We have a mystery to solve this week! لدينا لغزٌ لنحلّه هذا الأسبوع. This 2 part-blog post is comprehension focused, based on a short clip produced by BBC Arabic.

The mystery is over two particular doors بابين محدّدين in Leinster Gardens in Central London. So, let’s find out what is mysterious about them لنتعرّف على الشيء الغامض حولهما in the video below.

The video (See below) features one of my favourite BBC Arabic TV presenters مقدّم برامج تلفزيونية : Ahmed Fakhouri أحمد الفاخوري.

*Tip: I think Arabic learners – especially those interested in improving their standard Arabic listening skills – can greatly benefit from listening to Ahmed more. The way he speaks Arabic is very clear واضحة للغاية and not fast–paced ليست سريعة plus – he has a very friendly attitude أسلوبه ودود جدًا. For those interested, click here to see more clips by him where he talks about his daily routine روتينه اليومي, work العمل , life in London الحياة في لندن , etc إلخ .

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1. About Leinster Gardens:

Let’s first see what the report says about the street الشارع  where the two mysterious door are حيث يقع البابان الغامضان.

 

First Part

الجزء الأول

Listen to the report carefully & answers the question below >>

استمع جيدًا للتقرير وأجب عن السؤال التالي >>

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  بماذا وصف الصحفيّ شارع لينستير جاردنز؟

1. How did the journalist describe Leinster Gardens?

Quiet & very Poshهادئ وراقي جدًا

Popular/vulgar & noisy شعبيّ وملئ بالضجة

Narrow & Old ضّيق وقديم

Now, fill in the blanks in these sentences below >>

 

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 أي نوع من الناس يسكن هذا الشارع؟

2. What kind of people live in this street?

أناس ……… وأقوياء، يعشقون ……… ويكرهون الضجيج

Rich and powerful people. They adore tea and hate noise

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ماذا أراد الصحفيّ أن يعمل – (كمزحة)؟

3. What did the journalist want to do – (as a joke)?

أراد أن ……….. أجراس …………. و ………

He wanted to ring their doorbells and run away.

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ما شكل الأبواب في هذا الشارع؟

4. What do the doors in this street look like?

 ………… أبواب ……..، ………..، سميكة. لم ……… كثيرًا عبر

Black, high, thick doors. It hasn’t changed much over the years.

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2. The Mystery اللُغْزْ

So, what’s mysterious about those two doors? إذًا، ما هو الغامض حول هذين البابين؟

 

Second Part

الجزء الثاني

 

Again, listen carefully and fill in the blanks in the following sentences, using the correct word(s).

 

……. أرقام البابين هما: ……  و – 

– The door numbers are …… & ……..

ما الغريب في هذين البابين؟*

What’s strange about these two doors?

 

:ليس هناك

There are not:

 Locks …………

Latch ………….

Bells …………..

 

*ما هو الشيء المفقود أيضًا؟

What’s also missing?

 

…………. ليس هناك ……… لاستقبال

There’s no letter plate/opening to receive mail.

…………  …… حتى أنهما …….. مصنوعين

They’re not even made out of wood

 ……………. ليس بها  ………..…  ……

Even the windows, they’re without glass

………. بل ………  بالـ

But painted with paint

……… لم يسبق …..…….. أن رأوا …….. على

The neighbours have never seen anyone on the balcony before

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3. Getting closer to solving the mystery نقترب قليلًا من حل اللغز

Third Part

الجزء الثالث

Again, listen carefully and fill in the blanks in the following sentences, using the correct word(s).

 

But, if we looked at the building from behind!!!

!!لكن لو نظرنا إلى البناء من الخلف

The place of the house is empty!!

!…………   ……… مكان الـ

And what we see at the front is just a frontispiece – a scenery

و ……  ………….  في ………… هو واجهةٌ فقط – للمنظر

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***In the next blog post, we will find out the story behind this mystery and you will also find the correct answers to the exercises above.

 

Stay tuned to know the whole story 😉