Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Natasha: Marhaban, it’s me Natasha.
Judith: Judith here. Absolute Beginner, Season 1 Lesson 2, “Happy Birthday” in Arabic.
Natasha: Hello, everyone. I’m Natasha and welcome to ArabicPod101.com.
Judith: With us, you’ll learn to speak Arabic with fun and effective lessons.
Natasha: We also provide you with cultural insights.
Judith: And tips you won’t find in a textbook. In this lesson, you will learn how to wish someone a happy birthday.
Natasha: This conversation takes place at Muhammad’s home.
Judith: The conversation is between Muhammad and Maha.
Natasha: This dialogue is an informal Modern Standard Arabic.
Judith: Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUES
Natasha:عيد ميلاد سعيد يا محمد.
Mohammed:شكرا.
Natasha:حفلة جميلة!
Mohammed:شكرا، أنا سعيد.
Natasha:هذه هدية بمناسبة عيد ميلادك.
Mohammed: إنها هدية جميلة جدا، شكرا لك
Natasha: Now slowly.
Natasha:عيد ميلاد سعيد يا محمد.
Mohammed: شكرا.
Natasha:حفلة جميلة!
Mohammed: شكرا، أنا سعيد.
Natasha:هذه هدية بمناسبة عيد ميلادك.
Mohammed: إنها هدية جميلة جدا، شكرا لك
Natasha: Now, with the translation.
Natasha:عيد ميلاد سعيد يا محمد.
Judith: Happy birthday, Muhammad.
Mohammed: شكرا.
Judith: Thank you.
Natasha: حفلة جميلة!
Judith: It’s a nice party.
Mohammed: شكرا، أنا سعيد.
Judith: Thanks, I’m glad.
Natasha: هذه هدية بمناسبة عيد ميلادك.
Judith: This is a present for your birthday.
Mohammed: إنها هدية جميلة جدا، شكرا لك
Judith: It’s really beautiful. Thank you.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Judith: Let’s talk a bit about birthday customs. Can you tell us a bit about that? What’s traditional to do on a birthday?
Natasha: Traditionally people celebrate birthdays at home. There will be a huge variety of food such as tabbouleh; that is our bulgur salad, wine leaves, kibbeh; that’s a dish made of rice and chopped meat, salad, as well as different types of pies and pizza.
Judith: And nowadays, is it still the same?
Natasha: Nowadays, teenagers and young adults are more likely to go to a club or a restaurant to celebrate. An entirely new trend is for richer families to celebrate at a mall that offers activities for kids or they invite an entertainer to their homes.
Judith: One more thing, if you’re invited to an Arab birthday party, don’t be offended if your friend doesn’t open his present. It’s a tradition to wait until the guests are gone. I’m not sure why. Maybe it is to show that having friends around is more important than getting presents. Or do you know why?
Natasha: I think it’s because they don’t want to see the reaction of the birthday person so if they might not like the gift, so it’s better to save the reaction for later.
Judith: I like my explanation better.
VOCAB LIST
Judith:Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is.
Natasha: سعيد
Judith: Happy.
Natasha: سعيد
Judith: Next.
Natasha: عيد ميلاد
Judith: Birthday.
Natasha: عيد ميلاد
Judith: Next.
Natasha: حفلة
Judith: Party.
Natasha: حفلة
Judith: Next.
Natasha: جميل
Judith: Beautiful.
Natasha: جميل
Judith: Next.
Natasha: أنا
Judith: I.
Natasha: أنا
Judith: Next.
Natasha: هذه
Judith: This, for feminine words.
Natasha: هذه
Judith: Next.
Natasha: هدية
Judith: Gift.
Natasha: هدية
Judith: Next.
Natasha: بمناسبة
Judith: On the occasion of.
Natasha: بمناسبة
Judith: Next.
Natasha: جدا
Judith: Very.
Natasha: جدا
Judith: Next.
Natasha: لك
Judith: To you, to a woman.
Natasha: لك
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Judith: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Natasha: The first phrase we’ll look at is عِيدُ مِيلادٍ.
Judith: Birthday. It contains the word "eid", which means “holiday” or a “feast.” So it’s a feast on occasion of someone’s birth.
Natasha: We change birthday to your birthday by adding -ika to the end of the word. This is the Arabic equivalent of possessive pronoun “your.” We’ll cover it later.
GRAMMAR POINT
Judith: The focus of this lesson is the copula in Arabic.
Natasha: Arabic doesn’t have a copula. This means that it does not translate the word, “to be.” In sentence like, “This is a present.”, “I am happy.”, “He is Makhmud.”, “She is a teacher.” and so on.
Judith: Whenever “to be” is just equating two things in English, Arabic just has a blank.
Natasha: We say the equivalent of “this present”, “I happy”, “he Makhmud”, “she teacher” and so on.
Judith: It will take some getting use to but in fact, this is easier than learning to conjugate “I am”, “You are”, “He is”, “We are”, as Arabs have to do. Well, that just about does it for today. Like our podcasts?
Natasha: Then like our Facebook page too.
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Natasha: Just search for Arabicpod101.com and like our fan page.
Judith: And if you like a lesson or a series on Arabicpod101.com…
Natasha: Let us know.
Judith: By clicking the “like” button next to the lesson or series. So, see you next time!

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