September 9, 2025 • 37 mins
Learning to speak Arabic as a Traveler. Here's a beginner's guide to unlocking a meaningful language, embracing the culture, and navigating travel in an Arabic-speaking country.
Unlock the doors to meaningful cultural connections in Arabic-speaking countries with our special guest, John, who brings Egyptian Arabic to life through practical phrases and authentic insights. Having guided us through Egypt's wonders, John offers more than just vocabulary – he reveals how travelers can navigate cultural nuances with confidence and respect.
Discover why Egyptian Arabic is your best bet for communication across the Arab world, and learn essential expressions that will transform your travel experience. From navigating the subtle differences in greetings to understanding eye contact customs, this episode peels back layers of cultural complexity to reveal a beautifully hospitable culture waiting to welcome respectful visitors.
The heart of this conversation reveals a powerful truth: Arab cultures can "absolutely tell if you love them and respect them, even if they don't understand a word you're saying." This insight challenges common Western misconceptions about Arab societies being easily offended or rigid. Instead, John emphasizes that genuine warmth and respect matter far more than perfect pronunciation or flawless cultural knowledge.
Beyond theoretical knowledge, we dive into practical travel phrases you'll actually use – from finding bathrooms (without accidentally asking for a pigeon!) to ordering coffee, introducing yourself, and navigating social situations with appropriate etiquette. Each phrase comes with cultural context and pronunciation tips that make learning accessible even for complete beginners.
Whether you're planning a trip to Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, or any Arabic-speaking destination, these language basics and cultural insights will enrich your journey and open doors to authentic experiences that remain closed to those who make no effort to bridge the communication gap. Join us for this enlightening conversation that proves you don't need fluency – just a humble willingness to learn and connect.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This transcript has not be read or edited by our
team.
Hi, I'm Alexa and I'm Rory, andtogether we are the ROAMies.
We are married to each other.
Right?
We are a touring musical duo.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
And our music has taken us to all kinds of places
all around the world and keepsus always on the go.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while
running around working to keepall your plates spinning.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
And we hope, to facilitate your busy lifestyle
and feed your inner travel bug.
Hi everyone, hello, we have afun episode today.
So we are in our second week ofour learning languages for
travel, and so today we're goingto dive into Arabic.
(00:45):
So we have with us our goodfriend John, and we asked John
because not only is he super fun, but also he was.
We first met John because wewere traveling in Egypt and we
were John and his wife were ourcultural guides and translators
for our trip to Egypt, and wewere in Egypt for 10 days.
(01:07):
We got to do like so much ofthe country.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
It's okay, you can pity them.
They need a little pity yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
They put up with so much, with us y'all.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Yeah, I mean, you've met my wife.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I mean yeah, and they're like no, you can't act
that way.
You can't do like, just calmdown, like what are you doing?
Stop, don't.
let me ask right yeah so so aswe kind of want to share the
link, like just give you somebasic language tips on arabic
for travel, he's going to alsothrow in some of those cultural
things before we kind of dive inwith that, john, you're going
(01:38):
to share with us.
You're not going to give usproper arabic right.
You're going to give usegyptian arabic, so're going to
give us Egyptian Arabic.
So explain about that.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Just a little quick thing so people know, like what
they're learning.
Okay, so Arabic.
It has the standard Arabic,which is like what you hear on
the TV news or you read in anewspaper spoken in schools, and
that's like standard Arabic.
It has like its rule and youneed to like, if you are going
to speak it correctly, you needto know those rules.
Then we have all differentkinds of dialects of Arabic Like
(02:13):
for, we have Egyptian Arabic,we have Levant Arabic, like for
Syria, lebanon, that region, andthen we have the Gulf Arabic,
which is Saudi Arabia, qatar,dubai.
So Egyptian Arabic.
I would say it's understoodacross the Arab countries.
So that's, I guess it's goingto be useful to, especially with
(02:33):
those small phrases in Arabic,hopefully that if you use those,
you are going to be understoodregardless of the country you
are in.
