Almost every Muslim student asks me the same thing in the first lesson. “Is the Arabic in the Quran the same Arabic I’m about to learn?” And my answer is always annoying. Yes and no.…
You said the shahada. Maybe last month, maybe last year. Now you’re in Egypt, or about to be, and everyone around you speaks a language you can’t follow. Not even a little. I’ll be straight…
egyptian arabic mistakes You’ve been studying for months. You walk into a shop in Cairo. You say something grammatically perfect. The guy behind the counter smiles, nods, and answers you in English. Ouch. Been there?…
You’ve just learned how to say “How are you?” in Egyptian Arabic. Feels great. Then a friend asks: “Wait, are you saying that to a man or a woman?” Hmm. What? English never made you…
You’re in a Cairo taxi. The driver just missed your street. You know the word for “street.” You know the word for “here.” But the sentence you need is a command, and your brain is…
Good news first. The future tense in Egyptian Arabic is one of the easiest things you’ll learn. One little sound. That’s it. The sound is ha. You put it in front of a present tense…
