Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ArabicPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 8 - Tell Me About Your Day in Arabic! I’m Becky.
Hany: مرحبا I'm Hany.
Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to retell stories using past continuous verbs. The conversation takes place on the beach.
Hany: It's between Tim and Eleanor.
Becky: The speakers are friends, so they will use informal Arabic. Okay, let's listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
تيم: إلينور, أين كنت كل هذا الوقت؟
إلينور: كنت ألعب كرة الشاطئ مع مجموعة من الأصدقاء هناك. ماذا عنك؟
تيم: كنت جالس هنا في إنتظارك. ما هذا الكيس؟
إلينور: آه. كان كريم عطشاناً فاشتريت بعض المشروبات الباردة, لكن يبدو أنني تأخرت. أين الجميع؟
تيم: ذهبوا إلى المستشفى. تعرضت سارة لحادث عندما كانت تسبح في تلك المنطقة العميقة. لكنها لم تكن في حالة خطيرة. لا داعي للقلق.
إلينور: لو كنت هنا ,كنت سأحذرها من تلك المنطقة.
تيم: حذرها مينا ولكنها لم تكن تظن أن الأمر بهذه الجدية.
إلينور: كانت إجازة سعيدة حتى الآن. ياللأسف.
تيم: لا تكوني تشائمية هكذا! سنستمتع بالوقت الباقي لنا هنا و ستكون سارة بخير.
Becky: Listen to the conversation with the English translation
Tim: Eleanor, where have you been all this time?
Eleanor: I was playing beach ball with a group of friends over there. What about you?
Tim: I was sitting here waiting for you. What is this plastic bag?
Eleanor: Oh, Karim was thirsty so I bought some cold drinks, but it seems that I'm too late. Where's everyone?
Tim: They went to the hospital. Sara had an accident when she was swimming in that deep area, but it's not a serious condition. No need to worry.
Eleanor: If I was here I would've warned her about that area.
Tim: Mina warned her but she didn't think it was that big of a deal.
Eleanor: It has been a nice vacation so far. What a shame.
Tim: Don't be so pessimistic! We will enjoy the rest of our time here and Sara will be okay.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Becky: According to the dialogue we just heard, it seems that it’s easy to make friends on the beach in Egypt. Is that true, Hany?
Hany: Making friends on the beach is very common in Egypt and almost half the people on the beaches in Egypt are foreigners. So it's a good chance to make friends.
Becky: Do you have any tips?
Hany: Not about making friends, more about good common sense on the beach. For example, be sure to take care of your personal belongings and try to keep what you leave on the beach to a minimum. Note that shops on the beach may be more expensive than things you buy in normal stores, because of the convenience.
Becky: That’s good to know. Okay, now onto the vocab.
VOCAB LIST
Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is..
Hany: الشاطئ [natural native speed]
Becky: the beach
Hany: الشاطئ[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hany: الشاطئ [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have..
Hany: مجموعة [natural native speed]
Becky: group
Hany: مجموعة[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hany: مجموعة [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have..
Hany: كيس [natural native speed]
Becky: plastic bag
Hany: كيس[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hany: كيس [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have..
Hany: بدا [natural native speed]
Becky: to look like, to seem
Hany: بدا[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hany: بدا [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have..
Hany: تعرض [natural native speed]
Becky: to face, to have
Hany: تعرض[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hany: تعرض [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have..
Hany: خطيرة [natural native speed]
Becky: serious
Hany: خطيرة[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hany: خطيرة [natural native speed]
Becky: Next we have..
Hany: جدية [natural native speed]
Becky: seriousness
Hany: جدية[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hany: جدية [natural native speed]
Becky: And last...
Hany: تشائمية [natural native speed]
Becky: pessimistic
Hany: تشائمية[slowly - broken down by syllable]
Hany: تشائمية [natural native speed]
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first phrase is..
Hany: في إنتظارك
Becky: meaning "waiting for you"
Hany: This expression is made up of two words - fi meaning "in", and intizaarik meaning "awaiting you". Notice that the k at the end of intizaarik is a personal pronoun, which indicates the person you’re waiting for.
Becky: Can you give us an example using this word?
Hany: Sure. For example, you can say.. نحن في انتظارك في المحطة.
Becky: ..which means "We are waiting for you in the station." Okay, what's the next phrase?
Hany: لا داعي للقلق
Becky: meaning "no need to worry"
Hany: This expression is made up of three words - la meaning "no, and daa'ii meaning "need or reason", and lil qalaq meaning "for worrying".
Becky: You use it to reassure someone that everything is going to be okay, and that there is nothing to worry about. Can you give us an example?
Hany: Sure. For example, you can say.. تيم ليس وحده. لا داعي للقلق.
Becky: .. which means "Tim isn't alone. No need to worry." Okay, what's the next phrase?
Hany: ياللأسف
Becky: meaning "What a shame.."
Hany:This expression consists of two words - ya, which is a vocative article that doesn't really have a meaning here, and lal asaf meaning "to the sorrow".
Becky: You use it when something doesn't go according to plan, or when something bad happens. Hany, please give us an example.
Hany:For example, you can say.. لقد أغلقوا المتجر الذي أُحِبَّه. ياللأسف.
Becky: .. which means "They closed the shop I like. Such a shame." Okay, now onto the lesson focus.

