1. German for Arabic-Speaking Refugees Project
Three professors from the Department of International
Languages and Culture Studies (ILCS) have designed a video
series to teach basic German words and phrases to Arabic
speakers to provide refugees in Europe with a way to communicate
with Germans. Suin Roberts and Lee Roberts, associate professors
of German studies, have combined their expertise in German with
that of Farah Combs, continuing lecturer in Arabic, to produce a
series of videos for the benefit of these refugees.
In recent months, instability and violence in the Middle
East has forced millions of civilians to flee. Many of these
refugees traveled to Europe, hoping to find work and a better
life. Germany in particular is a destination for the refugees,
but most do not speak German and have no way to learn it.
“Germany was in need of German as a foreign language teachers,”
Suin Roberts explained. “At least 3,000 teachers need to be
hired in the near future. Sometimes months, if not years, can
pass before refugees can be enrolled in such courses.”
As the daughter of Korean parents who emigrated to Germany
and having emigrated from Germany to America as an adult, Suin
Roberts felt a personal connection with the refugees’ plight.
“They escaped war and death,” she explained, “They risked their
lives to get to Germany, a country that is completely different

2. from what they know. I feel for them and want to help make their
first few weeks in Germany a bit more bearable.” The idea for
the program came from an article the Roberts read about apps
that were being created to assist refugees. After reading the
article, Suin realized, “We could offer free, short German
language and culture videos (since teaching German as a foreign
language is our expertise) and put them on YouTube, so that they
are easily accessible.”
As few online resources online for Arabic-speaking refugees
exist, Suin Roberts asked Combs to join the project. Combs was
happy to help.
Suin Roberts drafts the scripts for each video. Combs says
each word in Arabic before the German word is introduced and
repeated. They practice the scripts and then film each short
lesson. After some video editing, the videos are posted to
YouTube and promoted via the project’s Facebook page.
A number of IPFW students have also gotten involved with
this project. Students in one of Suin Roberts’s advanced German
courses create the vocabulary lists of words and phrases that
will be incorporated into the videos. Nathan Brophy, a political
science major and honor student has been editing the videos.
Brophy has past experience in this area, having worked on the
short film The Forbidden Love that was a project in one of

3. Combs’s Arabic classes. The project’s leaders are hoping to
eventually involve more Arabic-speaking students as translators.
The videos are radically different from classroom lessons.
“These videos are not meant to be educational videos on how to
speak German,” Combs explained. “It’s basically survival
vocabulary words and phrases. Survival vocabulary are words for
someone who does not know the language. They allow them to
function and communicate very minimally with German speakers.”
The survival vocabulary in the videos includes greetings,
emotions, everyday items, and ways to express specific needs.
“It’s not the same procedure we teach in the classroom,” Combs
continued, “We only repeat the words a couple of times, versus
in the classroom you’d have to repeat it more, you’d have to
model it more, and you’d have to understand the word structure.”
The videos are about five minutes long and are relatively
low-tech for ease of delivery across wi-fi networks. Instead of
flashing images on a screen, the professors use real props to
demonstrate the vocabulary. I believe,” Suin Roberts comments,
“that this adds a certain kind of naturalness. Lee, Farah, and I
are not competing with educational publishing companies, who
spend thousands of dollars for educational videos. We want our
videos to seem casual, and to show us as real people who just
want to help.”

4. Informing refugees in Europe about the videos is a
challenge. Because many refugees have phones or wireless devices
of some kind, the team is relying on social media and word-of-
mouth to raise awareness of the project in Germany and beyond.
Even so, the team remains optimistic. “If these videos reach one
family, and they end up using it and it helps them out, then I
feel like we’ve accomplished something,” Combs explained. “We’ve
accomplished our goal. If it reaches more, then the better of
course.”
The team is trying to tape two and post at least one video
each week. They hope to eventually include cultural information
with the vocabulary. The Robertses? plan to visit Germany next
year and would like to spend time talking to refugees for ideas
on how to help. “My own experience as a ‘two-time’ immigrant has
shaped me,” Suin Roberts shared. “I want to empower other people
by teaching them the language that they need to succeed in their
new lives.”
To learn more about The German for Arabic-Speaking Refugees
project, visit its Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/GermanforRefugees or watch the videos
here at https://youtu.be/m-sKZn6hFqs. To contact Suin Roberts or
Farah Combs, send an email to shins@ipfw.edu or combsf@ipfw.edu
respectively.