On April 9, 2016, Middle East expert Peter Twele (MA in Linguistics) will speak at our full-day spring training event Building Bridges: Responding to the Refugee Crisis.
Peter carried out research through a number of institutions while residing in the Middle East for 11 years, and for the past 20 years has consulted for various Middle East translation and media projects.
When Peter first moved to the Middle East back in 1984, he found that wherever his travels took him (Jordan, Yemen, Syria, Oman, Egypt, etc.) the majority of people he met were friendly and hospitable. Unfortunately, the current sad state of affairs in that region has caused unimaginable suffering for millions of innocent people who have lost everything—often this includes family members.
Peter has always tried to build bridges of understanding between the West and the Middle East, and that desire to do so grew even stronger as Canada prepared for the arrival of Syrian refugees. Peter enjoys sharing based on his 30 years of experience working side-by-side with Middle Easterners.
Join us for a revealing look at why we have a refugee crisis and what our response should be. Peter will present on recent historical and political factors that have led to the current refugee crisis. He will also include aspects of the West’s involvement along with what contributes to both negative and positive attitudes when it comes to helping those in need.
Peter will also present a workshop on Challenges Arabic Speakers Encounter Learning English. Peter has learned Arabic as a second language and has spent many years interacting with Arabic speakers, both in Arabic and in English. He has learned firsthand about some of the difficulties Arabic speakers have when learning English. He will give a brief overview of the Arabic language, and then will deal with a few specific differences between English & Arabic, focusing on the sound systems, grammatical issues, and language use.
Peter works as a Translation Consultant for SIL International and a Field Representative for Sabeel Media. He has taught in the Linguistics programs at Trinity Western University and the University of Texas in Arlington. Peter has published two books: Rubbing Shoulders in Yemen (2012) and Iraq on Their Doorstep (2014). He also has experience helping Iraqi refugees settle in the Vancouver area and is actively preparing Canadians for the arrival of Syrian refugees by speaking to various agencies and organizations.
We are blessed to have Peter speak at our event. Don’t miss this great opportunity to learn about Syrian/Middle Eastern culture. Register Now!
You can find Peter on Facebook: www.facebook.com/syrianrefugeeresources/
And Twitter: @petertwele
Blog: http://www.petertwele.com/peters-blog.html
