Learn about grand and petit taxis in Morocco
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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, taxis are the fastest and easiest way to go from a place to another in the city. |
| In today’s lesson, we'll cover a phrase that will help you get to your destination when riding a taxi. We'll look at the most basic way to express this, which is "destination, followed by, please." |
| In today’s lesson, we'll use "Agdal" as our destination. Agdal is the name of a famous neighborhood in Rabat. |
| Now let's hear it once again: Agdal |
| This location is known for its trendy cafes, restaurants and fashionable shops. It's the place of choice for dining and shopping in Rabat. |
| Now let's go over what to say to the driver to get there. |
| In Arabic, the most basic way to ask a driver is to say: ʾakdal- ʿafāk (اكدال عفاك). |
| ʾakdal- ʿafāk |
| Now remember, ʾakdal (“Agdal”) is our destination. |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: ʾakdal- ʿafāk |
| The first word is our location, Agdal, and this is followed by ʿafāk, which means “please.” |
| ʿafāk |
| ʿafāk |
| ʿafāk |
| Saying your desired destination followed by please is good enough to take you wherever you wish to go, but speaking the local language is one of the most fun things you can do on your travels. So let's go over another option! |
| You can also say, "I would like to go to Agdal", which in Arabic is, dīnī liʾkdal- ʿafāk (ديني لأكدال عفاك). |
| dīnī liʾkdal- ʿafāk |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: dīnī liʾkdal- ʿafāk |
| Let's hear it once again: dīnī liʾkdal- ʿafāk |
| This phrase literally means “Would you please take me to Agdal?” and is very often used in this situation. |
| Let's take a look at the components. |
| The first word, dīnī, means "take me" |
| Let's break it down and hear it one more time: |
| dīnī |
| dīnī |
| This is followed by l, which in Arabic is "to." |
| l |
| l |
| This is followed by ʾakdal, which, again, is our destination. |
| ʾakdal |
| So to recap here, we have: dīnī liʾkdal |
| Literally, this means “Take me to Agdal” |
| Let’s take a look at the next word, ‘afâk, which means “please." |
| ‘afâk |
| ‘afâk |
| So altogether, we have dīnī liʾkdal- ʿafāk, and this literally means “Take me to Agdal, please.” |
| Cultural Insights |
| In Morocco, you are not expected to tip the driver, make sure you carry small bills because most of the time, drivers will not have enough change for larger bills. So any bill larger than 50 Dirham, about $5, is not recommended. |
| One more helpful phrase when taking a taxi is "Here is fine." This phrase will allow you to get out of the taxi whenever and wherever you want. |
| In Arabic, “here is fine” is waqqif hunā ʿafāk (وقف هنا عفاك). |
| waqqif hunā ʿafāk |
| waqqif hunā ʿafāk |
| The first word, waqqif, is “stop.” |
| waqqif |
| waqqif |
| waqqif |
| This is followed by hunā, which means “here.” |
| hunā |
| hunā |
| hunā |
| So waqqif hunā means “stop here.” |
| This is followed by ʿafāk, “please.” |
| ʿafāk |
| ʿafāk |
| ʿafāk |
| All together, waqqif hunā ʿafāk means “stop here please” or “here is fine.” |
| All taxis within a specific city are the same colour. So for example, taxis in Rabat are blue and those in Casablanca are red. When you want to stop a taxi, just wave your hand until the taxi stops, and then say the phrase we learned today. |
| And here is one more thing to keep in mind to make sure that you're not overcharge for your ride. All taxes are equipped with a meter and taxi drivers are required to run the meter. However, some drivers choose not to run the metre and estimate the fare on their own. To avoid any unpleasant surprises, always make sure that the metre is running; if not, you can ask the driver to do it by saying: khadam alkuntur, ʿafāk. (خدم الكونتور، عفاك) |
| One more time: khadam alkuntur, ʿafāk. |
| Khadam means “start” or “make something work.” |
| khadam |
| khadam |
| This is followed by alkuntur, which means “the meter.” |
| alkuntur |
| alkuntur |
| This is followed by ʿafāk, which means “please.” |
| So altogether, khadam alkuntur, ʿafāk - “please run the metre” |
| Keep this in mind. |
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! |
| “Agdal, please.” - ʾakdal- ʿafāk |
| ʾakdal- ʿafāk |
| ʾakdal- ʿafāk |
| “Take me to Agdal, please.” - dīnī liʾkdal- ʿafāk |
| dīnī liʾkdal- ʿafāk |
| dīnī liʾkdal- ʿafāk |
| “Run the meter, please.” - khadam alkuntur, ʿafāk. |
| khadam alkuntur, ʿafāk. |
| khadam alkuntur, ʿafāk. |
| 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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