Dialogue

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Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
In this lesson we’ll cover another extremely important phrase: "Do you speak English?" Using this phrase is important for many reasons. For one, if the party you’re speaking to doesn’t understand English, at least they’ll be able to understand what you’re asking. Furthermore, it shows a lot of respect on your part, because you’ve made an effort to learn even a little bit of the language. For these reasons and many more, we’re going to cover this very important phrase.
GRAMMAR POINT
In Egyptian Arabic, "Do you speak English?" is
btetkallem engliizi?
Let’s break it down:
(slow) btet- kallem engliizi?
Once more:
btetkallem engliizi?
btetkallem is a form of the verb takallam which is translated as “to speak” or “to talk.”
(slow) btetkallem
btetkallem
And engliizi, as you might have guessed, means “English”
(slow) engliizi
engliizi
Now for a change, let's try different languages that are frequently taught in Egyptian schools.
“Do you speak French?" is
btetkallem faransawy?
(slow) btetkallem faransawy?
btetkallem faransawy?
The word for “French" is
faransawy.
Let’s break it down:
(slow) faran-sawy.
faransawy.
Now let’s try with German.
btetkallem almany?
(slow) btetkallem almany?
btetkallem almany?
The word almany means “German.”
(slow) almany
almany
When you ask the question “Do you speak English” in Egyptian Arabic there is a big possibility that you’ll get the answer in Egyptian Arabic.
Here are few ways of answering this question.
“Yes, I speak English” would be
aywa, batkallem engliizi.
Let’s hear that slowly now:
(slow) aywa, batkallem engliizi.
And one more time at natural native speed:
aywa, batkallem engliizi.
The first word, aywa, means “yes.”
(slow) aywa.
aywa.
After this comes batkallem, which is a conjugated form of the verb translated in English as “to speak”. It means “I speak”.
(slow) batkallem
batkallem
Finally, we have engliizi, which means “English”.
All together, that’s
(slow) aywa, batkallem engliizi.
aywa, batkallem engliizi.
This phrase could be made shorter, just by saying “aywa” which means “yes”:
(slow) aywa.
(normal) aywa
If the answer is negative, Egyptian people might say
la’, mesh batkallem engliizi.
It means ‘“No, I don’t speak English”:”
Let’s break it down by syllable:
(slow) la’, mesh batkallem engliizi.
And again at natural native speed:
la’, mesh batkallem engliizi.
The first word, la’, means “no”.
(slow) la’.
la’.
Next we have mesh batkallem, the negative form for “I speak”.
(slow) mesh batkallem
mesh batkallem
And finally the word engliizi which means “English.”
All together, it’s
(slow) la’, ana mesh batkallem engliizi.
la’, ana mesh batkallem engliizi.
Sometimes, people will answer only with “no”, which in Egyptian Arabic is:
la’.
(slow) la’.
la’.

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