How to Learn to Speak Egyptian Arabic Like a Native

Arabic, like many other languages, has a "high" or official style and many "colloquial" or common styles. Learning to speak in a colloquial language will allow you to get your message through more clearly in that country. Egyptian colloquial is a little easier because of the influences of French and English.

Things You'll Need

• Paper and pencils
• CD-ROM/DVD-ROM

Instructions

Learning to Speak Egyptian Arabic like a Native

1. Determine why you are learning Egyptian Arabic. For the casual tourist who wants to ask basic questions like "how much" and "where is the hotel?" invest in a phrase book of Egyptian colloquial terms. Books like Lonely Planet's "Egyptian Phrase Book" are an excellent starting point. The important part, however, is to understand the pronunciation chart in order to get the right inflection, tone and pronunciation. The advantage to using a phrase book is its concentration on basic, day-to-day phrases and easy pronunciation guide which can be referred to when in Egypt. If you do not understand the way things are pronounced, or if you are more of an auditory learner, then you may want to move on to Step 2.

2. Buy a CD. If you are more of an auditory or multi-input learner, then "Dardasha: Let's Speak Egyptian Arabic" by Mustafa Mughazy is an excellent choice. Mughazy's approach starts off with basic conversational techniques (a day at the market, getting and giving directions, colors and so forth) and is easy to follow along with the CD. Because Mughazy is a native speaker, you will hear exactly how words are pronounced--advantageous as some words can be confusing or difficult to pronounce or have different conjugations.

3. Learn more about Egyptian Arabic for job-related activities or to communicate with Egyptian workers, businessmen or officials. Kristen Brustad, Abbas al-Tonsi and Mahmoud al-Batal collaborated on producing "Al-Kitaab fi Ta'allum al-'arabiya," a series of books with DVD-ROMS that offer not only Modern Standard Arabic, but offer comparable words in Egyptian colloquial at the end of each chapter. The story-driven learning process that occurs in the series is also told in Egyptian Arabic by native speakers, which allows the learner to hear simulated conversations and see body posture, gestures, and other visual cues which help visual learners greatly.

4. Learn to speak Egyptian Arabic like a native. Apply to a college or university within Egypt. Consider the American University in Cairo, an American-run and administered campus located just outside of Cairo and whose instructors are pulled from the best American and Egyptian universities. The exposure to the language through daily interaction with people in restaurants, taxis and other businesses throughout Cairo is invaluable and is the best education, hands-down. Other universities in the United States offer courses in Egyptian Colloquial (or Syrian, Lebanese, Moroccan). While many universities offer the Modern Standard Arabic, very few offer colloquial language instruction consistently. When in doubt, email the university in question.

5. Purchase a mini-tape recorder or a device that allows your MP3 player to record your voice. Use this when you are listening to the pronunciations outlined above via headphones. Use these recordings to compare your pronunciations and correct if necessary.

Tips & Warnings

• Most Egyptians will help in the pronunciation because secondary language, particularly in English and French, is compulsory in many of the schools.

• Local Mosques and Arab or Muslim community centers also offer Arabic language assistance and often will accommodate you by matching you up with an Egyptian.

• Universities are an excellent source of finding Egyptian students who may be willing to assist in your pronunciation and even engage you in occasional conversations.

• The drawback to learning via "Al-Kitaab" is that simple, conversational words such as colors, directions and time are left until the middle to the end of the book while large words such as "The United Nations" and "traffic congestion" are covered first, leaving the student who is studying outside the classroom at a loss to practice reasonably common conversations.

• The older issues of Mughazy's book can be purchased relatively cheaply, but sometimes lack the CD that comes with the later editions.

Resources

• Amazon's offering of Al-Kitaab fi Ta'allum al-'arabiya"
• Amazon's listing of Lonely Planet's "Egyptian Arabic Phrase Book"
• Mustafa Mughazy's "Dardasha: Let's Speak Egyptian Arabic"
• American University of Cairo