So this is Egyptian Arabic.
Yes, that's what I will bepassing on to you today.
End.
So this is egyptian arabic.
Yes, that's what I will, I willbe passing into you today.
Okay, all right, like if you arevisiting like a local market in
morocco, for example, or injordan, and if you are dealing
(02:55):
with like people, they might belike highly educated if you
start speaking like standardarabic, or what we call it the
fosha arabic.
I don't know how much of thisis going to be.
It's not about understanding,because they understand it, but
it's how much they are going tobe expecting you, as a foreigner
in the country, to be speakingstandard Arabic.
So, between the accent, betweenthe foreign pronunciation, and
(03:19):
it's not the common languagethey are using every day, I
guess it's going to be morechallenging.
But if you will say somethingin Egyptian Arabic or in the
dialect of the country you arevisiting, I believe that you
have higher chances of beingunderstood.
They are going to appreciate itregardless the fact that you
are trying to speak theirlanguage.
That's going to be the mainthing.
(03:40):
They are going to be amazed andappreciating that you are
trying to speak their language.
So, it's just like we're tryingto give people like higher
chances of being understood orpassing the message they are
trying to like.
If they are trying to ask aquestion or ask for direction or
something, then just give thema higher chance of being
understood.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Yeah, it's good we're going over Arabic, because
right now we're in Finland andthat's the language as all
Americans know, that's thelanguage of the country of
Finland is Arabic, particularlyEgyptian Arabic, so it's good
that we're learning this so wecan go out and make use of it
immediately in Lapland.
Oh yeah, y'all.
Good luck with that.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah, so y'all, last week we recorded learning
Japanese when we were inSwitzerland and now that we're
in Finland, we're recordinglearn Arabic.
So you're a Romy when you'rewith us.
So, john, I've got.
Before we dive into languagefor like specific words, just a
(04:37):
quick question.
I remember visiting I believeit was Egypt.
We were told, not by you, butmaybe and maybe it's just the
women, but as we're like walkingdown the street that we
shouldn't just like make eyecontact with people, so is that
like a woman thing?
Is that an Arabic thing?
(04:58):
Was that specific to whereverwe were at the time?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
It's probably they told you they meant to.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I mean, that's what Rory and I, when we're walking
around, whether we're justtaking a walk on a trail or
going to the store we're goingto make eye contact with people
and say hi, I'm like I don'tknow exactly it's going to be.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I don't know how to answer this because it's going
to depend on where you are.
So, for example, if you are ina tourist area and like people
are trying to show you theirlike tourist products and stuff,
they are expecting you tocommunicate this way with them.
But if you are just likewalking in the street, I believe
yeah, we don't do much of likeeye contact all the time or just
(05:40):
like saying hi to everybody yousee on on the, if you are just
like taking a walk, or if youare getting into the subway and
you start greeting everyone, Iguess that's going to be like
yeah.
But if you are like gettinginto like an office, for example
, if you are like a doctoroffice and people are there and
you say hi just like a generalone, not with an eye contact
(06:02):
with every single person of them, I guess that's normal and
expected.
Hey, yeah, when we do that eyecontact, I believe it's just
like gonna have more signal oflike I want to have like a
personal like, uh, communicate,starting a personal conversation
.
Maybe that's why you were toldthat to avoid the, the direct
(06:23):
eye contact, because that mightbe misunderstood.
Yes, like hey, let's talk.
It's almost like an invitationto start a conversation instead
of just walking or keeping yourdirection.
That's it, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I do remember one specific instance when we were
visiting might have been afriend of yours home, their
house, and it was in anapartment building and we were
walking up the stairs and a girlwas coming down the stairs.
She was probably in her 20s orlate teens and she, very
specifically, when she saw mecoming, she looked down and away
and would not make eye contact.
(06:57):
And I think I'd asked you aboutthat and you said young girls
or whatever, something aboutthat.
