Learn why trains are a good way to get around Morocco, and how to catch one
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| INTRODUCTION |
| ArabicPod101.com presents Arabic Survival Phrases. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Arabic speaking countries, with particular focus on Morocco. So join us for Arabic Survival phrases. You will be surprised at how far a little Arabic will go. |
| Now before we jump in, remember to stop by ArabicPod101.com, there you’ll find an accompanying PDF, additional learning tools in the premium learning center, and other great Arabic language learning materials. In addition, you’ll find more information in the post. And if you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| In Morocco, riding the rails is one of the best ways to get around. There is no subway or train system in the city but there are trains that run between cities and they are recommended for long distance destinations. In fact, traveling by train is one of the best ways to see everything Morocco has to offer! |
| In Morroco, one can buy train tickets at the ticket counters inside the station. So, Let's work on getting a ticket. We can accomplish this by asking "ūāḥid ticket l … ‘afâk" (واحد التيكي ل... عفاك.). |
| For example, let’s take the city of “Fes” (Fez in English) as the name of your destination. Moroccans pronounce it “Fes” with an “s” sound at the end instead of “z”. |
| “A ticket to Fez please” is “ūāḥid ticket l Fes ‘afâk” (واحد التيكي لفاس عفاك). |
| ūāḥid ticket l Fes ‘afâk |
| The first word, ūāḥid (واحد), is “a/an” or “one,” followed by “ticket”, which is the French word for “ticket” that is part of Moroccan Arabic. The next “l” (ل) means “to.” “‘afâk” (عفاك) is “please.” |
| Now if you want to buy more than one ticket, for example, if you wanted to buy 2 tickets, you can accomplish this by saying “juj dial ticket l Fes ‘afâk” (جوج ديال التيكي لفاس عفاك). |
| juj dial ticket l Fes ‘afâk |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: ǧūǧ dial ticket l Fes ‘afâk |
| Now let's hear it once again: ǧūǧ dial ticket l Fes ‘afâk |
| Notice that we simply substitute “ūāḥid”(one) with “juj” (two), and we add the word “dial” to any number that is bigger than one. However, just the destination may not be enough, as there are two types of seats on trains in Morocco. There are first class seats and second class seats. |
| Once we have established the destination, it’s time to select the type of seat you want. |
| In Arabic, “first class” is daraja ula. |
| daraja ula |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: daraja ula |
| Now let's hear it once again: daraja ula |
| The first word, daraja, means “degree” as in “first degree” |
| Let’s break it down and hear it one more time: daraja |
| daraja |
| This is followed by ula, which in Arabic is “first” |
| ula |
| ula |
| So to recap here, we have daraja ula; literally, it means “degree first” or “first class” in other words. |
| “Second class” is daraja tanya. |
| daraja tanya. |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: daraja tanya. |
| Now let's hear it once again: daraja tanya. |
| The first word, daraja, as we’ve just learned, means “degree.” |
| daraja |
| This is followed by tanya, which in Arabic means “second.” |
| tanya |
| tanya |
| Altogether, we have daraja tanya; this literally means “degree second” or “second degree.” |
| Cultural Insights |
| The price of any train car with air conditioning will be higher. Sometimes, there are schedule changes but no available printed time tables; check to be sure that the time you wish to travel is still accurate. train tickets can be bough in advance and is the only form of local transportation on which you can buy a round trip ticket. |
| Let's take a moment to look at the word for “one way” and “round trip.” For both these words, Moroccans use the French word for them but pronounced with an Arabic accent. |
Outro |
| Okay, to close out today's lesson, we'd like for you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for saying it aloud. You'll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so حظ سعيد, that means "good luck" in Arabic. |
| Ok, here we go! |
| “One-way” - aller |
| aller |
| aller |
| “Round trip” - aller-retour |
| aller-retour |
| aller-retour |
| “One ticket to Fez please.” - ūāḥid ticket l Fes ‘afâk |
| ūāḥid ticket l Fes ‘afâk |
| ūāḥid ticket l Fes ‘afâk |
| “Two tickets to Fez please.” - ǧūǧ dial ticket l Fes ‘afâk |
| juj dial ticket l Fes ‘afâk |
| juj dial ticket l Fes ‘afâk |
| “First class” - daraja ula |
| daraja ula |
| daraja ula |
| “Second class” - daraja tanya |
| daraja tanya |
| daraja tanya |
| All right. This is going to do it for this lesson of Arabic Survival Phrases. Remember to stop by ArabicPod101.com. There you’ll find an accompanying PDF, additional learning tools in the premium learning center, and other great Arabic language learning materials. See you soon, which in Arabic is - ilā al-liqāʾ. |
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