Lesson focus

Becky: In this lesson, you'll learn how to retell stories using past continuous verbs..
Hany: We will take a look at a very important verb in Arabic, which is كان kaana.
Becky: This verb is called an “incomplete verb” because it alters the final vowelling of the subject or object attached to it in a different way than normal verbs do.
Hany: Aside from Kaana, there are many other incomplete verbs that work the same as kaana. This group of incomplete verbs is known in Arabic grammar as كان و أخَوْاتِها kaana wa ahawaatiha,
Becky: which literally means “kaana and its sisters”. Can we list some of them?
Hany: Sure, كان
Becky: meaning “was”
Hany: أَصبَحَ
Becky: “became”
Hany: صارَ
Becky: which means “turned into.”
Hany: In this lesson we’ll focus on kaana, because it is the most important one.
Becky: Whatever applies to it, applies to the rest of this list.
Hany: The main usage of kaana is turning a present tense noun sentence, into a past tense noun sentence.
Becky: We already talked about how Arabic has no verb “to be,” and that’s why an extra element is necessary to show that the tense has shifted to the past. Let’s see an example from the dialogue
Hany: كان كَريم عَطشاناً.
Becky: “Karim was thirsty.” When you insert kaana, changes in the final vowelling take place
Hany: If you remember, both elements of a noun sentence, the mubtada’ and the habar, have the vowelling state raf’/الرَفع which causes these elements to gain a damma final vowelling sign. But in the case of كان كَريم عَطشاناً. the habar عَطشاناً atshaanan has a fat-ha as a final vowelling sign!
Becky: So this is the change that occurs to the noun sentence when shifted to the past tense using kaana and its sisters.
Hany: The habar in kaana’s sentence changes to the vowelling state nasb نَصب, which adds a fat-ha final vowelling sign to any noun or adjective that falls under its effect.
Becky: Listeners, you’ll find the complete conjugation of kaana in the lesson notes.
Hany: Here is another example with kaana from the dialogue كانَت إجازَةٌ سَعيدَةُ.
Becky: “It was a pleasant vacation.”
Hany: Kaana here is in the third person singular feminine form kaanat.
Becky: Is there anything else we should know about this verb in relation to a noun sentence?
Hany: kaana, being a verb itself, can change into a present, past, or imperative verb, according to the rules that all other normal verbs follow.
Becky: Let’s hear an example.
Hany: سَتَكونُ سارَة بِخَيْر.
Becky: This means “Sara will be okay.”
Hany: Here, Kaana is in the present tense form, takuunu, with the future prefix sa
Becky: Ok, now let’s switch to Kaana in combination with a verb sentence.
Hany: if we add Kaana to a verb sentence in the present, we’ll get the past continuous tense. For example, كُنتُ أَلعَبُ كُرَةَ الشاطِئِ.
Becky: meaning “I was playing beach volleyball.”
Hany: Kuntu is the first person singular form of kaana, followed by al’abu which is the present form of the verb لعب in the first person singular form as well. So basically, both kaana and the verb following it has to be conjugated to the pronoun, which in this sentence, is “I”.
Becky: Let’s see another example
Hany: تَعَرَّضَت سارَة لِحادِث عِندَما كانَت تَسبَحُ.
Becky: “Sara had an accident when she was swimming.”
Hany: here ta’arradat, meaning “had (an accident),” is in the past simple tense and the other is kaanat tasbah, “was swimming,” in the past continuous tense. They are joined by ‘indama meaning “when”
Becky: So we can use Kaana to describe something that happened while another thing was in progress. Ok, let’s wrap up this lesson with a couple more sample sentences.
Hany: كُنّا جالسين في المَقهَى عِندَما وَقَعَ الحادِث.
Becky: "We were sitting in the coffee shop when the accident happened."
Hany: كان الطِفلُ نائِماً في السَرير.
Becky: "The baby was sleeping in the bed."

Outro

Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye!
Hany: شكرا

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