do you speak arabic?

[sereia 0]

Does anyone here speak Arabic or is actively trying to learn to speak Arabic? My husband teaches me words here and there...and recently taught me the alphabet/numbers... but I want to have a conversation with his family when we return to Morocco. And DEFINITELY by the time we have a wedding someday. Knowing words but not how to form them into a sentence really is frustrating! What are you using to learn/used to learn, If anything? Or did you have your husband teach you?

[yassmine2878 1]

I know lots of dirty words and slang I also know a few basic conversational phrases that mostly get used on my MIL, but other than that I know enough to rant or know when hubby is fussy.

I tried learning the alphabet on my own, but I got soooo bogged down. I found I do much better just by listening to the hubster talk and occasionally picking up a repeated word. When Im feeling extra-smart I ask him for new words one at a time. It usually takes a few days of repeated use to get new words to sink in, so its slow going. Maybe Ill have more time and drive to pursue it now that Im on maternity leave.

[amal 4]

I have learned quite a bit actually and noticed that one of the fastest ways was to listen carefully to his phone conversations. I'd pick up on certain words he said all the time and then ask him what they meant. I'm now on my way to learning "pharmacy Arabic" so I can help the arabian customers that come into my pharmacy. I can have a short conversation with hubsters family so that makes me happy. I still have a lot to learn though...

[Y's_habibitk 2]

I know very little. All the lovey dovey talk of course hee hee

I am trying to learn some basic phrases before I go to Jordan and meet the family next month

I learn mostly from him. I have found a few sites that have some very basic arabic sentences, and words. I have heard wonderful things about the Rosetta Stone programs.

I am hoping once he gets here, I will learn quickly ha ha

[Tunisianlover 0]

Rosetta Stone is great!!!!! Plus, listening to him helps like the others had said. I know all the bad words and a few lovey words, hellos and goodbye but I have learned that when I listen to his phone conversations without even thinking about I get the jist of the conversation. So my advoce listen to every word. My SO freaks out when I know what he is sayin. Its so funny to hear him talking about our me when is mad in arabic, and I just turn around repeat it back to him and we laugh it off. Its a great "get back on his good side" technique

[sereia 0]

i also do the same with my husband. especially while in morocco i could listen and hear words that are repeated often and figure out what they meant. i've got a decent vocabulary going but putting sentences together is the part i need help with. maybe i'll check out the rosetta stone and have my husband give me lessons. the only problem is i assume the rosetta stone is classical arabic and not darija. hmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Edited December 14, 2007 by sereia

[Tunisianlover 0]

i also do the same with my husband. especially while in morocco i could listen and hear words that are repeated often and figure out what they meant. i've got a decent vocabulary going but putting sentences together is the part i need help with. maybe i'll check out the rosetta stone and have abdou give me lessons. the only problem is i assume the rosetta stone is classical arabic and not darija. hmmmmmmmmmmmm!

its the basic arabic that all arabs should know. My SO is Tunisian and he says there are so many dialects, assume you know that but they all can speak the basic and understand.

[sereia 0]

i mainly want to speak darija because thats what my husbands family speak. i want to be able to talk to them more than anything!!! although knowing classical would be cool for travel purposes...

[~~~water~~~ 0]

I can read it slowly and my accent is awful but I understand quite a bit and can usually get my point across when I try to talk , but its all such a broken mess

[Tunisianlover 0]

i mainly want to speak darija because thats what my husbands family speak. i want to be able to talk to them more than anything!!! although knowing classical would be cool for travel purposes...

That would be nice to speak theirt dialect, well listen to every word honey and make him help you!! My SO does not have the skills to teach me. He can get all inpatient about it. So he buys me books and its a good laugh. If your SO is patient then make him teach you a bit half to one hour a day and in 3 months you should be able to form sentences. Good luck with the fam.

[Beauty for Ashes 257]

i mainly want to speak darija because thats what my husbands family speak. i want to be able to talk to them more than anything!!! although knowing classical would be cool for travel purposes...

That would be nice to speak theirt dialect, well listen to every word honey and make him help you!! My SO does not have the skills to teach me. He can get all inpatient about it. So he buys me books and its a good laugh. If your SO is patient then make him teach you a bit half to one hour a day and in 3 months you should be able to form sentences. Good luck with the fam.

My story is really funny with darja.. I have spoken darja for about 3 years and been around Algerians and Algeria for almost 7 years. But I married a wahrani and he speaks an entirely different dialect than Algiers. If I speak several words in Algerois to a moroccan, they will not understand it, but they usually understand Wahranis. I cannot understand very many words in Orani because I was never exposed to them before last year

The reason is the ethnic backgrounds of the areas. Algiers was a turkish city so you hear words ending with ik ak and ek

wash bik

wash rak

oran is

ghraya sahbi

kiraki raya?

Moroccans completley understand wahranis but if someone from Algiers wants NOT to be understood, they can launch into Algerois really heavy and no one gets it. Whats funny is that I DO NOT understand arabic but I understand ALGERIAN ARABIC so if Algerians start talking and I am around arabs, the only one that understands is me( this comes from being over there in Algeria and France not from a book.

ORANI DIALECT

ALGIERS DIALECT

cI5O_nBb-RU

ALGIERS DIALECT

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

The reason is the ethnic backgrounds of the areas. Algiers was a turkish city so you hear words ending with ik ak and ek

wash bik

wash rak

No no no, this is completely incorrect. The -ik, -ak and -ek suffixes (meaning "you" in the objective position), and bik and fik and rak -- these are all standard Arabic.

The -ak and -ek (or -ik) suffixes that you see in Turkish mean something completely different -- they denote the infinitive form of a verb.

[Beauty for Ashes 257]

The reason is the ethnic backgrounds of the areas. Algiers was a turkish city so you hear words ending with ik ak and ek

wash bik

wash rak

No no no, this is completely incorrect. The -ik, -ak and -ek suffixes (meaning "you" in the objective position), and bik and fik and rak -- these are all standard Arabic.

The -ak and -ek (or -ik) suffixes that you see in Turkish mean something completely different -- they denote the infinitive form of a verb.

Interesting......

I stand corrected.. I was told that the turkish occupation is why the arabic uses this ending and Oran doesnt... I stand corrected

The reason is the ethnic backgrounds of the areas. Algiers was a turkish city so you hear words ending with ik ak and ek

wash bik

wash rak

No no no, this is completely incorrect. The -ik, -ak and -ek suffixes (meaning "you" in the objective position), and bik and fik and rak -- these are all standard Arabic.

The -ak and -ek (or -ik) suffixes that you see in Turkish mean something completely different -- they denote the infinitive form of a verb.

What did you think of ton ton and bakhta WOM?

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

What did you think of ton ton and bakhta WOM?

The only "ton ton" I know is Haitian French creole for "uncle." Not sure about "bakhta".... hmmm sounds like it could be Hindu.... but I have a hunch that what you're talking about may be something related to North African music ?

[sereia 0]

are you fluent in Arabic, WOM?