In this part two post, we’ll continue listening to a clip about the old Damascus style houses and answer some questions. I have provided the Arabic transcription to help you follow along as you listen to the speakers and an English translation below.

Again, you’ll hear the reporter speaking in Modern Standard Arabic when describing these houses and Syrian Levantine Arabic from the two men being interviewed about their houses. 🙂

Before we continue, here is a clip showing the interior and exterior of Damascene houses.

🎇The Damascene house – البيت الدمشقي🎇

🎇المنازل الدمشقية التقليدية طابع مميز وتراث عريق🎇

Transcription: (Minute 1:04 till the end)

المراسل: وفي حين، قرر بعض أصحاب هذه المنازل الاستثمار فيها، تمسك آخرون بها وقرروا الحفاظ عليها رغم كلفة صيانتها المادية

:المتحدث الأول

عماتي وعمومي وقت  لتركولي ما قدروا يتمكنوا أو ما كانوا يتمكنوا من خدمته وصيانته أو تنضيفه، فانهجر البيت وبالتالي أقسام كبيرة منه تعرضت للانهيار وكان في عبء كبير، سوى عبئ كبير على العائلة لإنو ما حدى قدران يرممه. فرودتني الفكرة إنو أنا أحوله لمطعم لأجيب المورد وأكمل ترميمه

:المتحدث الثاني

أنا صرلي تقريباً ساكن هون شي تناعشر سنة بهدا البيت، يعني أنا ومرتي، وكل يوم عن يوم عمبشوف قديش الفن السوري، الهندسة السوري قديش عظيم. لأن اليوم

بكل التقنيات الي موجودة ما بيعرفوا يعمروا للإنسان بيوت بكون فيها مرتاح قد ما مرتاح الانسان في هدا البيت

المراسل: بهندستها المميزة وتفاصيلها الجميلة، لا تزال بعض هذه المنازل الدمشقية التقليدية صامدة في العاصمة السورية تروي حكاية الماضي ويسكنها الحاضر

  📝Questions:

لماذا تركوا له عمات وعمام المتحدث الأول البيت؟

كيف استطاع المتحدث الأول العناية في البيت؟

كم سنة عاش المتحدث الثاني مع زوجته في البيت؟ 

برأي المتحدث الثاني، هل البيوت الجديدة مريحة قد البيوت القديمة؟ 

Why did the aunts and uncles of the first speaker leave him the house? 

How was the first speaker able to take care of the house?

How many years did the second speaker live with his wife in the house? 

In the opinion of the second speaker, are the new houses as comfortable as the old houses?

Translation:

Reporter: While some owners of these houses decided to invest in them, others stuck with them and decided to preserve them despite the cost of their physical maintenance.

The first speaker: When my aunts and uncles left it (the house) to me, they were unable to  take care of it, nor maintain, or clean it. So, the house was abandoned and therefore large parts of it collapsed and it was a great burden, it created a great burden on the family because no one was able to restore it. The idea came to me that I would turn it into a restaurant to get the resource to complete its restoration.

The second speaker: I have been living here in this house for about twelve years, I mean, my wife and I, and day by day, I see how Syrian art and Syrian engineering are great. Because today, with all the technologies that exist, they do not know how to build homes for the person in which he is comfortable, as much as the person is comfortable in this house.

Reporter: With their distinctive architecture and beautiful details, some of these traditional Damascene houses are still standing in the Syrian capital, telling the tale of the past and inhabiting the present.

I hope you enjoyed these two posts about البيوت الدمشقية التقليدية as well as listening to the Syrian Levantine dialect اللهجة الشامية السورية. 

Till next week, happy Arabic learning! 😊