Archive for 'Culture'
Perceptions of Standard Arabic and colloquial dialects Posted by aziza on Sep 8, 2012
Learners of Arabic as a foreign language often wonder which variety of Arabic to learn. The advice that we give to them is to learn Modern Standard Arabic (الفصحى) which is the variety used in written and formal spoken media (e.g. the news). Then after achieving some proficiency in MSA, we advise learners to acquaint…
Egyptian Proverbs (6) Posted by Fisal on Sep 7, 2012
Arabic proverbs الأمثال العربية reflect the beauty of the Arabic Language and the wisdom حكمة of the Arabs العرب and their culture الثقافة . In Egypt, these proverbs are part of everyone’s daily routine. There is no one single situation موقف that would not have the perfect proverb tailored for it. Just for the…
Al-Biruni Posted by Fisal on Sep 5, 2012
Abu-Rayhan Al-Biruni; (973 – 1048) Yesterday, Google celebrated the birthday of the great Muslim scientist of the medieval Islamic era. Abo Rayhan Muhammad Ahmad Al-Bairuni أبو ريحان محمد أحمد البيرونى was born on 5 September 973 in Kath, Khwarazm; known today as the region of Uzbekistan. He was a traveler, philosopher, astronomer, mathematician, chemist…
Food words that are very easy to learn Posted by aziza on Aug 31, 2012
There are many types of foods in Arabic that are very easy to learn for foreign students of Arabic because the names of these foods in Arabic are very similar to their names in European languages. If you think about one of these foods, e.g. “burger” and how you say it in English, it will…
Fisal’s Dictionary: “to pull” Posted by Fisal on Aug 29, 2012
Today, we are going to go on a journey to the depths of the Arabic Dictionary in order to discover some of its secrets. We will look up the root verb شــَـــدَّ and explore some of its derivatives. * شـَــدَّ [V. I.T.]: 1- (something) = to become strong and firm. Ex. –…
Listening comprehension exercise, answers and transcription Posted by aziza on Aug 28, 2012
In the previous post, I presneted a listening comprehension exercise. In this post, I present the answsers of the questions and the transcription of the news item. Questions and Answers: 1- What is the purpose of the work that Israeli engineers are undertaking? The purpose of the excavation is to complete the discovery of the…
Listening Comprehension exercise Posted by aziza on Aug 28, 2012
Please watch the video below, and try to answer the questions that follow. To make your task easier, I add the translation of key words below. Questions: 1- What is the purpose of the excavation that Israeli engineers are undertaking? 2- How old are some of the weapons discovered? 3- What is so strange about…