While it might seem like a bit of a hassle, adding support for the Arabic language on your Mac is a simple, straight-forward process. This is a quick guide to adding the Arabic keyboard to Mac OS X, as well as the softwre to use in order to open and edit office documents in Arabic.

Add the Arabic Language and Keyboard

The first step is to add a foreign keyboard, and that can be easily achieved via the System Preferences:

1. Click on the Apple logo on the top-right corner, and open System Preferences
2. Under the Personal group, select International
3. Go to Input Menu, check Keyboard viewer, scroll through the languages, and select Arabic
   
   

   The international input menu

4. Check Show input menu in menu bar for quick and easy access

Languages' menu

You will notice that your Mac OS X’s native language flag has appeared on the bar across the top (for example, USA flag for US English). In order to start typing in Arabic, simply click on that flag, and select Arabic from the menu that appears. If your keyboard does not have the Arabic alphabet printed on, you can select “Show keyboard” from the flag menu for access to a visual keyboard then you can use your mouse clicks to type. Of course, it is an inconvenience, and you are much better off either getting the letters printed on, attach transparent stickers with the Arabic letters on the keyboard buttons, or purchasing and attaching an external USB keyboard.

Opening and Editing Arabic Office Documents

Many Mac users choose to install Microsoft Office for Mac (the latest of which is the 2008 edition) to use programs such as Word, Excel, or Powerpoint. Aside from the fact that it is yet another Microsoft product with stability issues and unexpected flaws, the software bundle has an attractive and intuitive interface, and helps make you productive and efficient. The only major disadvantage, however, is the lack of support for Arabic. This means that you cannot even open a .doc file, for example, that is written in Arabic.

download OpenOffice.org

There are two main office bundles that can tackle this problem: Apple iWork (with Arabic support), and OpenOffice.org. The former could be quite pricey and does not necessarily offer the smoothest transition from its Microsoft counterpart. The latter, on the other hand, is free and open source. Even if OpenOffice.org cannot be considered a direct replacement, it remains a convenient solution as it sits comfortably side-by-side with Microsoft Office without consuming much space or resources in general.

Thus, this is how you can install and configure OpenOffice.org to work as a supplement:

1. Go to http://www.openoffice.org/ and download the installation file
2. Install OOo on your local machines and move it to your Applications folder
3. Open OOo and go to the Preferences menu
4. Under Language Settings, select Languages, check Enabled for complex text layout (CTL)
5. Select Arabic (Egypt) from the CTL drop-down list
   
   

   OpenOffice.org Language Settings

This will result in the ability to type, create/edit office documents, and open files, all in Arabic. The same could be applied to any language, but Arabic in particular tends to scare people off with its apparent complexity, but as you’ve seen, it’s as easy as basic configuration, and a beautiful product from the open source community.

I’ve repeatedly expressed my frustration by Arab websites on the internet. Whether it is the poor design, the useless content, the confusing navigational systems, or the obnoxious ads that bombard the screen, the possibilities for disappointment are endless. However, there seems to be a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, as some exceptional Arab web designers and developers are making significant contributions to the Web. One of the latest and most impressive products is Mo3jam.

Mo3jam (pronounced moa-gem) is Arabic for dictionary, and that’s basically what it is. Only the website is community-run allowing users to enter Arabic words and expressions, with their explanations, from the different dialects across the Arab world. It was created by a Saudi from Jeddah by the name of Abdullah Arif who runs Blachan Lab. The aim is to properly document the differences that place the growing gap between the Arabic spoken by the different countries, and what a better way to do it than to allow the people to share the knowledge themselves?

The Mo3jam Interface

Firstly, the idea of documenting the Arabic dialects is pure genius. While there are many that live in constant denial believing that the spoken Arabic across the 22 Arab countries varies slightly from one nation to the next, the majority of Arab speakers realize that since the spoken language broke off from the written classical version many years ago, each group of people (even within countries) have inevitably evolved in a separate direction. Even though communication remains relatively easy between Arabs of different backgrounds, there hasn’t been official documentation of the dialects. Ideas are a dime a dozen, it’s walking the walk that counts. That is precisely what Mo3jam has done. Taking advantage of the power of the Web to document languages is pure class.

Dialects currently available

Secondly, the internet has taught us that user-driven content is much more successful than what is produced by the different corporations. That is why websites like YouTube and Wikipedia have quickly become amongst the most visited. Set the stage, and let the users act. Mo3jam has provided the necessary tools to easily add content for everyone to access, leading to the inevitably exponential growth of the user base, and hence the quantity and quality of the content provided.

More importantly, the web application is designed with a creative, professional touch. It looks very sleek and modern. It is also light-weight and extremely easy to use. Without an impressive front-end, success would’ve been limited. Fortunately, that task has long been checked off the ToDo list.

The following are the features in a nut shell:

• Explanations can be in Arabic, English or French: if you were to look at the history of colonization, you’d understand why some might prefer to use a foreign language to explain an expression
• Add a new definition to an existing term: The vote system allows for the best one to rise to the top (potentially triggering many arguments, but that’s where all the fun comes from!)
• You can also add a dialect: The author says it does not need to be a strict umbrella, with some branches coming from a certain dialect, not directly from the source

In conclusion, while it is still in the initial phase and needs to be refined, Mo3jam looks excitingly promising. It might just be the one tool that could help place the Arab world on the Web 2.0 map on the one end, and help the Arab themselves document the complicated dialects for everyone to benefit from, on the other.