Learn how to welcome someone back from a trip
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ArabicPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 4 - Getting a Warm Welcome in Egypt. Becky Here. |
| Nora: Hi, I'm Nora. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use common expressions in conversation to sound more natural. |
| Nora: This conversation takes place in the office after Naseem returns from a vacation to Sharm el-Sheikh. It's between Saleem and Naseem. |
| Becky: The speakers are coworkers, so they will be using informal Egyptian Arabic. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| سليم: نسيم! إزيّك؟ حمدالله عالسلامة. وحشتني. |
| نسيم: إزيك! أنت كمان وحشتني. كانت رحلة حلوة بس دلوقتي لازم أرجع للشغل. إحنا مشغولين جداً. |
| سليم: آه والله. مشغولين جدا. سافرت فين؟ |
| نسيم: رحت أنا و مراتي شرم الشيخ. كانت جميلة. |
| سليم: عملتو إيه هناك؟ |
| نسيم: عمنا، و عملنا سنوركلينج، و كده. كنت محتاج أجازة.. |
| سليم: ممكن أروح شرم الشيخ مع مراتي. أنا قررت إن بعد الديدلاين ده، هحتاج أجازة أنا كمان. |
| نسيم: أنا سمعت عن سياسة الشركة الجديدة للاجازات. يا رب تعرف تقنع المدير إنه يديك إذن! |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation one time slowly. |
| سليم: نسيم! إزيّك؟ حمدالله عالسلامة. وحشتني. |
| نسيم: إزيك! أنت كمان وحشتني. كانت رحلة حلوة بس دلوقتي لازم أرجع للشغل. إحنا مشغولين جداً. |
| سليم: آه والله. مشغولين جدا. سافرت فين؟ |
| نسيم: رحت أنا و مراتي شرم الشيخ. كانت جميلة. |
| سليم: عملتو إيه هناك؟ |
| نسيم: عمنا، و عملنا سنوركلينج، و كده. كنت محتاج أجازة.. |
| سليم: ممكن أروح شرم الشيخ مع مراتي. أنا قررت إن بعد الديدلاين ده، هحتاج أجازة أنا كمان. |
| نسيم: أنا سمعت عن سياسة الشركة الجديدة للاجازات. يا رب تعرف تقنع المدير إنه يديك إذن! |
| Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Saleem: Hi, Naseem. Welcome back. I missed you. |
| Naseem: Hi! I missed you too. I had a good trip but it is time to get back to work. We are very busy right now. |
| Saleem: Yes, indeed. Very busy. Where did you travel? |
| Naseem: My wife and I went to Sharm el-Sheikh. It was beautiful. |
| Saleem: What did you do there? |
| Naseem: We swam, snorkeled, and stuff like that. I needed a vacation. |
| Saleem: Maybe I will go to Sharm el-Sheikh with my wife. I've decided that after this deadline, I will need a vacation, too. |
| Naseem: I heard about the company's new vacation policy. Good luck asking the boss for permission! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: Nora, we heard one of the speakers say "I miss you". But this expression is something you’d say to a close friend or family member in English. How about in Arabic? |
| Nora: The Arabic equivalent is wahashteny, and can also mean "good to see you”, so it is more widely used than its English equivalent. |
| Becky: Is it used regardless of gender? |
| Nora: The same phrase is used regardless of gender and it can be used with almost anyone – coworkers, acquaintances, and friends or family, even if they have not recently returned from a trip. |
| Becky: Are there other common expressions like this? |
| Nora: The expression hamdella al salama which means “thank God you're back safely" is another, but it’s used specifically for someone who has recently returned from a trip. |
| Becky: Like other phrases in the Arabic-speaking world, the usage might be different depending on the location or dialect, right? |
| Nora: Right! These phrases are common in Egypt, but if you’re living or traveling elsewhere, double check with a friend or a dialect-specific phrase book to be sure you sound like a local. |
| Becky: Do you have any good tips about using these? |
| Nora: Well, make sure you don't use it with someone of the opposite gender who you don't know too well, because it might be misinterpreted. Limit it to people you trust and close friends. If you're talking to a woman, you should say wahashtiiny وحشتيني instead. |
| Becky: Good to know. Do you have any useful sentences here? |
| Nora: وحشتني أوي |
| Becky: "I miss you a lot!" |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Now, let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Nora: إزيك [natural native speed] |
| Becky: how are you? (said to a male) |
| Nora: إزيك[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: إزيك [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: حمدالله عالسلامه [natural native speed] |
| Becky: praise God for your well being, good to see you, welcome back |
| Nora: حمدالله عالسلامه[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: حمدالله عالسلامه [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: وحشتني [natural native speed] |
| Becky: I missed you |
| Nora: وحشتني[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: وحشتني [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: كمان [natural native speed] |
| Becky: also |
| Nora: كمان[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: كمان [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: والله [natural native speed] |
| Becky: I swear |
| Nora: والله[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: والله [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: عمنا [natural native speed] |
| Becky: we swam |
| Nora: عمنا[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: عمنا [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: و كده [natural native speed] |