What's tell me about that?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Yeah, it's for the same thing, like what I'm
telling you.
If she is going to be lookingto you and smiling and stuff,
this means hey, I'm starting aconversation and she doesn't
want to send that message,especially to someone from a
foreign culture.
But even if it's just like anEgyptian man, she doesn't know,
(07:25):
most likely she's not going tobe trying to send a signal or a
message say like, hey, let's befriends.
if she doesn't know this person.
Yeah, right, so I guess thatwas just like a sign of respect,
just like.
Hey, like I'm not inviting youto my personal space with you
yeah, I'm not inviting you to mypersonal space, basically, just
like.
Hey, just like I'm going on myway and that's it.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Yeah, it was real, it was very clear.
That's a good point, because itwas very clear, you know,
because, as an American, I waswanting to go up and you know,
just walk up and nod my head,you know, as we pass people,
because we like to be friendlyand say hi.
But we're not flirting, wepromise, yeah, she looked down
on the way and I thought thatwas a very specific message to
me.
Yes, it was.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Okay, yeah, but this doesn't mean, if you said hi or
if you smile, that she's goingto be like completely like
aggressive, or anything likethis.
No, it's just like she's nottrying to start that
conversation or send you a wrongsignal.
But if you said like, let's say, if you, by the time you knew
(08:26):
how to speak Arabic and you saidsomething like good morning or
something like this, most likelyshe would have responded with
the same word and then she wouldcontinue walking.
It's not going like hey, we areenemy.
That's not the message at all.
That's yeah okay, cool.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
So let's dive into how do we greet.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Okay, we have greeting for the morning and we
have a greeting for the eveningand I believe that's it.
I mean, like I don't think wehave like someone for the early
afternoon, late afternoon, it'sjust like morning and night and
that's basically.
They have some other names, butI don't know if they are used
in greetings, other names but Idon't know if they are used in
(09:08):
in greetings.
So in the morning we say sabahand the word khair means
goodness, means just likesomething good.
So sabah, it's basically goodmorning.
If it's in the evening, we aregoing to say masaa.
The same word is just like theword sabah and masaa.
That's what, what they changemorning and evening.
Okay, good morning is going tobe sabah al-khair, sabah
(09:32):
al-khair, that's good morning.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
One more time, slowly with the sabah thing.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Yes thing, yes and oh .
By the way, in Arabic we havewhat I call it like three levels
of the letter h.
Okay, because the reason I callit letter h?
Because most of foreigners theyhear all these three Arabic
letters and they either write itor repeat it as a letter h, but
they are actually in Arabic.
(10:01):
They are three differentletters.
So we have the regular standardH, like the air sound, like he,
for example.
And then we have another one,which is the one used in the
word good morning, which is it'snot from the nose, it's from
the throat, it's like sabah.
(10:21):
And that's the one we are usingin the word good morning, okay,
sabah, okay, that's mean meansmorning, and then the.
The last one is the one it'slike mostly from the nose.
Is that like the sound here?
(10:41):
And that's the one in thesecond word in good morning.
So in the first word we havethe second h, or the middle h,
which is صباح, and then in thesecond word we have the third
one, which is الخير, khair.
(11:02):
So sabah, al-khair.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Great Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
And for evening or night, it's going to be masaa,
masaa, masaa al-khair the sameexact word from the good morning
meeting, greeting Masaaal-khair.
That's good evening okay andbasically, if we literally, can
(11:32):
say hi, okay, just like when, ifit got complicated, just like
say hi and you're gonna be okay,you're good yeah oh, you know
yes I don't know, I yes yes ifwe directly translate, we're
basically saying morning goodand then evening good.
Correct, yes, okay.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
All right Cool Water down the wrong pipe.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Usually this happens when you practice el cheir a lot
.
Yeah, so expect that.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
This is where I can learn this language.
I feel like I would damage myvocal cords in German.
Okay Okay, all right, can learnthis language.
