Lesson 1 – أهلاً بك في القاهرة

Section A
Section B
Section C

a) Conversation

  • Someone has just arrived in Cairo. Listen to the conversation but do not look at the words while you are listening…
  • Listen to the conversation again…what place names do you hear?
  • Now read along with the conversation (remember Arabic is written from right to left)

    ARABIC SCRIPT
    حامد: السلام عليكم
    ناصر: وعليكم السلام. العفو و انت مين؟
    حامد: أنا اسمي حامد مهدي
    ناصر: وانت من مصر؟
    حامد: بصراحه أنا من امريكا
    ناصر:و أهلك منين؟
    حامد: ماما و بابا هما من امريكا برضو بس ماما اصلها العربي
    ناصر: اه كويس
    حامد: و انت؟ اسمك ايه؟
    ناصر: أنا اسمي ناصر محمد. بابا من مصر و ماما من قطر بس بنعيش في مصر في مدينة القاهرة
    حامد: و كام عمرك؟
    ناصر: عندي تسعه عشره سنه. و انت؟
    حامد: وأنا كمان.

    ARABIC TRANSLITERATION
    Hamid: as-salaamu 3alaykum
    Nasser: w 3alaykum as-salaam. el-afu bas enta miin?
    Hamid: ana ismii Hamid mahdi
    Nasser: enta miin maSr?
    Hamid: beSaraHah ana min amriika
    Nasser: w 'ahlak mniin?
    Hamid: mama w baba miin amriika barDo bas mama aSl-a el-arabi
    Nasser: ah. kowayis
    Hamid: w ent? Ismak eh?
    Nasser: ana ismii naSer moHamed. baba miin maSr w mama miin 'aTar bas ben3aysh fy maSr fy madinat el-‘ahirah
    Hamid: w kaam 3andak?
    Nasser: 3andee tis’ah 3ashrah sinah. w enta?
    Hamid: w ana kmaan

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION
    Hamid: May peace be upon you.
    Nasser: And may peace be upon you. Excuse me but who are you?
    Hamid: My name is Hamid Mahdi.
    Nasser: Are you from Egypt?
    Hamid: Actually, I’m from America.
    Nasser: From where is your family?
    Hamid: My mom and dad are from America too but my mom has some Arab roots.
    Nasser: Oh. That’s nice.
    Hamid: And you? What’s your name?
    Nasser: My name is Nasser Mohamed. My dad is from Egypt and my mom is from Qatar but we’re living in Egypt in the city of Cairo.
    Hamid: How old are you?
    Nasser: I am nineteen years old—and you?
    Hamid: I am too.

    VOCABULARY
    English Ar. Transliteration Arabic
    Nouns
    I ana أنا
    you (m) enta انت
    they both huma هما
    name ism اسم
    America amriika امريكا
    Egypt maSr مصر
    Qatar 'aTar قطر
    Cairo el-'ahirah القاهرة
    family ahil اهل
    origin aSl اصل
    city madinah مدينه
    year sinah سنه
    ten 3ashr, 3ashrah عشر، عشره
    Arabic el-3arabi, el-3arabiyah العربي، العربيه
    Verbs
    we are living ben3aysh بنعيش
    Grammatical Words
    and w و
    but bas بس
    What (question word) eh ايه
    I have 3andy عندي
    also kmaan كمان
    mine -ii ـي-
    yours (to a m) -ak ـك-
    hers -ha ـها-
    in fy في
    Common Phrases
    Oh ah اه
    from min من
    who miin مين
    From where? mniin? منين؟
    How nice kwayis كويس
    Actually beSaraHah بصرحه
    Peace be upon you as-salaam 3alaykum السلام عليكم
    And upon you is peace w 3alaykum as-salaam و عليكم السلام
    welcome to (to a m) ahlan biik fy أهلاً بك في
    Me too w ana kmaan وانا كمان
    And you? w enta? وانت


    b) Conjugating Verbs (Present Tense)
    English Ar. Transliteration Arabic
    First Person
    I am living BE3aysh بعيش
    We are living BEN3aysh بنعيش
    Second Person
    You are living m. BET3aysh بتعيش
    You are living f. BET3ayshY بتعيشي
    You are all living BET3ayshU بتعيشوا
    Third Person
    He is living BEY3aysh بيعيش
    She is living BET3aysh بتعيش
    They are all living BEY3ayshU بيعيشوا

    c) Attached Pronouns

    English Ar. Transliteration Arabic
    First Person
    mine -ee ـي-
    me (after a verb) -nee ـني-
    me (after a preposition) -ya ـيا-
    us/ours -na ـنا-
    Second Person
    you/yours m. -ak ـك-
    you/yours f. -ek ـك-
    you/yours f. (after a preposition) -kee ـكي-
    all of you -kom ـكم-
    Third Person
    him/his -oh ـه-
    her/hers -ha ـها-
    all of them -hom ـهم-