| Becky: and so on |
| Nora: و كده[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: و كده [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: محتاج [natural native speed] |
| Becky: in need of |
| Nora: محتاج[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: محتاج [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have.. |
| Nora: يا رب [natural native speed] |
| Becky: God help, good luck |
| Nora: يا رب[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: يا رب [natural native speed] |
| Becky: and last |
| Nora: تقنع [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to convince |
| Nora: تقنع[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Nora: تقنع [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: إزيك |
| Becky: Which means "How are you?" |
| Nora: This is a greeting. The response is usually كويس which means “Fine” or “Ok”. |
| Becky: When do you use it? |
| Nora: ʾezzayyak is a word you should only use with friends. With older people or your boss for example, you can use this alternative - ezzay hadretak. Adding hadretak makes it more polite. Often, in the response, it is followed by الحمد لله, which means "thanks be to God." |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. إزيك؟ - كويس |
| Becky: ..which means "How are you? - I'm fine." |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Nora: حمدالله عالسلامه |
| Becky: meaning "Praise God for your safe return." |
| Nora: The common phrase حمدالله means "praise God" and عالسلامه means "for your well being." This part comes from the root سلام, which means “peace.” The response would usually be الله يسلمك which literally means “May God protect you too”. |
| Becky: When can you use this phrase? |
| Nora: You can use this phrase to greet someone in any situation when they return from traveling or when you haven't seen someone in a long time, like "Welcome back." It can also be used to greet someone who's doing well after being sick for some time, or someone that survived an accident. It basically means "Thanks be to God for your safe return." |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. أحمد! حمدالله عالسلامة. - الله يسلمك |
| Becky: .. which means "Ahmed! Welcome back! - Thank you!" |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Nora: آه والله |
| Becky: meaning "Oh yes" This is similar to the English expression "Oh goodness" or "Oh yes." |
| Nora: In the dialogue, Naseem asks if the office has been busy and Saleem replies آه والله. مشغولين جدا. This roughly means, "Oh yes, very busy." This is just one of many uses for this phrase. |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Nora: Sure. For example, you can say.. شكلك تعبان. - آه والله |
| Becky: .. which means "You look tired. - Oh yes, very." |
| Becky: Okay, now onto the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to welcome someone back when they return from a trip and discuss their vacation. |
| Nora: More specifically, you will learn how to use common expressions in conversation to sound more natural. |
| Becky: The lesson focus is on three simple phrases you can use in Egyptian Arabic that will help you sound more natural. All three of these phrases are used as transitions or connecting words in conversation. |
| Nora: The phrases from this lesson include و كده, which means “et cetera”, أنا كمان and إنت كمان, meaning "Me too, you too," and بس which means “but” when used in the middle of a sentence. |
| Becky: Which one will we talk about first? |
| Nora: The first phrase is و كده. Naseem used it when he was listing his vacation activities. The way he used it, it would mean “... and stuff like that." |
| Becky: You can also use this phrase in conversation like you might use "et cetera" in English. In the same sentence, Naseem uses a few verbs in the past tense to explain what he and his wife did on vacation. Please note that these verbs are in the plural form. Since he talked about swimming, let’s review the verb "to swim" in all of its past tense forms. Nora will say the Arabic, and I’ll give the English translation. |
| Nora: أنا عُمت |
| Becky: I swam |
| Nora: انت عُُمت |
| Becky: You swam (m) |
| Nora: انتي عُمتي |
| Becky: You swam (f) |
| Nora: هو عام |
| Becky: He swam |
| Nora: هي عامِت |
| Becky: She swam |
| Nora: احنا عُمنا |
| Becky: We swam |
| Nora: انتو عُمتو |
| Becky: You all swam |
| Nora: هم عامو |
| Becky: They swam. Ok, now let’s go ahead with the next common expression. |
| Nora: The second phrase is inta kaman?, which mean "you too?". Be sure to use enti for a woman and enta for a man. You can also say this as a statement, ana kaman, which means “me too.” |
| Becky: And the last one? |
| Nora: The third phrase is بس which means "but" in a sentence. Like, for example, أنا بنت بس قوية- (ana bent bas qaweyya) meaning “I'm a girl but I'm strong.” |
| Becky: Ok, to wrap up, let’s hear some sample sentences. |
| Nora: Sure! First up, إنت كمان عيان؟ |
| Becky: Which means "Are you sick too?" |
| Nora: إمبارح كنت عيان, بس دلوقتي بقيت كويس |
| Becky: Which means "Yesterday I was sick, but now I’m okay." |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Nora: شكرا, باي باي |
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