This post is for all of you out there who have studied Arabic with the Georgetown University Al-Kitaab series. If you have, you’ll know that Maha is a central character of the textbook. She tells you little facts about her life, and along the way you learn new vocabulary from Maha like “United Nations”, “swimming [...]
Archive for the ‘Arabic Basics’ Category
9 Jun
I wish I may, I wish I might
Such a small word. Such big ideas.
شاء sha’a
:to want; to wish
إن شاء الله in sha’allah
:God willing; it is hoped; hopefully
ما شاء الله masha’allah
:whatever God intends/wishes; amazing!; good!
الى ما شاء الله ila masha’allah
:forever and ever; for all time
20 May
The shape of my heart
If you’re looking for a basic book full of vocabulary words and pictures, look no further than First Thousand Words in Arabic by Heather Amery. It’s part of a series- they have this same book for many languages. I found it at a used book store (surprise? no.) in Vermont and I absolutely love to [...]
19 May
I asked for a room with a bath
While frequenting one of my favorite used book stores in Raleigh, the Reader’s Corner, I stumbled upon a vintage travel phrase book in Arabic. I didn’t buy it for the phrases, really (although there are some good sentences in there) but to see perspectives on travel in the Middle East during the 1970s. It’s like [...]
24 Apr
French lessons
Today’s post is all about French and Arabic, in honor of my current location. I’ve found that when I try to speak French, my brain automatically remembers Arabic words first. When I first started learning Arabic, everything came out in French. What’s a girl to do?
Here are travel phrases you might find yourself in need [...]
2 Apr
Here comes the rain again
Ah, it’s officially spring, and April at that. You know what that means, don’t you? Rain. So many good songs about rain. Some of my personal favorites:
Buckets of Rain (Bob Dylan, although Redbird does a great cover)
Have You Ever Seen the Rain (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly) (Missy Elliott)
What are yours?
مطر matar
:to rain, [...]
23 Mar
Eight days a week
Happy Monday! Speaking of days, I realized I hadn’t yet posted the days of the week yet. Most of the days of the week in Arabic correspond to ordinal numbers, with the exception of Friday and Saturday.
يوم الأحد youm al-ahad
:Sunday
يوم ألإثنين youm al-ithnayn
:Monday
يوم الثلاثاء youm ath-thoulatha’
:Tuesday
يوم الأربعاء youm al-arbi’a’
:Wednesday
يوم الخميس youm al-khamees
:Thursday
يوم الجمعة youm al-jum’a
:Friday
يوم [...]
16 Mar
Spring fever is here
I grew up in the southern United States, and now live in the northeastern part of the country. The transition wasn’t so hard once I learned what snow boots were all about, but every year about this time, it hits me: the dizzying and intoxicating urge for spring. I don’t want to believe that the [...]
10 Mar
Do I have stitches on my teeth?
I think that the universe has been alligning to make me write a post about teeth, dentists, floss, and oral hygiene. Why, you ask?
First, it started with Rose struggling to come up with a word or phrase for dental floss in Chinese. I told her I’d find out how to say it in Arabic, because [...]
4 Mar
Is this seat taken?
We have been taking about Forrest Gump in Arabic class recently (slightly long story) and I keep thinking about the scenes where Forrest is trying so hard to get a seat on different buses- first on a school bus, when Jenny finally lets him sit with her, and then later on the military bus when [...]
