The Diplomat
Instituto Cervantes, LaLiga and the Embassy of Spain in Egypt have presented in Cairo the first Spanish-Arabic football dictionary, which aims to promote the learning of Spanish in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa “through the power of football and Spain’s most famous teams and players”.
“Languages, culture and sports are important factors that unite nations”, said Spain’s ambassador to Egypt, Ramon Gil-Casares, during the presentation of the dictionary, which took place this past Sunday. “This project is an important step for Spain, not only in Egypt but throughout the Middle East, as we are bringing Arabic speakers closer to Spain and vice versa”, he added during the same event, which was also attended by Egypt’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Ashraf Sobhy; the Academic and Cultural Directors of the Instituto Cervantes, Carmen Pastor and Raquel Caleya; and several Latin American ambassadors, among others.
The dictionary contains descriptions and information on clubs, players, stadiums, competitions, football terminology and other useful phrases and expressions about travel and tourism. In addition, the 59 pages include illustrations and expressions in both languages that can be easily understood and learned by both Arabic and Spanish speakers. “The texts appear in parallel in Spanish and Arabic in an attractive and accessible style and have been translated by the team of the Instituto Cervantes in Cairo”, according to the Spanish cultural diplomacy institution.
The dictionary will reach numerous Spanish-language students, as it will be sent to universities, public institutions and libraries throughout Egypt. It can also be downloaded free of charge at https://elcairo.cervantes.es/imagenes/File/diccionario_futbol_espanol_arabe_instituto_cervantes_laliga.pdf
The Instituto Cervantes and LaLiga have previously collaborated in the development of two other similar football dictionaries, specifically for the Chinese and Indonesian languages. This initiative is in addition to others of the same nature, such as the organization of Spanish and soccer workshops in countries such as Morocco and Japan.
