Learn how to talk about abstract topics
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ArabicPod101.com This is Lower Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 3 - Planning a Vacation in Egypt. Becky Here. |
| Nora: Hi, I'm Nora. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the verb نفسي, which means "I wish" or "I want". |
| Becky: This conversation takes place between two coworkers who wish they could take time off work for a vacation. |
| Nora: It's between Fadia and Saleem. |
| Becky: The speakers are coworkers, so they will be using informal Egyptian Arabic. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| فاديا: نفسي يبقى عندي الحرية إني ألف العالم، بس جدولي و فلوسي محدودين. |
| سليم: وأنا كمان. دة مراتي هتفرح أوي لو أخدتها مكان استوائي على الشاطئ في الأجازة. |
| فاديا: أنا الأجازة المثالية بالنسبة لي تبقي على جبال الألب السويسرية. دايماً كان نفسي أشوف الثلج وأتنفس هوا الجبل النقي. |
| سليم: ممكن في المستقبل واحد مننا يبقى مدير ويدي كل العاملين حرية أكتر للسفر. |
| فاديا: فيوم من الأيام، إن شاء الله، هنعكس السياسة دي الَي بتخلينا نكون مرتبطين بشغلنا بزيادة. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| فاديا: نفسي يبقى عندي الحرية إني ألف العالم، بس جدولي و فلوسي محدودين. |
| سليم: وأنا كمان. دة مراتي هتفرح أوي لو أخدتها مكان استوائي على الشاطئ في الأجازة. |
| فاديا: أنا الأجازة المثالية بالنسبة لي تبقي على جبال الألب السويسرية. دايماً كان نفسي أشوف الثلج وأتنفس هوا الجبل النقي. |
| سليم: ممكن في المستقبل واحد مننا يبقى مدير ويدي كل العاملين حرية أكتر للسفر. |
| فاديا: فيوم من الأيام، إن شاء الله، هنعكس السياسة دي الَي بتخلينا نكون مرتبطين بشغلنا بزيادة. |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation |
| Fadia: I wish I had the freedom to travel the world, but my schedule and money is limited. |
| Saleem: Me too. It would bring my wife so much joy if I could take her to a tropical location on the beach for a vacation. |
| Fadia: My dream vacation would be to the Swiss Alps. I have always wanted to see snow and breathe the fresh mountain air. |
| Saleem: Maybe in the future one of us will become the boss and can give all employees more freedom to travel. |
| Fadia: One day, if God wills, we will reverse the policy that requires us to be over-connected to our jobs. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Nora, I think that in the dialogue we heard the most common phrases you hear in conversation throughout the Arab and Muslim world. |
| Nora: That’s right! It’s Inshallah. |
| Becky: It literally means “God willing” or “if Allah wills” and it’s used in conversation any time there is a reference to the future, big or small. Right? |
| Nora: That’s right. It’s important to note that even though this seems to have a religious connotation, it has wide-ranging and flexible applications that are not usually religious in nature. |
| Becky: It might seem like a hassle at first to remember to include this phrase in conversation, but it will quickly become natural. I’ve even heard people use this phrase even when they’re speaking in English and other languages. |
| Nora: Yes, it’s true! I think it represents a cultural custom regarding time that extends beyond the Arabic-speaking world. |
| Becky: Okay! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Now, let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nora: الحرية [natural native speed] |
| Becky: freedom |
| Nora: الحرية[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: الحرية [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: جدول [natural native speed] |
| Becky: schedule |
| Nora: جدول[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: جدول [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: فلوس [natural native speed] |
| Becky: money (Egyptian Arabic) |
| Nora: فلوس[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: فلوس [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: مراتي [natural native speed] |
| Becky: my wife |
| Nora: مراتي[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: مراتي [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: أوي [natural native speed] |
| Becky: very (Egyptian Arabic) |
| Nora: أوي[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: أوي [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: المثالية [natural native speed] |
| Becky: ideal |
| Nora: المثالية[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: المثالية [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: أشوف [natural native speed] |
| Becky: I see |
| Nora: أشوف[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: أشوف [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: الثلج [natural native speed] |
| Becky: snow, ice |
| Nora: الثلج[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: الثلج [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: المستقبل [natural native speed] |
| Becky: the future |
| Nora: المستقبل[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: المستقبل [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And last.. |
| Nora: مدير [natural native speed] |
| Becky: manager |
| Nora: مدير[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: مدير [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nora: فلوس |
| Becky: meaning "money". |
| Nora: This is a feminine noun that can be used in the Egyptian dialect to mean "money", but it can also be used in the context of this dialogue to mean "finances." |
| Becky: Is there anything special about this word? |
| Nora: Well, it’s commonly used to mean both "money" and "finances." It can’t be made into an adjective though. In Egypt, the currency is the Egyptian pound or جنيه مصرى |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. معاك فلوس؟ - لأ |
| Becky: ...which means "Do you have any money on you? - No". |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Nora: مراتي |
| Becky: meaning "my wife ". |
| Nora: This word comes from the standard Arabic word for “woman,” which is مراة. |
| Becky: Is there any difference between standard Arabic and Egyptian Arabic? |
| Nora: In Arabic, the word “wife” is زوجة but in Egyptian Arabic, it is مراة. The sound تي at the end, is to show possession. Replace the تي with a different possessive ending if you want to change possession. |
| Becky: Is there anything else we should know about this phrase? |
| Nora: Just be aware that you can't use the word مراه on its own, without a possessive pronoun, as it can be very insulting. So basically if you want to say "a wife" without possessive pronouns, use the word زوجة. |
| Becky: Good to know. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. مراتي حامل - بجد؟ |
| Becky: ... which means "My wife is pregnant. - Really?!" |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Nora: إن شاء الله |
| Becky: meaning "if God wills it" or "God willing". |
| Nora: إن means “if,” شاء means “wills,” and الله means “God.” |
| Becky: When should you use this phrase? |
| Nora: Use this phrase in conversation before or after any reference to the future. |
| Becky: You should ALWAYS use this phrase in any and every situation to sound like a native speaker. It might seem to have a religious connotation, but it is used much more widely. It can and should be used for any reference to the future, big or small. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. هتسافر بكره؟ - إن شاء الله |
| Becky: .. which means "Are you travelling tomorrow? - If God wills." - This is actually a “yes” even though the word “yes” wasn’t mentioned! |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to discuss abstract topics such as freedom of travel. |
| Nora: Specifically, you will learn how to use the Verb نفسي, which means "I wish" or "I want". |
| Becky: This phrase is very simple and you can use it in many different situations. You can use it to talk about anything you want or wish for, big or small. |
| Nora: Just start a sentence with نفسي, which means "I want..." then conjugate the rest of the sentence in the present tense. |
| Becky: For example, in the dialogue Fadia says "I wish I had the freedom to travel the world..." |
| Nora: which is نفسي يبقى عندي الحرية إني ألف العالم |
| Becky: If you want to use this construction to refer to someone else, you have to change the possessive ending on the first word which is نفس and the verb conjugation of the second word. |
| Nora: For example, “she wants to eat” would be نفسها تاكل. |
| Becky: So the structure is... |
| Nora: نفس + possessive ending followed by the conjugated verb. |
| Becky: Ok. Let’s see some sample sentences. |
| Nora: Sure!نفسي أروح مصر |
| Becky: Which means "I want to go to Egypt." |
| Nora: مراتك مصرية؟ |
| Becky: "Is your wife Egyptian?" |
| Nora: معاه فلوس كتير |
| Becky: "He has a lot of money." |
Outro |
| Becky: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Remember to check the lesson notes for more examples and explanations. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Nora: مع السلامة |
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