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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 |
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| There will be many times when the Arabic around you, or coming at you, is fast and furious, and you may not catch all, or any of it. In instances like this asking the speaker to say it again can prove the difference between understanding a crucial piece of information or spending the rest of the day trying to figure out just what was said. So that you can get a feel for the language and tune your ear, you should use the following phrase over and over! |
| In Arabic, “Once again please” is marrahʾuḫrā Min faḍlik (مرة أخرى من فضلك). |
| marrahʾuḫrā Min faḍlik (مرة أخرى من فضلك). |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: marrahʾuḫrā Min faḍlik (مرة أخرى من فضلك). |
| Now let's hear it once again: marrahʾuḫrā Min faḍlik (مرة أخرى من فضلك). |
| The first word marrah (مرة) means “time” as in “one more time” or “another time.” |
| Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: marrah |
| And, marrah |
| This is followed by ʾuḫrā (أخرى), which translates into “again” in this expression and sometimes it is used to mean “another”. |
| ʾuḫrā |
| ʾuḫrā |
| So to recap here, we have marrahʾuḫrā (مرة أخرى) and literally it means “time again” or “once again.” |
| The next word Min faḍlik (من فضلك) means “please.” |
| Min faḍlik |
| So all together we have marrahʾuḫrā Min faḍlik (مرة أخرى من فضلك), literally this means “one more time please” or “once again please.” |
| At times, even repetition of what is said isn't enough to understand the speaker, as the words are still too fast. For instances like this, you can use the phrase "slowly please.” |
| In Moroccan Arabic, “slowly please” is bišwayyah Min faḍlik (بشوية من فضلك). |
| bišwayyah Min faḍlik (بشوية من فضلك). |
| Let’s break it down by: bišwayyah Min faḍlik (بشوية من فضلك). |
| bišwayyah Min faḍlik (بشوية من فضلك). |
| The first word bišwayyah (بشوية) means “slowly.” |
| Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: bišwayyah |
| bišwayyah |
| This is followed by Min faḍlik (من فضلك), which is “please” as we learned before. |
| Min faḍlik |
| So to recap here, we have bišwayyah Min faḍlik (بشوية من فضلك) and literally this means “slowly please.” |
| bišwayyah Min faḍlik |
| bišwayyah Min faḍlik |
| Another option you can use is “What did you say?” which in Standard Arabic is māḏā qulta? (مذا قلت؟) when addressing a mnn and māḏā qultiī? (مذا قلتي؟) when addressing a woman. |
| māḏā qulta? |
| māḏā qultiī? |
| The first word māḏā (مذا) means “what.” |
| Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: māḏā |
| Māḏā |
| This is followed by qulta (قلت) or qultiī (قلتي) which literally means “you said” in the masculine and feminine forms respectively. |
| So to recap here, we have māḏā qulta? (ماذا قلت؟) which means “what did you say?” |
| This can be used together with “slowly please.” |
| “What did you say? Slowly please.” which is māḏā qulta? bišwayyah Min faḍlik (when addressing men). |
| And māḏā qultiī? bišwayyah Min faḍlik (when addressing women). |
| Now, if you can memorize all these phrases, that’s great! But sometimes you feel overwhelmed and can’t seem to recall what to say. In instances like this, one word is better than nine. Moroccans always use the word shnu (شنو) to say things like "what did you say?" or “Can you say it again?” or “One more time?” |
| shnu (شنو) literally means “what?” |
| Just like in English, we often say “what?” instead of "what did you say?"; same thing in Arabic. |
| But intonation is key here, you don’t want to sound like “what?” shnu (شنو), but rather shnu (شنو). |
| shnu (شنو) |
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! |
| “Once again please.” - marrahʾuḫrā Min faḍlik |
| marrahʾuḫrā Min faḍlik |
| marrahʾuḫrā Min faḍlik |
| “Slowly please.” - bišwayyah Min faḍlik |
| bišwayyah Min faḍlik |
| bišwayyah Min faḍlik |
| “What did you say?” - māḏā qulta? |
| māḏā qulta? |
| māḏā qulta? |
| “What?” - shnu (شنو) |
| shnu (شنو) |
| shnu (شنو) |
| 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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