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Born in Larache to parents who emigrated to Germany when she was only two years old, Hajar Tanjaoui was determined to pass on her heritage and culture to her own kids. The mother of two, who studied to become a schoolteacher, was committed to speaking Darija to her children born in Germany, just like her parents did with her and her siblings.
«Although I was raised in Germany and went to school there, I learned Darija from my parents at home», recalled Hajar. Married to a German man, she felt she had to carry on the tradition when her daughter was born.
This determination stemmed from her fear that Darija would be lost among the children of Moroccans born and raised abroad. «I noticed that with each new generation of Moroccans born abroad, Darija fades little by little, and their connection to their homeland weakens», she regretted.
Within her own family, Hajar noticed that the Darija spoken by her older sister differed from that of her younger brother. «Many parents don’t speak to their children in Darija anymore, and I wanted to avoid that. I wanted to preserve the language», she told Yabiladi.
Peppa Pig speaks Darija
Hajar tried to surround her children with Darija, and since kids love cartoons, she looked for kids' shows in Darija but couldn’t find any.
«There were options in Classical Arabic, but I specifically wanted Darija», insisted Hajar. After giving up on finding shows in Darija for her children, Hajar stumbled upon Peppa Pig, an outgoing preschool pig and her family. Peppa participates in many energetic activities and learns something new every day.
«My daughter loved it so much and learned a lot of things; she even picked up a British accent», joked Hajar. But then she had an idea: «If only there were something like this in Darija».
The stay-at-home mother then decided to do it herself: translate the episodes and dub them in Darija for her children and other Moroccan kids living abroad who needed similar shows to learn Darija.
«Even though I always spoke Darija to my children, they only responded in German. I decided to create something myself. I liked Peppa Pig because it’s funny, short, and educational. I enjoyed watching it with my daughter as an adult».
With the help and encouragement of her husband, Hajar started in April 2024, translating the episodes of Peppa Pig and recording them in Darija. «In the beginning, my brother, who is 18, helped me. He introduced me to the programs and joined me in voicing the characters», she said.
The siblings changed their voices to suit different roles: Peppa Pig, Baba Pig, Mama Pig, Jeddo, and George. However, it became hard to maintain since Hajar’s brother had his own school and classes. «For the first three episodes, my brother voiced Baba Pig and Jeddo Pig. We wanted to include more people to voice the characters, but conflicting schedules made it too complicated», she explained.
Hajar’s work involves a lot of translation. Before recording and doing the voiceovers, she translates the scripts from English to Darija. «Some words don’t have direct equivalents in Darija, so I must find culturally appropriate alternatives to ensure the meaning stays the same», she added.
Her brother initially helped with technical tasks like removing the original voices from the episodes. Now, she handles everything herself. Because of her brother’s tight schedule and the difficulty of finding others to dub multiple characters, Hajar resorted to Artificial Intelligence.
«I use AI to create the voices of the characters, making them sound like Baba Pig, George, or others. While many people think my children voice Peppa and George, that’s not true. AI provides better quality and allows me to work independently without waiting on others’ schedules, making it easier to release episodes consistently».
Hajar started posting her Peppa Pig in Darija episodes on YouTube, but the feedback at first was disappointing. «When I first uploaded episodes, I set the YouTube location to Morocco, but the response was underwhelming», she recalled.
Feeling disappointed but not discouraged, she distributed flyers in schools and kindergartens and tagged Moroccan influencers. Gradually, she began receiving positive feedback, especially from Moroccans abroad, who appreciated the content for helping their kids learn Darija. This feedback restored her confidence.
«I realized Moroccans living abroad are the primary audience for this kind of content, as they want their children to learn Darija, which they don’t often hear. Choosing Peppa Pig also helped because it already has a large fan base», she noted.
Hajar’s children were also her primary audience. When they first watched the episodes, they were amazed that Peppa Pig spoke Darija. «It was a surprise to them, and they found it funny, recognizing my voice in the early episodes. My daughter would even show the episodes to her friends, proudly saying, ‘This is my mom!’»
Hajar is happy with the feedback she receives and the impact her work has on people in her situation who are keen to preserve Darija. But this is just the beginning.
«I’m currently in contact with the company that owns Peppa Pig. They seem hesitant to trust the project since it’s still small, but I hope it will grow over time», said Hajar.
Hajar’s dream is to expand beyond YouTube and reach Moroccan or even German TV, and to one day expand beyond Peppa Pig. «I have people who asked me to dub other popular cartoons like Masha and the Bear. It makes me happy to know people enjoy the content».
