Learn about some things you should avoid while in the Arab world, like public displays of affection
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Natasha: Hello. It’s me, Natasha. |
| Judith: Absolute Beginner, Season 1, Lesson 23, “Do’s and Don’ts in the Arabic-speaking World. |
| Natasha: Hello everyone, I’m Natasha and welcome to ArabicPod101.com. |
| Judith: With us, you’ll learn to speak Arabic with fun and effective lessons. |
| Natasha: We also provide you with the cultural insights. |
| Judith: And tips you won’t find in any textbook. In this lesson, you will learn how to describe what is happening right now. |
| Natasha: This conversation takes place at a hotel in Dubai. |
| Judith: The conversation is between Khalid and his friend who comes from a village. They are speaking informal modern standard Arabic. |
| Natasha: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUES |
| Judith:أوه انظر إلى هذين الإثنين |
| Judith: من؟ |
| Judith:هذين الأمريكيين |
| Judith:ماذا بشأنهما؟ |
| Judith:يرتديان ملابس غير لائقة ويمسكان بأيديهما، ويبدوان ثملين |
| Judith: بار الفندق يبيع الخمور، لماذا لا يشربان هناك؟ |
| Judith: انظر إنهما يقبلان بعضهما |
| Judith:هذه دبي. أعتقد أنك سترى العديد من الأشياء الجديدة |
| Natasha: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Judith:أوه انظر إلى هذين الإثنين |
| Judith: من؟ |
| Judith:هذين الأمريكيين |
| Judith:ماذا بشأنهما؟ |
| Judith:يرتديان ملابس غير لائقة ويمسكان بأيديهما، ويبدوان ثملين |
| Judith: بار الفندق يبيع الخمور، لماذا لا يشربان هناك؟ |
| Judith: انظر إنهما يقبلان بعضهما |
| Judith:هذه دبي. أعتقد أنك سترى العديد من الأشياء الجديدة |
| Natasha: Now, let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Judith:أوه انظر إلى هذين الإثنين |
| Natasha: Whoa, look at those two. |
| Judith: من؟ |
| Natasha: Who? |
| Judith:هذين الأمريكيين |
| Natasha: Those Americans. |
| Judith:ماذا بشأنهما؟ |
| Natasha: What about them? |
| Judith:يرتديان ملابس غير لائقة ويمسكان بأيديهما، ويبدوان ثملين |
| Natasha: They are wearing indecent clothing and holding hands. And they seem to be drunk. |
| Judith: بار الفندق يبيع الخمور، لماذا لا يشربان هناك؟ |
| Natasha: The hotel bar sells alcohol. So why shouldn’t they drink it? |
| Judith: انظر إنهما يقبلان بعضهما |
| Natasha: Look, now they’re kissing. |
| Judith:هذه دبي. أعتقد أنك سترى العديد من الأشياء الجديدة |
| Natasha: This is Dubai, I think you’ll see many new things. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Judith: This is something I’ve always wondered about. What can I or can’t I do on Arab street? |
| Natasha: Probably, the most important thing is not to criticize Islam, the scope of religion in Muslim states goes far beyond that in the West and any criticism of Islam is likely to be taken personally. |
| Judith: This may be difficult for travelers as Arabs will often ask a lot of questions about your religion, but if you’re just stating the facts, rather than expressing any opinions, you should be able to avoid any problems. |
| Natasha: Also, any public affection between the sexes is frowned upon, even between two foreigners. It is likely to, at best, attract unwanted attention. At worst, end up with a criminal proceedings even in liberal Dubai. |
| Judith: If in doubt, do as the locals do. Also, relation between the sexes in general are more reserved and it is best to stick to friends of the same sex until you feel more comfortable with the culture around you. |
| Natasha: Politeness is also a big factor in Arab society. As mentioned before, greetings often last much longer than in the West and there are multitude of florid phrases to express thanks and express wishes. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Judith: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is... |
| Natasha: أمريكي |
| Judith: American |
| Natasha: أمريكي |
| Judith: Next. |
| Natasha: بشأنهما |
| Judith: About them. |
| Natasha: بشأنهما |
| Judith: Next. |
| Natasha: ملابس |
| Judith: Clothing or outfit. |
| Natasha: ملابس |
| Judith: Next. |
| Natasha: غير لائق |
| Judith: Indecent. |
| Natasha: غير لائق |
| Judith: Next. |
| Natasha: مسك |
| Judith: To grasp, hold or keep. |
| Natasha: مسك |
| Judith: Next. |
| Natasha: يد |
| Judith: Hand. |
| Natasha: يد |
| Judith: Next. |
| Natasha: بدا |
| Judith: Look like or seem. |
| Natasha: بدا |
| Judith: Next. |
| Natasha: ثمل |
| Judith: Drunk. |
| Natasha: ثمل |
| Judith: Next. |
| Natasha: خمور |
| Judith: Alcohol. |
| Natasha: خمور |
| Judith: Next. |
| Natasha: لماذا |
| Judith: Why. |
| Natasha: لماذا |
| Judith: Next |
| Natasha: يقبلان بعضهما |
| Judith: They are kissing. |
| Natasha: يقبلان بعضهما |
| Judith: Next. |
| Natasha: أعتقد |
| Judith: To think. |
| Natasha: أعتقد |
| Judith: Next. |
| Natasha: جديد |
| Judith: New. |
| Natasha: جديد |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Natasha: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Judith: The first phrase we’ll look at is... |
| Natasha: "hadhayni al'ithnayn" means “these two.” We have seen the demonstrative pronoun "hadhaa" in several forms. It’s "hadhaa" for masculine nouns, "hadhihi" for feminine nouns and "ha'ula'" for groups of people. "yumskaani bi'aydiihimaa" means “they are holding hands, literally,“ they’re holding at their hands.” The word for hand is just "yad" but because of the plural and the “at” and the “their” suffix, it becomes this long word. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Natasha: The focus of this lesson is the dual for pronouns and verbs. The dual does not just affect nouns and adjectives, there are also some special pronouns for when there are two people. The word for “we” does not change, it remains "naHnu". For “you too” however, the word is "'antumaa",and for “they too,” the word is "humaa". |
| Judith: These dual pronouns and dual nouns may entail different verb endings. In classical Arabic, it is mandatory to use dual verb endings. In informal modern standard Arabic, it is less common and in the dialects there is no dual left. So, this is something that is going out of style. |
| Natasha: Still, we should mention the endings so that they don’t confuse you if you see them. |
| Judith: Okay, then tell us about them. |
| Natasha: For “you too,” in the perfect tense the ending is -tumaa, as in "katabtumaa". For “you all,” regular plural, the ending is -tum. So we just added -aa to make it -tumaa. For “they too,” in the perfect tense, the ending is simply -aa, as in "katabaa". |
| Judith: I see a pattern. |
| Natasha: In the present tense, you know that the plural forms ended in -uuna. “You all are writing,” is "taktubuuna" and “They’re all writing,” is "yaktubuuna". For the dual, replace -uuna with -aani in both cases, "taktubaani" and "yaktubaani". |
| Judith: Sounds easy enough? That just about does it for today. |
Outro |
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| Judith:Okay, see you next time! |
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