Welcome to a new post مرحبًا بكم في مدونة جديدة. The topic today is based on a short clip in Egyptian Arabic, produced by BBC Arabic بي بي سي العربية. The aim is to understand the gist of the clip by focusing on the main vocabulary used as well as some simple comprehension exercises. This is a 2-part blog post and you’ll be able to test your understanding by checking the correct answers that will be provided in the next one.

 

 

*The idea of the clip فكرة المقطع المُصَوَّر 

The clip is about an Egyptian engineer مُهَنْدِسَة مَصْرِيَّة who leaves تَتْرُك her house مَنْزِلَهَا to live لِتَعِيشَ with her son مَعَ ابْنِهَا in a caravan فِي كَارَفَانَ / حَافِلَة on the street فِي الشَّارِعْ!

This is the title of the clip that we will be watching below.

 

This clip benefits from the subtitles that are featured in it and they’re in Standard Arabic. I think it’s a good way to complement what is being said in Egyptian Arabic, so keep an eye on it 😉

 

*The focus will be on the first 2 minutes of the clip.

 

 

Vocabulary List (A): Matching exercises

Here are the first 16 words/ phrases in (Egyptian) Arabic (as they appear chronologically) on the video & as they’re said.

*Please match the English ones with their Arabic counterparts. Correct answers will be provided next week 🙂

*You can compare these words in Egyptian Arabic with the ones in standard Arabic in the subtitles.

 

English	Arabic
Rent	تَخْيًيم
Design	خدمات
I save up	ميّه
Water	كهربا
Locked	أوفّر
Camping	تَمَنْ الإيجَار
Services	مصاريف
Electricity	فواتير
Went	بَدْفَعْها
I’m paying (for) it	جِبْتْ / اشتريت
Bus	أوتوبيس / حافلة
Bedroom	رٌحْتْ
I bought	مصنع حِدادَة
expenses	تصميم
Blacksmith factory	غرفة نوم
Bills	مقفولة

 = = = = = = = = =

 

Comprehension Questions:

Answer these questions by studying the subtitles in the video and the words in the list above (more words to come in the next blog post).

 

.١

لماذا قررت يارا ترك منزلها؟

Why did Yara (the engineer) decide to leave her house?

 

.٢

ما الخطوة الأولى التي أخذتها بارا لحل هذه المشكلة؟

What was the first step that Yara took to solve this problem?

 

.٣

ماذا فعلت يارا بعد ذلك؟

What did Yara do after that?

 

.٤

 ما هي الغرف التي يتكون منها الكارافان/ المنزل المتنقل؟ أذكرها

What are the rooms that the caravan/mobile home consist of?  List them

 

.٥

كيف تقوم يارا بتوفير الأموال والطاقة؟

How does Yara save money and energy?

 

.٦

ما هي أدوات الأمان التي تستعملها يارا لحماية الحافلة؟ أذكرها

What are the security tools that Yara uses to protect the bus? List them

 = = = = = = = = =

 

Until next week, keep up the good work 🙂