Kuwait Finance House (KFH) has continued the events of its Arabic language initiative in a fruitful collaboration with Sama Academy. The initiative, which is the first of its kind in the banking sector, is geared towards teaching employees’ kids the Arabic language by Kuwaiti talents using the Scandinavian method.

This initiative reaffirms KFH’s commitment to its employees and their families, emphasizing the importance of organizing activities that contribute to nurturing an educated and successful generation. The second edition encompassed three events: Writing Story Contest”, “Start Early” and “Reading Marathon”.

The summer program has witnessed a great turnout and interaction from participating kids, confirming its success and benefit. With the participation of around 140 kids, the first event focused on improving the participants’ productivity by enhancing their speaking skills through strategies of storytelling and personification in the Arabic language. It also enhanced participants’ writing skill by applying intensive creative writing techniques in the Arabic language while adopting AI technology in creating their story characters.”

The Reading Marathon has significantly contributed to increasing the cognitive functions of the participants. These include listening skill by understanding the readable texts through applied reading strategies and motivational tools that have proven successful in raising the level of understanding. Reading is another cognitive skill that is improved during the program by applying interactive learning strategies that raise the learning outcomes by 25%.

The reading level of participants was measured using a precise criterion that encompasses 75 levels. The levels are categorized into 5 stages based on the age group and school level.

As for the Start Early event, it is the first of its kind that supports Content and Language Integrated Learning approach (CLIL) in everyday experiences using the mother tongue. Through this approach, language learning is applied to all school subjects as well as daily living activities according to the Scandinavian system with the aim to improve the mother tongue of the child. It offers a range of benefits grounded in scientific facts and detailed studies, highlighting the importance of establishing a strong foundation in the mother tongue. Research indicates that children who learn in their mother tongue exhibit better educational performance, which also facilitates learning additional languages. This approach boosts children's self-esteem, enhances their interactions with parents and their environment, and fosters greater linguistic proficiency and comprehensive skills.

Meanwhile, parents of participating kids commended this initiative saying that it encouraged their children to enhance their listening skills, and sentence drafting and boosted their determination mindset, making the learning experience both enjoyable and valuable. They also lauded KFH’s efforts in strengthening the role of the Arabic language and demonstrating its commitment towards its employees and their families.