“In Arabic, there is a wide chasm between oral and written forms of the language. While in certain formal settings, such as lectures or news reports, people speak in a manner similar to that in which they write, the spoken version of the language that dominates daily life is almost a distinct language to written Arabic: the syntax and vocabulary are very different.”

–Omar Al-Ubaydli worries that, “…many young elites in the Gulf are proficient in the English language, but are alarmingly weak in Arabic, especially in written form.” [Al-Arabiya]