Learn what to expect when meeting an Egyptian family, including what is considered polite, and about the verb "to have"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natasha: Hello. It’s me Natasha. |
| Natasha: Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 12, “Meeting an Arabic-speaking Family.” Hello and welcome back to ArabicPod101.com, the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Arabic. I’m joined in the studio by… |
| Natasha: Hello, everyone, Natasha is here. |
| Natasha: In this lesson, you will learn how to order a drink. |
| Natasha: This conversation takes place at Ahmad’s family home. |
| Natasha: The conversation is between Muhammad and Ahmad. |
| Natasha: This dialogue is in informal Modern Standard Arabic. |
| Natasha: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUES |
| Judith: مرحبا. |
| Judith: أهلا محمد، رجاء تفضل، كيف حالك؟ |
| Judith: أنا بخير، الحمد لله، وأنت؟ |
| Judith: أنا بخير، شكرا. هذا أخي سعيد وهذه أمي. |
| Judith: فرصة سعيدة. أليس لديك أخت أيضا؟ |
| Judith: نعم، عندي أخت ولكنها في الجامعة. ماذا تحب أن تشرب؟ |
| Judith: هل عندكم بيبسي؟ |
| Judith: لا ليس لدينا بيبسي ، فقط كوكاكولا، ما رأيك؟ |
| Judith: جميل. |
| Judith: حسنا، لحظة من فضلك. |
| Natasha: Now, slowly. |
| Judith: مرحبا. |
| Judith: أهلا محمد، رجاء تفضل، كيف حالك؟ |
| Judith: أنا بخير، الحمد لله، وأنت؟ |
| Judith: أنا بخير، شكرا. هذا أخي سعيد وهذه أمي. |
| Judith: فرصة سعيدة. أليس لديك أخت أيضا؟ |
| Judith: نعم، عندي أخت ولكنها في الجامعة. ماذا تحب أن تشرب؟ |
| Judith: هل عندكم بيبسي؟ |
| Judith: لا ليس لدينا بيبسي ، فقط كوكاكولا، ما رأيك؟ |
| Judith: جميل. |
| Judith: حسنا، لحظة من فضلك. |
| Natasha: Now with the translation. |
| Judith: مرحبا. |
| Natasha: Hello. |
| Judith: أهلا محمد، رجاء تفضل، كيف حالك؟ |
| Natasha: Hello, Muhammad, please come in. How are you? |
| Judith: أنا بخير، الحمد لله، وأنت؟ |
| Natasha: I’m okay, thanks to God. And you? |
| Judith: أنا بخير، شكرا. هذا أخي سعيد وهذه أمي. |
| Natasha: Also good, thanks. This is my brother Syed and that is my mother. |
| Judith: فرصة سعيدة. أليس لديك أخت أيضا؟ |
| Natasha: Nice to meet you. Don’t you have a sister too? |
| Judith: نعم، عندي أخت ولكنها في الجامعة. ماذا تحب أن تشرب؟ |
| Natasha: Yes, I do but she is at university. What do you like to drink? |
| Judith: هل عندكم بيبسي؟ |
| Natasha: Do you have Pepsi? |
| Judith: لا ليس لدينا بيبسي ، فقط كوكاكولا، ما رأيك؟ |
| Natasha: There’s no Pepsi, only Coca-Cola, is that okay? |
| Judith: جميل. |
| Natasha: Coca-Cola is okay. |
| Judith: حسنا، لحظة من فضلك. |
| Natasha: Here you go. Excuse me for a moment. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Natasha: If I’m a tourist and I got to meet an Arab family, maybe I have a friend down there, I’m meeting his family, what should I pay attention to, what should I do or not do? |
| Natasha: Greeting an Arabic acquaintance is a longer process than in the west. It is not uncommon for multiple greetings to be used and then followed by increasing forward ways of asking about each other’s health. It is usual to shake hands although not as firmly as in the west. To be especially polite, you can cup your right elbow in your left hand. You only ever shake hands with the right. |
| Natasha: How about women? Is there a difference? |
| Natasha: Most of the women do shake hands but some of them, the more religious one, probably will not shake hands with men. |
| Natasha: So you guys just watch out and see what will happen. Take the cue from them. |
| Natasha: Yeah. That would be the best way. |
| Natasha: Is it even possible to see women, I mean, in the more traditional households? |
| Natasha: Traditional is different from religious, so I would say, yeah, you will actually see women but they will probably…if they are very religious, they will be probably covered. They would greet you and probably women will stay in the different room than men. |
| Natasha: So they greet you and then you don’t see them anymore? |