I would damage my vocal cords.
Okay okay, all right.
If we're gonna visit an arabiccountry, what else might we need
for greetings or just gettingaround?
Speaker 3 (12:16):
okay for greeting, like when we say hi or hello.
It's different when you aregoing to someone or getting into
a place or when someone iscoming to you.
Okay.
So if you are, let's say, in ahotel and you have a guest taxi
driver or anybody who's comingto meet you in the hotel, but
(12:38):
you are receiving them a simplegreeting, it can be just like
ahlan, it means welcome, or hi,it can be used this way when you
are receiving someone.
Okay, if you want the first hright that you said yes, you're
right, yeah ahlan, so that's a,so that's a regular english h
ahlan, there is no, there is no,it's just the regular h.
(13:02):
So yes, so you can say alsoahlan.
Some many people to say ah,also many people say it's also a
very, very common, it's justlike an extra greeting, like you
are very, very welcome,something like this.
So it's, but ahlan by itself isgood enough.
So ahlan, ahlan, you can, yeah,you can repeat it multiple
(13:24):
times, or you can.
You will hear people arerepeating this word multiple
times when they are greetingsomeone and say like ahlan,
ahlan, ahlan, it's just the sameword.
You're just like repeating itmultiple times.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
It's just like intense welcoming here, very
excited to welcome you veryexcited to receive you.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Oh, I like the rhyme of the Ahlan Wahlan Ahlan, ahlan
, ahlan, ahlan.
Yeah, it's just like you keeprepeating it.
So Ahlan Ahlan, ahlan, okay.
But if you are going to visitsomeone or you are going to
their place, I guess it's goingto be the time of the day
greeting.
It's going to be like the Masaaal-Khair or Sabah al-Khair when
(14:01):
you are getting into theirplaces, because usually the host
is welcoming the visitors.
So when you say Ahlan, it'sbasically when you are the host.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Now, do you have to wait for them to say it first,
or can you?
If you're outgoing like me, canyou just say it?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Yeah, I don't think you are going to need to do any
waiting.
As soon as they open the door,the Ahlan, ahlan, ahlan,
immediately.
So, yes, that's gonna be.
That's just gonna be like, hey,we are welcoming you and that's
gonna be immediate.
Yeah, yes all right.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
The arabic people are very welcoming people.
They are very welcome that'strue.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Yes, all right, speaking of welcome, do you say?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
like.
Thank you and you're welcome.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Shokran is the thank you Shokran, so it's like an S-H
sound.
So it's like shokran, shokran.
Yeah, you can say shokran,absolutely, yes.
Yeah, the word thank you meansshokran, and again you can say
shokran, shokran, shokran, yeahyou can repeat that several
times as well.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
John, I love the way you said that.
You said the word thank youmeans shokran instead of shokran
means thank you.
That was awesome.
Yes, the word thank you meansshokran.
That's awesome.
It is, of course it does.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Okay.
So if I just said thank you andyou said you're welcome to me,
or I said chokran and then yousaid you're welcome, how would I
say that?
How would someone say that?
Speaker 3 (15:33):
you're welcome.
Okay, so just like to keep itsimple.
There are different ways to torespond to chokran, but just
like to keep it easier tomemorize uh we have the word
afwan af one, and that can be it, because it rhyme with chakran.
So if someone say chakran, youcan say half one, like let's say
, if you are giving someone agift and they say chakran,
(15:55):
that's the response for this one.
Like say, hey, half one.
There's like, don't mention it,it's more one and not wan.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Afwan, yeah, afwan.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Afwan Wan Wan.
Okay, okay, and it's a wordthat starts with the letter ain,
which doesn't exist in English.
So it's close to the A sound,but it's not an A, it's a
special character.
It's called Ayn yes.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Afwan.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
That's great.
Excuse me Almost like, please.
