Thousands of volunteers who helped to bring more Arabic content to Twitter now have their sights set on doing the same for other popular websites.
About 2,500 linguists, translators and online enthusiasts from 28 countries will contribute to new projects to increase Arabic-language content on Wikipedia. New motivational sayings in Arabic, as well as famous ones in English that will be translated, will appear on WikiQuote.
Taghreedat, an online community that started in Qatar and works to build Arabic-language content, launched an initiative in July to target Twitter and is spearheading the new projects. It is relying on strategic advice and support from twofour54, a free zone in Abu Dhabi for media and entertainment companies.
"With Arabic Web content accounting for less than 2 per cent of the total Web content, twofour54 and Taghreedat share a mutual commitment to developing Arabic e-content across multiple platforms," said Noura Al Kaabi, the chief executive of twofour54.
"These projects serve to encourage Arabic-speaking media professionals to play their own role in developing a sustainable and commercial media and entertainment industry for Abu Dhabi and the region."
Currently, the most time-consuming project includes work on an online dictionary that would take words not already found in Arabic, such as "tweet", and create translations for them. In other cases, multiple words may exist in Arabic for one English word, and the goal would be to narrow the Arabic range to a single word, said Mina Nagy Michel Takla, the co-founder of Taghreedat.
With guidance from twofour54, Taghreedat also plans to harness its network of volunteers to expand the quantity of Arabic in other areas, including digital books and comics, subtitles in online video clips, as well as the text that normally appears in English on social networking home pages. The broader goal is to move away from translating only between English and Arabic, and providing more original content across different kinds of media formats, said Sami Mustafa Mubarak, another Taghreedat co-founder.
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MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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Januzaj's club record
Manchester United 50 appearances, 5 goals
Borussia Dortmund (loan) 6 appearances, 0 goals
Sunderland (loan) 25 appearances, 0 goals
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
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