learning arabic

[rikita]

so i thought i'd learn a bit of arabic before our vacation to morocco (even though i was told i'll get by fine with french and english) - mainly because i always wanted to learn it and because a vacation is always an opportunity to have a look at a new language, and hopefully learning the writing will help me with being able to read signs etc. ...

so this thread is to anyone who might be studying or have studied arabic at some point, so we can exchange experiences - or arabic speakers who are willing to answer questions when i or others have them. i am still very much at the beginning, currently trying to learn the alphabet, and it isn't that easy (apart from not being able to distinguish some sounds and having trouble memorizing some letters in all their positions, i so far can't imagine being able to figure out words without the voweling signs ... hopefully that will get easier once i know a few more words)

so, anyone speak arabic here?

[onlyMark]

I didn't learn it, but Mrs M did, though she had a basic grasp in the first place.
What I did learn though was enough to see me through a number of years in Arabic countries. I learnt the numbers and how to read and write them plus several useful words like tomorrow, yesterday, left, right, straight on, yes, no, how much, you must be joking, I live here I'm not a tourist, no problem, my darling, greetings, possible/not possible etc etc.

But, and it is a big but, there are different Arabic languages. Where you are going it is derived from Berber/Maghrebi Arabic and is, for example, not the same as Tunisian Arabic. Plus, as in German, there is high and low Arabic. It is very complicated and even though many countries will or may understand most of the films coming out of the Egyptian version of Hollywood, it is not what they speak.

One other thing I did to cope is remember exactly what a word written in Arabic looked like and then used that memory when searching for the thing/place.
In short Rikita, nope, can't help you. I hope someone else can.

[Deleted]

I have to confess that my Arabic vocabulary is limited to about 30 or 40 isolated words and unfortunately I apparently say most of them with a Gulf accent (since those are the people I was working with), which elecits simultaneous mirth and disgust in Egypt and the Maghreb. I at least know how the read and write the numbers, but anyway in Morocco they almost always use Western numbers. The banknotes only have Western numbers on them.

Moroccans understand Arabic since that's what the television speaks, but most Moroccans use local dialect or Berber. I had to work in Casablanca for a few weeks and noticed that just about all business dealings are conducted in French even when both parties are Moroccan. In the souks and other such places, they will spot you as German and just start speaking German to you. It is only when you have to go into an "ordinary" shop or ask about bus schedules that you might have to speak French.

[bjd]

My husband lived in Lebanon for 5 years when he was 18 to 23 years old and knows/knew a bit of Arabic. When we went to Morocco, he practiced reading a few signs, but basically, everybody spoke French and things were written in French, so there was no need to use any Arabic. And, as Mark says, there are different versions of Arabic depending on the country you are in.

[onlyMark]

Mrs M, her cousin and I were walking through one of the biggest tourist traps in Cairo, the Khan Al-Khalili market. We knew they would be hassled continuously so they had a plan. They would pretend to only speak Slovenian.
At exactly the second place they came to they professed not to understand English and started with the Slovenian. Unfortunately the Egyptian owner had lived there and joined in. Their cover was blown and ended up spending fortune.

[rikita]

yeah i know there are different versions, but i suppose the main reason i want to learn a bit is just for fun ... for now the vacation is just the occasion, so i am looking at moroccan, but in the long run i might be more interested in how it is spoken, for example, in syria, as that might be helpful when teaching german to syrians ... i know a few people from different countries here that speak in arabic to each other and seem to have no problems communicating, but i suppose they might have gotten more used to each others versions of arabic since living here?

[lagatta]

Syrian Arabic is closer to the Standard Modern Arabic one learns (the language used in media, which nobody speaks per se). I did study Arabic for a while and adore the calligraphy; can still read many signs and know a few phrases, but I lost the ability to catch much from conversations, as I had to learn other languages so quit studying. I understood best when someone from the Maghreb was speaking with someone from Egypt or the Levant, as they had to speak Standard Modern, and slowly and carefully. I agree with trying to learn some despite all this; it will really improve your travel experience just to have some idea of what people are saying.

And it would be wonderful to have the opportunity to teach German to Syrian refugees.

[whatagain]

I can say hello, thank you, everything ok, your are beautiful (female version) I'll knock you down (male version) look up, 50-50 and
Can't even order beer.

[rikita]

did you ever use the "i'll knock you down"?

there are quite a few signs in arabic at shops in my area, so right now i like looking at them trying to recognize at least some letters ... and when i hear people speaking in arabic i am wondering if one day i'll be able to catch some words (and wondering what version they are speaking) ...

the other day i was at the language café where i sometimes teach german, and mentioned i want to learn some arabic. the guys i was teaching that day seemed very excited, and told me all kinds of words and phrases to repeat ... that is one of the things i enjoy about learning languages - even if you don't know that much, it often makes people quite happy that you are trying ...

[bjd]

Once you start learning it, Rikita, France24 (there is an online version) has an Arabic edition. I assume it is standard modern Arabic since it's aimed at an international audience.

And in September they will started a Spanish-language edition, I hope in Latin American Spanish.

[rikita]

i am trying to copy down all words and phrases, more than i do with other languages, hoping this will familiarize me better with the script - so far, i am still having trouble distinguishing some of the letters, and when i try to read most of the time i get the voweling wrong (reading without the extra vowel signs), but i hope as i learn more words that might get easier ...

found two "old friends" in a vocabulary list though - the romanian words "dulap" (wardrobe) and "fusta" (skirt) have their equivalents in arabic, apparently ... that is always kind of fun ...

[onlyMark]

There are a lot of words of Arabic origin in English that you'd recognise and are still used. I doubt though you'd need to use assassin but more likely caravan, for instance.

[Deleted]

I've always enjoyed the fact the Arabic has no letter P. I live in Baris.

[rikita]

found various website teaching darija (moroccan arabic) now, so i am concentrating on that. won't manage more than a few polite phrases though - wish i had time to really study for an hour or so every day - but i guess for the important communication i will use french (which in my case is far from good, but hopefully will suffice) ...

i can usually recognize all letters now when i read something (except i keep confusing a few of them), but without the vowels i usually wouldn't know how to pronounce what i read, unless it is a word i know well ... still, it is fun to learn a new writing system, and a new language ...