Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

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 today's lesson, we're going to take a trip to the post office.
Now, "the post office" in Arabic is: Al-barid (البريد).
One more time: Al-barid
Al-barid
In spoken Arabic, it's l-bosta (البوسطة).
l-bosta
l-bosta
And today, we’re going to work on getting your postcards, letters, and packages home. The expression to accomplish this is "I'd like to send this to ..." and then the desired country.
For today's lesson, we'll use New York.
In Arabic, "I'd like to send this to New York" is: biġīt nsiīfṭ hadī linyuūīūrk (بغيت نسيفط هدي لنيويورك).
Let’s break it down by syllable: biġīt nsiīfṭ hadī linyuūīūrk
biġīt nsiīfṭ hadī linyuūīūrk
The first word, biġīt (بغيت), means "I'd like."
biġīt
biġīt
This is followed by nsiīfṭ (نسيفط), which is a conjugated form of "send."
nsiīfṭ
nsiīfṭ
So to recap here, we have: biġīt nsiīfṭ, and literally, this means “I’d like to send.”
Let’s take a look at the next: hadī (هدي), which means "this"
hadī
hadī
This is followed by l (ل), which means "to."
l
l
This is followed by niyuūīūrk, “New York"
So altogether, we have: biġīt nsiīfṭ hadī linyuūīūrk and this means "I'd like to send this to New York."
Now, we can build this up a bit by adding in the words for what we would like to send. For example, above we mentioned postcards, letters, and packages, so let's start there.
The word for "postcard" in Arabic is bitaqa (بطاقة).
bitaqa
bitaqa
In spoken Arabic, it’s kārt buūstal from French (carte postale).
kārt buūstal
One more time: kārt buūstal
So the expression would now sound like this: biġīt nsīfṭ hād al-kārt buūstal- niyuūīūrk (بغيت نسيفط هاد البطاقة لنيويورك).
biġīt nsīfṭ hād al-kārt buūstal- niyuūīūrk
Let’s break it down: biġīt nsīfṭ hād al-kārt buūstal- niyuūīūrk
Let’s read it again: biġīt nsīfṭ hād al-kārt buūstal- niyuūīūrk
The order of the words in this phrase is the same as in English.
kārt buūstal, “postcard,” comes after hād “this.”
Now, notice that we slightly changed hadī, which means “this” in the sentence before, to hād, which also means “this” because it’s followed by a noun, in our case, it’s kārt buūstal, “post card.”
We can do the same thing with "letter."
“Letter” in Arabic is, risala (رسالة).
risala
risala
So the expression “I’d like to send this letter to New York.” is bġīt nsīfṭ hād al-rrinsal-ah liniyuūīūrk (بغيت نسيفط هاد الرسالة لنيويورك).
bġīt nsīfṭ hād al-rrinsal-ah liniyuūīūrk
And finally, we have the word for "package," which is kuūliyah (الكولية).
kuūliyah
kuūliyah
Now, a package requires a closer look, which we'll do in the next lesson.
But the expression, "I'd like to send this package to New York" is bġīt nsīfṭ hād al-kuūliyah liniyuūīūrk (بغيت نسيفط هاد الكولية لنيويورك).
Cultural Insights
Stamps are available at tobacco stores in addition to the post office it is best to mail your letters at the mail slot outside the post office since pickups can be infrequent at other mailboxes.
Post offices hours are (Mon-Fri) 8:30am-12:00pm and 2:30-6pm.

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!
"I’d like to send this to New York." - biġīt nsiīfṭ hadī linyuūīūrk
biġīt nsiīfṭ hadī linyuūīūrk
biġīt nsiīfṭ hadī linyuūīūrk
"I’d like to send this postcard to New York." - biġīt nsīfṭ hād al-kārt buūstal- niyuūīūrk
biġīt nsīfṭ hād al-kārt buūstal- niyuūīūrk
biġīt nsīfṭ hād al-kārt buūstal- niyuūīūrk
"I’d like to send this letter to New York." - bġīt nsīfṭ hād al-rrinsal-ah liniyuūīūrk
bġīt nsīfṭ hād al-rrinsal-ah liniyuūīūrk
bġīt nsīfṭ hād al-rrinsal-ah liniyuūīūrk
"I’d like to send this package to New York." - bġīt nsīfṭ hād al-kuūliyah liniyuūīūrk
bġīt nsīfṭ hād al-kuūliyah liniyuūīūrk
bġīt nsīfṭ hād al-kuūliyah liniyuūīūrk
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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