why you should learn Arabic

1. Arabic is the 5th most commonly spoken native language in the world.

Arabic is the official language of over 20 countries and there are well over 300 million native speakers of the language. These speakers are largely concentrated in the Middle East, but there are minority groups of native speakers throughout the world. It is also an official language of the United Nations, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Conference, and the African Union.

2. Arabic is the liturgical language of Islam.

In addition to the millions of native speakers, many more millions know Arabic as a foreign language, since as the language of the Qu'ran, it is understood by Muslims throughout the world.

3. There is a high demand and low supply of Arabic-speakers in the Western world.

Relatively few Westerners ever venture to learn Arabic. With the growing importance of the Middle East in international affairs, there is thus an extreme shortage of workers in the West who are versed in Arabic language and culture. Those who study Arabic can find careers in a variety of fields: journalism, business and industry, education, finance and banking, translation and interpretation, consulting, foreign service and intelligence, and many others. Only 1 % of the United States 12,000 FBI agents have any knowledge of Arabic at all, and this includes those who know only a few words.

4. There are financial incentives for learning Arabic.

The US government has designated Arabic as a language of strategic importance. The National Strategic Language Initiative instituted in 2006 promotes the learning of Arabic (and other languages deemed critical) among Americans through numerous scholarships and supported learning opportunities. These include support for language courses from beginning to advanced levels, study abroad programs, intensive instruction opportunities, teacher exchanges, and professional development.

5. Arabic-speaking nations are a fast growing market for trade.

Initiatives to integrate the Arab world into the global economy are opening up numerous potential nw business opportunities. The Arab region with its rapidly growing population provides a huge export market for goods and services. With a GDP of over 600 billion dollars annually, the region also has much to offer the world market. In order to do business effectively, one must understand the language and culture of the people with whom one hopes to negotiate and conduct trade.

Arabic language

Arabic (العربية al-ʿarabiyyah, IPA: [ʔæl ʕɑrɑˈbijjɐ], or عربي ʿarabī, [ˈʕɑrɑbiː]) is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. Arabic has more speakers than any other language in the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million^[1] people as a first language, most of whom live in the Middle East and North Africa. It is the official language of 22 countries and it is the liturgical language of Islam since it is the language of the Qur'an, the Islamic Holy Book. Arabic has many different, geographically distributed spoken varieties, some of which are mutually unintelligible.^[3] Modern Standard Arabic (sometimes called Literary Arabic) is widely taught in schools, universities, and used in workplaces, government and the media.

Modern Standard Arabic derives from Classical Arabic, the only surviving member of the Old North Arabian dialect group, attested in Pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptionsdating back to the 4th century.^[4] Classical Arabic has also been a literary languageand the liturgical language of Islam since its inception in the 7th century.

Arabic has lent many words to other languages of the Islamic world, like Turkish,Urdu and Persian. During the Middle Ages, Arabic was a major vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics and philosophy. As a result, many European languages have also borrowed many words from it. Arabic influence is seen in Mediterranean languages, particularly Spanish, Portuguese, and Sicilian, owing to both the proximity of European and Arab civilizations and 700 years of Arab rule in some parts of the Iberian peninsula (see Al-Andalus).

Arabic has also borrowed words from many languages, including Hebrew, Greek,Persian and Syriac in early centuries, Turkish in medieval times and contemporary European languages in modern times. Arabic 

is written with the Arabic alphabet, which is an abjad script, and is written from right-to-left

for more information please  check here :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language