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Three University of North Georgia (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) students attended the fourth annual U.S. Arabic Debating Championship, an event created to spread cultural awareness and provide room for dialogue in the Arabic language from Oct. 13-15.

The team, including Grey Nebel, who is pursuing a degree in English and French, and Mason McKibbon and Grace Lewis, who are pursuing degrees in modern languages with a concentration in Arabic language and literature, defeated the University of Houston and University of Mary Washington combined team.

The Â鶹ÊÓƵ trio also debated against native Arabic speakers from the University of Arizona, the University of Maryland, and the University of Notre Dame, debating on current controversial topics, such as the use of global language, space tourism and artificial intelligence.

"At Â鶹ÊÓƵ, we emphasize cultural competence in classes, and this opportunity allows them to experience culture firsthand," Dr.Juman Al Bukhari, a part-time professional staff member and the team's faculty adviser, said. "I recognized how they socialized not only with native speakers but also with other American students learning Arabic in Ivy League universities who share similar experiences. I could definitely see that their participation motivated my students to learn more Arabic vocabulary, common terms and sentence structure."

Held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, more than 200 participants and 42 teams from around the county participated.

"Participating in this championship not only helps us deepen our understanding of the Arabic language, but the tournament is completely immersive, so we walked away having learned many new words and structures," Nebel, a third-time competitor, said.