Arabic Yoga

In an effort to demystify the study of Arabic and promote Qatar Foundation International’s (QFI) role in supporting Arabic immersion programs in the Americas, we wanted to deliver creative, fresh content that would highlight how accessible and fun learning Arabic can be by taking audiences inside one of the more unique Arabic teaching methods and classrooms that we’ve come across; “Arabic Yoga”. Arabic Yoga is a class that utilizes yoga exercises to teach Arabic vocabulary to young learners, taught in the first Arabic dual-immersion program in Texas, the Arabic Immersion Magnet School (AIMS) in Houston – a QFI supported program. Combined with a larger health and wellness initiative via Total Physical Response (TPR) strategies, yoga was a unique and fitting addition to the immersion experience, creating a fun and effective way to teach the language and aid student retention of the lesson. With video on the rise as a favored method in content-marketing, garnering higher engagement and attention numbers, I pitched a partnership with AIMS to film the classroom in action. Managing the project, I hired and directed a local freelance videographer to capture the fun and enthusiasm the lesson fostered for its students. Additionally, staying true to QFI’s mission of increasing access to quality resources, we created an open-education lesson plan so that other teachers of Arabic can benefit and utilize the method in their classrooms. Working with the lesson creator and teacher, Eden Bass, on content and our design team on direction, we centered the lesson and visuals around the universally recognizable theme, "A Trip to the Farm," and employed the adorableness of the AIMS students themselves by featuring them as the stars of the lesson. To promote this initiative, we launched Arabic Yoga during Language Immersion Week along with an online #ArabicYoga student contest. The contest called for students and classrooms to submit their own Arabic yoga inspired pose for a chance to win a grand prize of $500 going towards learning materials.