Arabi initiative.

The MBRF will launch the radio programme under the title of Bil Arabi, which will target children and families, with the aim of improving their awareness about the importance of the Arabic language and encouraging them to use it daily. It also aims to promote the Bil Arabi initiative and its other knowledge-based projects.

Jamal bin Huwaireb, CEO of the MBRF, stressed that the programme is a follow-up to the success and unexpected popularity of the Bil Arabi initiative and its various organised events during the last four years.

He added that the initiative succeeded, in 2017, in reaching a billion people around the world, through its channels on social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, reflecting the stature of Arabic among the children who can speak the language.

The Bil Arabi programme, which will be aired starting on 16th September on Al Oula Radio every Saturday from 4 to 5pm, will include many segments, such as a "say and do not say" segment, a segment to discuss various stories and books, and a segment for scientific experiments demonstrated by children, as well as a poetry segment, an "exceptional with Arabic" segment, an audience interaction segment, an "express in Arabic" segment, and a segment about the beauty and strength of the Arabic language.

Bil Arabi" began as an idea proposed by a group of university students to the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, which later adopted the initiative to be carried out on a yearly basis, and to coincide with the UN Arabic Language Day on December 18. The initiative encourages social media users in the Arab world to exclusively use the Arabic language on their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts for the entire day.

"Bil Arabi" reflects the Foundation’s vested interest in adopting innovative ideas that contribute to the dissemination of knowledge and that cement the role and status of the Arabic language in our societies and encourage the younger generations to preserve it.

The initiative seeks to break the stereotypes that paint the Arabic language as old-fashioned or traditional, and in stead focus on its beauty and relevance. It also seeks to identify and correct common errors in the Arabic languages and to populate the Internet with Arabic content.