15 Love phrases in different Arabic dialects Posted by Hanan Ben Nafa on Jul 12, 2017
As always, diversity is a hot topic when it comes to the Arabic language. On that note, our topic today is going to be about the different love expressions used in different Arabic dialects. To do that, we’re using an interesting song (check video below), by the by the Lebanese singer – Sandra –…
Storytelling With Souad Massi Posted by jesa on Jul 8, 2017
Marhaba! Today I want to introduce you to one of my favorite contemporary singers in the Arab world, Souad Massi (سعاد ماسي)! Born in Algeria, Massi is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She first started performing at around the age of 17, and started her career with the political rock band Atakor. After moving to…
Question Words in Arabic [Standard vs Dialects] Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Jul 6, 2017
Arabic question words may vary in form from dialect to dialect. They also vary in their position in the sentence. Following is a list of questions words in Modern Standard Arabic, Egyptian dialect, Levantine dialect, and Yemeni dialect. MSA Examples: مَا اِسْمُك؟ maa ismuk? ‘what is your name? مَاذَا تَفْعَل؟ mathaa tafعal…
Time-related Vocabulary in Colloquial Arabic (Part 2) Posted by Hanan Ben Nafa on Jul 5, 2017
In today’s post, we’re going to learn some everyday, authentic vocabulary about time, using a song (video below) called كِلِّ سَاعَه kil saʕaa by the Lebanese singer – Marwan Al-hkoury مروان خوري The vocabularies we’re going to look at include units of time as well as other phrases to do with time in general…
Arabic Verb Forms: Negation Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Jun 29, 2017
To negate a verb in English, we use the word ‘not’ along with a helping verb that indicates tense, such as ‘doesn’t, don’t’ for present simple, ‘didn’t’ for past simple, ‘hadn’t’ for past perfect simple, and so forth. In Arabic, there are multiple particles for negating verbs. The most common particles in Modern Standard Arabic…
Time-related Vocabulary in Colloquial Arabic (Part 1) Posted by Hanan Ben Nafa on Jun 28, 2017
In today’s post, we’re going to learn about an important, everyday subject, that is time. Asking for the time and being able to tell the time is obviously useful for many reasons and it’s one of the basic skills for any language learner. In order to learn this, I’ve attached a short video below…
Dancing in a Hijab (2) Posted by jesa on Jun 27, 2017
Marhaba! I hope you enjoyed listening to the ballerina’s story and were inspired by her determination to follow her dreams even when others saw her hijab as an impediment. Today, I am sharing the answers to the previous questions in the listening comprehension post. I am also sharing the news story to refresh your memory…