If you’ve spent any time around Egyptians, you’ve probably noticed something. They say a lot more than “yes,” “no,” “please,” and “sorry.” There’s usually a little extra — a softener, a blessing, a phrase that…
You spent months on Modern Standard Arabic. You can read a newspaper headline. You know your إعراب, your case endings, your ج is a “j” and your ق is a “q.” Then you land in…
If you learn one thing from a textbook and then land in Cairo airport, here’s what happens. You say the “correct” Modern Standard Arabic greeting to the guy at passport control. He blinks at you…
You land in Cairo. Or maybe you’re just video-calling an Egyptian friend for the first time. Either way, the first thirty seconds go something like this: a greeting, your name, “where are you from,” and…
I’ve had students come to me one week before they land in Cairo, panicking about grammar tables. And every single time I tell them the same thing: forget the grammar table for a second. You…
I still remember the first time I watched a foreign student try to buy mangoes from a street cart in Cairo using only Modern Standard Arabic. The seller stared at him like he’d just recited…