You can use the word lausamaatIf you are going to ask someone
something like if you need water, if you need anything from
anyone, or if you need water, ifyou need anything for anyone.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Anyone accidentally bump into them, yeah, or?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
or if your friend's wife gives you this thing called
lax tea and you're at thepyramids and you're in a really
bad situation yeah, you need touse this.
I'm just saying not that thatwould ever happen with us.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
no, no, no, no.
I did that to me.
No, I'm just saying not thatthat would ever happen, not that
that's happened with us.
No, no, and your wife Not thatJohn's wife did that to me.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
No, I'm just saying, you know, it could happen True.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
If you like, hit someone or something and you
want to say, excuse me, that's alittle bit different than when
you are asking for somethingfrom someone.
Gotcha, okay, respectively.
Gotcha, two different things,okay, okay.
So if you are asking someone tohelp you with something, then
you will use the word لو سمحت,لو سمحت.
(17:36):
So let's say, if you need wateror ask any question, you will
say I need this, لو سمحت.
Or then you will ask yourquestion or your request,
whatever you are asking.
If you are ordering food orsomething, then it's just kind
of like asking in a polite wayit sounds like the second H, the
(17:56):
middle.
That's correct.
Yes, yeah, you are trying tokeep up with her.
Yes, and that's a good one tomemorize because it can be used
in many different situations andit shows respect and it was
understanding of the culture aswell.
So it is, and it's not verydifficult, it doesn't have that
(18:17):
or anything, so it can beaccomplished easily.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
yeah, so then, if we're going to accidentally bump
into somebody and we needexcuse me for that, then what's
that one?
Speaker 3 (18:30):
if the mistake or the problem already happened.
I guess it's going to be I amsorry instead of excuse me.
So it's going to be as if, asif, as if, okay, so that's if,
like, if you step on somebody'sshoes or something, so like,
like, as if, okay, but if youwant them to make a space for
(18:50):
you, like as in, excuse me, youwant, like to….
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Right, let me pass and get by.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Then that's a third one.
It's going to be bad, isn't itBad?
Isn't it Bad?
Isn't it bad?
Isn't it bad?
Isn't it so, like if you'regonna tap on someone's shoulder
and ask them to move so you can,like, exit a subway or
something bad, isn't it bad,isn't it?
Speaker 1 (19:20):
How would you spell that in English, for example?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Bad like B-A-D, and then Iznak I-Z-N-A-K.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Yeah, is that what you said?
Bad again, it has that letterAyn, which doesn't exist in
English.
So, actually, like youngergeneration, if they are texting
phonetically it's Arabic word,but they are using Arabic like
English keyboard.
Instead of that word, thatletter, they are going to use
the digit three.
(19:48):
Okay, because the Arabic letterfor the letter Ayn, it looks
very similar to the digit three,but the opposite direction.
So they use it to indicate hey,we are using that Arabic letter
Ayn.
Yes, so it is special.
It is a special Arabic letter,but you can use double A's to
(20:10):
indicate this is not just likeBa, it has the Ayn sound, so
it's going to be Baed.
I'm trying to write it downhere.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
So B-A-E-D almost Baed, yeah, baed, and then Eznak
, e-z-n-a-e-d, almost Bad, yeah,bad.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
And then is neck E-Z-N-A-K.
I would say Is neck, andthere's like two syllables here
Bad Is neck, bad is neck Great.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Okay, nice.
What else might we need to knowto get to be a respectful
traveler in an Arabic country?
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Or a successful traveler.
Do we need like?
I don't?
Speaker 2 (20:46):
understand or do you speak English?
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Yes, hugs and kisses and that's easy.
Yeah, tell us about it.
Usually, like the oppositegenders, they don't hug each
other unless they know eachother.
So if you go visit like, let'ssay, you started a relationship
with your tour guide and youbecame friends and he invited
(21:10):
you to go visit his family youdon't go either when you are
getting into the house or whenyou are leaving, and hug
everyone, including his femalefamily members.
That's extremely.
It's going to be differentbased on where he is from family
education.
