Ghada Wali: How I'm using LEGO to teach Arabic
Ghada Wali: Cómo uso LEGOs para enseñar árabe
A pioneering graphic designer in Egypt, Ghada Wali has designed fonts, brands and design-driven art projects. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
the Mother of the World.
la Madre del Mundo.
filled with stories of rebellion,
lleno de historias de rebelión,
triumph and downfall
in the power of storytelling.
en el poder de las historias.
with which to tell my story,
can bring the Arabic language to life.
puede darle vida a la lengua árabe.
why I want to do this.
por qué quiero hacerlo.
can change the world.
puede cambiar el mundo.
two separate dictators.
as a tool for positive change
como herramienta de cambio positivo
was also a grassroots design revolution.
una revolución del diseño popular.
far louder than words
con más fuerza que las palabras
90 million voices were suppressed
más de 90 millones de habitantes
and social suppression,
esta represión política y social,
of the Arabic script in the region.
de la escritura árabe en la región.
in an increasingly globalized world,
cada vez más globalizado
the Arabic script to communicate.
se comunica con escritura árabe.
I noticed myself missing Arabic.
me di cuenta de que extrañaba el árabe.
one of the biggest libraries in Italy
más grandes de Italia
that this is what they had
"Arabic/Middle Eastern books."
y de Medio Oriente".
portrayed to the world,
to the world-renowned writers
con los escritores de fama mundial
Nizar Qabbani?
como Mutanabbi, Nizar Qabbani?
of an entire region of the world,
of an entire region of the world
any kind of real impact
un impacto importante
and contemporary social discourse.
y en el discurso social de actualidad.
of my number one belief:
de mi creencia número uno:
to catch a glimpse of your work,
le dé una ojeada a tu trabajo,
from seeing us as evil,
que el mundo deje de vernos como el mal,
la escritura árabe
other people, other cultures?
con otras culturas?
the two most significant symbols
los dos símbolos más significativos
innocent and fun as LEGO?
y divertido que los LEGO?
endless possibilities.
infinitas posibilidades.
a bilingual solution for Arabic education,
de solución bilingüe para enseñar árabe,
communication and education
y la educación hacen posible
do not only represent different worlds
no solo representan mundos diferentes
for both Eastern and Western communities
orientales y occidentales
why Arabic and Latin are different,
difieren por muchas razones;
ascendentes y descendentes,
completamente diferentes.
to the Arabic language,
las letras deben estar mayormente unidas
in order to articulate a given word.
system of punctuation and diacritics.
y diacríticos totalmente distintos.
different letter forms:
cuatro formas distintas:
to young learners, foreign speakers,
a los jóvenes, a los extranjeros,
integrate to their host societies
a los refugiados a integrarse
a bilingual learning system,
de aprendizaje bilingüe,
a fun and engaging way of learning
de aprender árabe estándar moderno
is explained in form, sound
se explica la forma, el sonido
un entretenido libro de bolsillo
and the four different forms,
en las cuatro formas diferentes,
the transliteration in Latin
en escritura latina,
en mi diminuto estudio, en Florencia.
and chose the correct color background
y elegí el color de fondo
times four different forms.
por cuatro formas diferentes.
should and can be fun, portable.
y puede ser divertida y portátil.
as many languages in the world,
de idiomas posibles
becomes fun, easy and accessible globally.
sea divertido, fácil y accesible
my nation's beautiful script.
de la hermosa escritura de mi país.
was a form of visual meditation,
como una forma de meditación visual,
made two languages.
dio a luz a dos idiomas.
of the same building unit,
de los mismos bloques,
the world around us gets,
el mundo que nos rodea,
on ISIS, the terrorist group,
sobre ISIS, el grupo terrorista,
Egyptian goddess,
un mundo de colores.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ghada Wali - DesignerA pioneering graphic designer in Egypt, Ghada Wali has designed fonts, brands and design-driven art projects.
Why you should listen
Ghada Wali believes that graphic design can change the world. She developed an Arabic typeface that was chosen as one of the best 100 graphic design pieces in the world by the Society of Typographic Arts in Chicago. She won a silver in the International A DESIGN AWARDS, Italy. Her work has been featured in art exhibits around the world and showcased in various articles internationally such as the World Economic Forum, Quartz Africa, Wired Italia & Japan, Slanted Berlin and many more local and global platforms. Her work most recently won the Granshan competition in Munich, as well as two Adobe Design Achievement awards in San Diego. She has been awarded the AWDA, AIAP the women in Design Award in Milan, recognizing the influential women in the field.
Wali made it to Forbes Europe's List 2017 (Arts & Immigrants category), the first Egyptian woman ever to appear in this category. She was also named to the OKAYAFRICA-100WOMEN list for 2018. She has been featured on UN Women Egypt and has been representing the Egyptian Women Council empowerment campaign.
Wali holds a BA degree as one of the first design graduates of the German University in Cairo and an MA in Design from IED Istituto Europeo di Design, Florence, Italy, which she won as a scholarship basis. Her design experience includes MI7 Cairo, Fortune Promoseven and J. Walter Thompson, as well as teaching graphic design in both the German & American Universities in Cairo.
Ghada Wali | Speaker | TED.com