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since today is apparently #ArabicLanguageDay, here's a thread of recommended resources for learning #EgyptianArabic .
i'm far from an expert in this dialect — language learning never ends! — but i have plenty of successes & failures to speak on with the following tools. 1/
i'm far from an expert in this dialect — language learning never ends! — but i have plenty of successes & failures to speak on with the following tools. 1/
two disclaimers:
1. i'm only talking abt 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 i've used, not language-learning 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘴, for wh there are many podcasts, YT videos, books, etc.
2. some of these are applicable for learning other varieties of Arabic & even other langs, but some are obviously not!
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1. i'm only talking abt 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 i've used, not language-learning 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘴, for wh there are many podcasts, YT videos, books, etc.
2. some of these are applicable for learning other varieties of Arabic & even other langs, but some are obviously not!
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here's how i see this thread going:
graded workbooks/coursebooks
dictionaries
getting speaking practice
miscellaneous web resources
finding in-language media
we'll see how that holds up.
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graded workbooks/coursebooksdictionariesgetting speaking practicemiscellaneous web resourcesfinding in-language mediawe'll see how that holds up.
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the book "Kullu Tamām" (AUC Press) throws you right into the language at a beginner (but still conversational) level.the dialogues are very helpful, & each chapter has useful exercises at the end, as well as useful idioms. 4/
https://aucpress.com/product/kullu-tamam/
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it doesn't use the Arabic script at all, which is (as the kids say) a choice.but i think it's intended for new arrivals in Egypt who haven't had time to master the writing system & really want to be able to speak useful things, & it totally succeeds in this. 5/
"Kallimni 3arabi" (AUC Press) is not one book but a whole graded series of (5?) books.these coursebooks are chock full of useful dialogues that you can (& should) listen to over & over.
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https://aucpress.com/product/kallimni-arabi/
they also include some graphically intuitive pedagogy to gently teach things like broken plurals, the passive, inflecting numbers, etc.the publisher has swung the pendulum to the other side & ONLY uses the Arabic script, with no English notes or explanations whatsoever!
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the most useful (for me) two-way dictionary has been LisaanMasry ( http://lisaanmasry.org ) b/c you can get it as a pretty convenient phone app.it doesn't have every word but it can help you more often than not (wh cannot be said for most online dialect lexica).
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best thing abt it is the audio clips for the example sentences with a lot of common words.so you can hear a native speaker pronounce not only forms of the word but some context as well.
(they missed "yeet" as an alternate translation in the رمى entry .. 4/5 stars)
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if it's comprehensiveness you want, the best dialect dictionary is Hinds & Badawi 1986.in it you'll find absolutely everything, except for relatively recent "slang" vocab & usage.
https://archive.org/details/ADictionaryOfEgyptianArabic/page/n107/mode/2up
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for learners i would also recommend @lingualism1 's "Big Fat Book of Egyptian Arabic Verbs" wh goes into detail w paradigms & many example sentences for 264 common verbs.like most of Lingualism's stuff (more on them below) there is accompanying audio for all exx.
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when it comes to finding 1-on-1 language practice, i only have two recommendations (besides, obviously, meeting speakers in your community / work / friend group)they are both websites/apps:
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i am a longtime user of http://iTalki.com (apparently pronounced "eye-talk-E") bc it's a ridiculously easy way to find online teachers / tutors for a LOT of languages (you would really be surprised) & even different Arabic varieties .../13
so you can shop around for tutors that look like they'd fit your needs well (they all have bios & intro videos).you can also leverage iTalki to meet other learners, say speakers of your target lang who are learning a lang that YOU speak, & do a language exchange. /14
a similar venue for finding a language exchange partner, wh is basically just a bilingual chat app, is http://HelloTalk.com .the HT chat has an interesting interface that lets you correct people's text to point out errors. this can sometimes get a little annoying
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something to be aware of:
if you're a proficient English speaker on these sites, you are HUGELY privileged.there are so many ppl seeking to learn English, you'll never have trouble finding an exchange partner. ...
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but be aware that the experience can be different for others, & be mindful of the historical causes that have contributed to the obscenely high demand of learning YOUR language.you might have to turn a lot of requests down! but do so respectfully & don't be a dick.
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now for some web resources!my 1st real encounter w Egyptian music, many yrs ago, was thru this lovely little "course" that dissects the lyrics of 15 songs:
http://egyptianarabiccourse.blogspot.com/
some of the YT links are broken, but you can find the songs yourself.
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if you're looking for more in-depth of specific grammatical features, https://arabic.desert-sky.net/ is a good destination for that.they have many pages on different language features, & will tell you what applies for Standard & what for Colloquial Arabic.
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the "Bilmasry" Podcast (twitter's own @bilmasripodcast ) does an amazing job of explaining dialectal features, especially elaborating on cultural nuances & usages within context that are difficult to convey in a standard coursebook....
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i especially love their videos on Egyptian idioms,https://www.bilmasri.com/bilmasri-idioms/
which do an impressive job of assembling film footage in which different idioms are used, adding important cultural & linguistic context.
i have personally benefited from this hugely.
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