So that's a little bit ofsomething to avoid unless you
(21:31):
know this person and his familyand they are okay with that.
And same thing for the womannot to hug all men of that
family unless they know thatthey are okay with that and they
understand what exactly itmeans.
Because that that it is asensitive issue.
Yeah, because that's not acommon thing in most of our
country?
Yes, yeah, because you knowvery yeah, but it is very normal
(21:55):
to see like two men or twowomen, arabic people.
They are greeting each otherand and are shaking hands and
hugging each other or kissing.
That's just the normalgreetings between them.
What else?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Would we reach out a hand to shake their hand, to say
hello.
My name is and we would.
Would we shake their hand?
Is that kind of the normal?
Speaker 3 (22:17):
I would say, yeah, that's not as sensitive, like.
The worst case scenario is likeif some of the families they
are really traditional or theyare very religious, they might
say I'm sorry, I don't shakehands with opposite gender, but
it's not going to be anysensitivity, it's not going to
be like something that will makeeverybody uncomfortable in the
(22:38):
room.
It's not like this, no.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Yeah, actually, if they rejected that, they would
be apologetic.
Well, whether what they say,like I'm sorry I can't do this,
but they would like understand,like you don't mean anything bad
or you don't mean, you don'tmean any disrespect to them,
they are not going to see this.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Yeah, yeah Is it.
Is there a?
Thing?
Speaker 3 (23:08):
in Arab culture with, like if you were to meet the
family and you don't knowwhether to shake hands or what,
if you just sort of do a like, a, a bit of a not a bow, but just
a nod, like nice to meet you,yeah, yeah, that's absolutely
understood.
It's like, it's a it'sunderstood gesture.
But shaking hand, it is alsolike it's very common in Arab
countries now, you missed.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
You mentioned the kiss.
Is that a bit like what?
What they call the bizu, whereit's on the, on the cheek, like
in europe?
Speaker 3 (23:26):
yeah, yeah, just like a like, check on it like this,
and that's just, it can bebetween men and men or women and
women, and it's just like typeof greeting.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Is it normally both cheeks, one cheek?
Does it vary that?
Speaker 2 (23:39):
different from one country to country same with the
french countries, then yeah,Some countries they are only two
, others they are three.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
So that's going to be something you need to ask when
you visit the country, at leastlike pay attention, count when
you see it happening.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
So you ask how many times can I kiss you?
Is that the?
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Please don't start very nice to meet you, that's
another thing yeah, even if,like men or women, they like
kiss each other in irk, but theyare not expecting you to
practice that when you are justmeeting with them or when you
are visiting with them.
So that's a that's anotherthing.
The people are not verysensitive to those things.
(24:25):
When you are like starting,they understand there is
difference.
They understand that is you'rejust trying to find out how
things work in that country.
So there is no, yeah, it's notgonna be.
Like, hey, you should have justfour times, not three.
I mean, like, how can we startthis friendship now?
(24:45):
I mean, like we are starting onthe wrong foot here.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
We're fed a very specific diet of information
about the Middle East and theArabic people.
So would you say that, ingeneral, they are not looking
for offense, like they're notlooking for something that
you've done that is offensive.
They're not on edge all thetime Because I felt like it was
a very welcoming, a very open,friendly culture, like blew my
(25:11):
mind.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Yeah, yeah, that's absolutely correct and that's
straight.
I mean, I work with a lot ofpeople from America, europe and
different other like countriescoming to work and inside the
Middle East, and even when youare dealing with people, they
are not like they don't evenknow how to read and write
Arabic, like if they are totallyuneducated, they have no idea
(25:34):
about cross-culture processes oranything like that, but still
they can absolutely tell if youlove them, you respect them or
not, even if they don'tunderstand a word you are saying
.
When you don't know how to talkto them and I witnessed this
firsthand.
I see people they are like thisfamily coming from the South
(25:55):
here and in America.