| Natasha: Yeah, but if you’re a woman, you will join them in the same room. |
| Natasha: Okay, so I guess western women are in the best position. |
| Natasha: Yeah. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: Okay. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is… |
| Natasha: رجاء تفضل |
| Natasha: Please come in. |
| Natasha: رجاء تفضل |
| Natasha: Next. |
| Natasha: أخ |
| Natasha: Brother. |
| Natasha: أخ |
| Natasha: Next. |
| Natasha: أم |
| Natasha: Mother. |
| Natasha: أم |
| Natasha: Next. |
| Natasha: أخت |
| Natasha: Sister. |
| Natasha: أخت |
| Natasha: Next. |
| Natasha: أحب |
| Natasha: To like. |
| Natasha: أحب |
| Natasha: Next. |
| Natasha: شرب |
| Natasha: To drink. |
| Natasha: شرب |
| Natasha: Next. |
| Natasha: فقط |
| Natasha: Only. |
| Natasha: فقط |
| Natasha: Next. |
| Natasha: ما |
| Natasha: What. |
| Natasha: ما |
| Natasha: Next. |
| Natasha: رأي |
| Natasha: Opinion or view. |
| Natasha: رأي |
| Natasha: Next. |
| Natasha: لحظة |
| Natasha: Moment, short while or glance. |
| Natasha: لحظة |
| Natasha: Next. |
| Natasha: من فضلك |
| Natasha: Please. |
| Natasha: من فضلك |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Natasha: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Natasha: The first word we’ll look at is “laysa” |
| Natasha: To make sentences with “to have, negative,” you have to use "laysa". |
| Natasha: For example, "Laysa ladiinaa Pepsi" Pepsi. |
| Natasha: We don’t have Pepsi. |
| Natasha: "maa rayak" |
| Natasha: Literally means, “What is your opinion of it?” |
| Natasha: But it can also be used as, “Is it okay?” In today’s dialogue, Ahmad says that he only has Coca-Cola, "maa rayak?" |
| Natasha: Is that okay? |
| Natasha: "min faDlak" and "tafaDDal" can both mean, “Please.” However, "tafaDDal" is used when you’re giving something to someone or inviting them to take a seat or the like whereas "min faDlak" is used when you’re making a request. The -ak in "min faDlak" is the male possessive ending. So when talking to a woman, you have to say "min faDlik" instead. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Judith: The focus of this lesson is the verb “to have.” In Arabic, to have is expressed with the possessive endings. |
| Natasha: Simply take the stem "´ind" and add the possessive ending to these. For example "´indii" and “E” for “I” as I have is “I have.” |
| Judith: This is counterintuitive but easier than learning completely new endings. I think we should compare the forms of “to have” to the forms of “my name,” “your name,” “his name” and so on for clarity. |
| Natasha: ismii - ´indii |
| Judith: I have. |
| Natasha: ismak (alternative for "ismuka") - ´indak |
| Judith: You have, to a man. |
| Natasha: ismik (alternative for "ismuki") - ´indik |
| Judith: You have, to a woman. |
| Natasha: ismuhu - ´indhu |
| Judith: He has. |
| Natasha: ismuhaa - ´indhaa |
| Judith: She has. |
| Natasha: ismunaa - ´indnaa |
| Judith: We have. |
| Natasha: ismukum - ´indkum |
| Judith: You all have, to a group of men or a mixed group. |
| Natasha: ismuhum - ´indhum |
| Judith: They have. |
| Natasha: Note that letter “E” is an alternative to "´ind", which is preferred in some situation. This is why we had e. g. "ladiinaa" in today’s dialogue for we have instead of "´indnaa". |
Outro |
|---|
| Natasha: That just about does it for today. |
| Judith: Listeners, have you ever dreamt of starring in one of our lessons? |
| Natasha: If your answer is yes, use the voice recording tool on the lessons page. |
| Judith: Record your voice with a click of a button. |
| Natasha: And then play it back just as easily. |
| Judith: And then compare it to the native speakers in the lesson. |
| Natasha: And adjust your pronunciation. |
| Judith: After a few tries, you’ll be speaking better Arabic than Judith here. |
| Natasha: Hey. |
| Judith: Go to ArabicPod101.com and rapidly improve your Arabic pronunciation. See you next time! |
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