Archive for the ‘Learn Egyptian Phrases’ Category

Learn Egyptian Arabic Survival Phrases

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Egypt, as a destination, has gained popularity with tourist due to its hot, sunny weather and the diversity of its culture. There is a lot to see and do from visiting the pyramids, to spending whole days on the beaches of Sharm-el-sheikh.

If you’re thinking of traveling to Egypt, learning a few Egyptian Arabic survival words and phrases may be a good idea. It shows the locals that you’re courteous and you’re more likely to learn more about the country and its culture by communicating with people in their native language. You will be pleased to know that many Egyptians actually speak English so even if you don’t manage to learn much, you’re not likely to end up in an awkward situation where communication is impossible.

We will run through some of the main Egyptian Arabic phrases you’re most likely to use when going on holiday to Egypt.

We’ll start with single, easy and essential words like hotel and restaurant. In Egyptian Arabic:

hotel = fundoq
restaurant = mat’aam

Some other essential words include:

please = men-fadlak
sorry/excuse me = assef

Now we can move on to some essential phrases like when you go into a shop and wish to purchase something by saying:
How Much? = bekam?

If you’re lost and want to ask for your way round, you can use:

I want to go to… = Ayez arrouh ella…
where is…? = fein….?
can you take me to this address? = Hal yomken an takhozny ela haza alaonwan?

When you meet new locals and you wish to introduce yourself, use

my name is… = esmi…
To greet, you will want to use how are you = ez-zayyak (when addressing men)
how are you = ez zayyek? (when addressing women)

…and nice to meet you (Saadot belkak).

Another useful Egyptian Arabic phrases are:

I don’t speak arabic? = ma-batkallamsh arabi?
and I don’t understand = ana mish fahem

Finally you might want to know these phrases when you’re on your way back from Egypt and you need to find out what time your flight is. For this you can use:

when does the….arrive? = emta wussul…?
and when does the…leave? emta qiyam…?

So now that you know these Egyptian Arabic phrases, you should be able to take on Egypt on your travel. I hope you have a good time :)

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Learn Egyptian Arabic Basic Phrases

Friday, May 28th, 2010

Ahlan!

Just like when it comes to learning any other language, learning Egyptian Arabic requires a great deal of time, practice and repetition.

However, if you are new to the language and you’re not sure where to start, this article will provide you with some useful basic Egyptian Arabic phrases to get you going.

Learning a new language can become extremely frustrating (trust me, I know!). This tends to be the case when learners jump ahead of themselves by trying to remember a maximum number of words and phrases in a minimum space of time. Realistically this does not work in the long run which leads to people giving up.

The best way to learn is to concentrate on learning 2-3 words per day and going over them again everyday whilst adding a new word. To start out, it’s best to begin with short, easy to remember, single words such as ‘Yes’ and ‘No’

The word ‘No’ is probably the easiest word you can start with and is pronounced as la (لا).

The word ‘Yes’ can be used in two different ways; aywa (ايوا) which is the Egyptian way of saying it and na’am (نعم), which is the modern standard Arabic (MSA) way of saying it, but is also used in Egyptian Arabic.

Next we move on to greetings starting with word ‘hi’ or ‘welcome’, both of which can be expressed in Egyptian Arabic by using the word ahlan wa sahlan (اهلا وسهلا) or simply just ahlan.

When saying ‘goodbye’ to someone, you would normally use the phrase ma’asalama (مع السلامة) but for a beginner this is slightly more advanced. Using the word (Salam سلام) on its own is fine. These days a lot of Egyptians, especially the youth, use the English word ‘bye’ as a result of western influence.

The most common word new learners pick up first is how to say ‘thank you’, the Egyptian word for this is shukran (شكرا)

Another common word, which you probably have already heard of, is the word (Habibi حبيبي) which means ‘my love’ or ‘my darling’ ;)

Finally, we will end with the simple Egyptian word (esmi اسمي), which when translated to English means ‘my name is’. So I would say esmi Charlotte Smith :)

So that’s it for today’s lesson. Keep practicing and stay tuned for some more learning material.

I used this website to learn Egyptian Arabic: check it out here.

Take care,
Charlotte

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