Is it better to hold on to your culture or accept change?

A reader hails the new contract that will guarantee the rights of domestic workers. Other topics: culture, Arabic, dinosaur.

A reader hails the new contract that will guarantee the rights of domestic workers. Nicole Hill / The National
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I am commenting on Ayesha Al Mazroui's opinion article The Debate over Emirati identity is clearly mistaken (June 2). One thing you should never do is become apologetic about your culture. We did that in India for a while and believe me, it did no one any good. Grow and assimilate by all means, but never be defensive or apologetic about your cultural identity. And make sure you learn about it from authentic sources and not someone with an agenda or lazily assuming things based on stereotypes.

Also, make sure you create authentic sources if none exists. And never be afraid to change what needs to be changed. We have a lot of that as well. But let that happen from within and not as an imposition. Colonial mindsets are tough to cleanse.

Bindu Dilip, Dubai

Trying to desperately cling to a culture is plain stupidity. Many cultures have come and gone. The world changes and so should we. My own culture has changed rather drastically since I was born. It’s called progression. If you try to cling onto the present, you will get left behind in the future. Accept the change.

Theo Scheepers, Dubai

The cultural transformation in the UAE has been too rapid because of the flooding of expatriates and we do feel like strangers in our own country.

You can’t simply come and force upon us what you believe. We have accepted everyone and we are living in peace. Leave our culture alone and don’t interfere.

Faisal Abdulla, Dubai

Learn Arabic and blend with society

I strongly support and encourage my daughter to learn Arabic (Dubai private schools must address Arabic teaching shortcomings, inspectors warn, June 2). It's her adopted country for as long as we will live here. So it makes sense to learn Arabic and blend in with society rather than take on the usual expat formula of stick with your own and just speak English.

John Paravalos, Dubai

It’s very hard for an expatriate to practise Arabic. I would like to see Arabic taught in a fun way. Lots of expatriate children are put off by the teaching method. What a waste of a fantastic opportunity.

Local families also need interesting lessons to get their children motivated. We need to look at the way the language is taught, for sure.

Lesley Snell, Abu Dhabi

Kings' School Dubai is a good example (Dubai school finds teaching Arabic in creative way is key, June 3) of how well Arabic can be taught.

Only if institutions put in extra effort in teaching Arabic will students enjoy learning the language.

Every individual learning to speak a new language needs time and this is certainly not possible in schools where Arabic lessons are restricted to 30-45 minutes of class time.

In such schools, students can only learn to read or write the language without understanding or being fluent in it.

It is a shame and a serious cause for concern for the authorities, as well as the schools’ managements that the majority of the students have difficulty in learning the national language.

However, with the right teaching techniques and sufficient time dedicated towards this cause, many pupils will soon be able to develop a liking for Arabic.

Fatima Suhail, Sharjah

New contract step in right direction

In spite of several rules and regulations to protect domestic workers’ rights, we still hear allegations of abuse and violations, which is sad.

In that regard, the new contract offers some hope (New contract for domestic staff in the UAE, June 2), although recruitment procedures need to be improved and transparent policies should be in place for hiring domestic workers from overseas. Also, there should be a mechanism to monitor violations, particularly by recruitiment agencies.

Domestic workers are not respected by employers in most parts of the world and they enjoy very little protection in terms of their rights. They are not treated the same way as other workers of similar categories.

The problem is that there is no proper system to regulate their working hours and it all depends on their sponsors.

Ramachandran Nair, Oman

Dino could have a different name

My 7-year-old son is crazy about dinosaurs and he knows all their names (And the name of the Dubai Mall's resident dinosaur is... June 3). I showed him this picture and he said it's Tinosaurus and the name should have been "Dubai Tino" or "DinoTino".

Mehdiyah Miftah, Canada