They have no idea how even tosay hi in Arabic.
Say hi in Arabic and from dayone they are welcome to be to be
treated as family member bytheir like taxi driver or their
doorman, and they are just likeboth sides.
they don't speak any of eachother language, but they are
(26:16):
friends and they are family andthere is great connection.
And I saw the opposite people.
They come with like all theeducation they can get about the
culture and they know stuffabout our country and our
culture that we don't even knowand they are that well educated
and sometimes they teach us evensome Arabic words that we don't
know.
I mean yeah, and then when Isearch, yeah, you're right, yeah
(26:38):
, that means this, but still,when they are leaving, they are
just treated as foreigners.
They didn't have thatconnection.
So, yes, if you are visitingany of the Arab countries and
you have nothing but love andrespect to the people there, I
don't think you should worryabout any of the sensitivity
(26:59):
there.
But if you did something orsaid something that it's not
culturally acceptable orappropriate, most likely they're
going to receive it with a lotof like laughing and they're
like, hey, don't do this again.
That's gonna be about it, yeahright.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
This means this and this, but it's not gonna be like
hey, please leave, like wecan't have you here, like no, I
don't think that's gonna be thecase yeah, yeah, there's gonna
be grace, and as long as we come, with respect and love, yes,
and wherever we travel, thatshould be kind of the approach,
which is why we want to learnsome basic things, because that
(27:36):
shows respect when you try tospeak the language even just a
little bit yeah, the main thingdoes it.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
it can be like an oversensitive area is religion,
regardless of christian or islam, like when that's something.
You need to be a little bitcareful not to be like
intentionally try to bedisrespectful to what people,
what people believe, because,across the board, all the people
from the arab countries, theyare religious, even if they are
(28:03):
not practicing their faith asthey should.
Still, when it comes toreligion and faith, they are
like that's a very importantaspect of their life.
So that's, I would say that'sthe only thing that it's like
they don't take it lightly, butagain, they are not on the edge,
they are not like just likewaiting for the slight thing.
So, no, that's not the case,but it is an important item for
(28:27):
everybody's life.
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Any other phrases we need to know before we close out
today's episode.
Well, toilet, everybody needsto know that one, oh, everybody
needs toilet and water.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
Okay, I guess the best word to use is ham-mam, and
it is very important to havethat two-syllable thing, hamam.
It has like an M and then it'sstarting with another M, so it's
hamam, that's bathroom or therestroom.
But because if you said hamam,that's peasant, that's just like
(29:00):
it comes to a completelydifferent thing.
Yeah, that's a bird, so it'simportant.
A completely different thing.
Yeah, it's a bird, so it'sunmanly.
Yes, because you're going to belike on the edge.
And then the other side, theother person, is just like do
you think that maybe you likehunting or you're hungry, you
want food, and so that's not thetime to mispronounce an Arabic
(29:21):
word.
You urgently need food or tohunt?
Yes, but again, that's anEgyptian Arabic.
I don't know if there'sdifferent words for different
Arabic countries, but I believeit's going to be understood
across the Arab region.
(29:42):
And water, water is maya, it'snot ma, it's ma, maya, maya,
maya.
Another verb you can use andthat will help.
You can say like to drink,which is yashrab.
That's the verb.
But if you want to say I wantto drink, you say like to drink.
(30:03):
That's the verb.
But if you want to say I wantto drink, you say like, and if
you said and you stop this, itdoesn't mean tea or coffee or
anything, it just means I need adrink of water Basically.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
So water means and then I want to drink.
Is how you say that.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
I is, I is to drink, is how you say that?
Ais ashrab, ais, ashrab Aismeans I want, or I would like,
and again, when we use, we canuse it with the word we learned
before, which is please, it'slausamah.
So ais ashrab, lausamمحت.
That's beautiful.
(30:44):
You have a complete Arabicsentence now, not just words,
whole sentence.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Okay, real quick Coffee and tea.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Coffee أهوى.
Again, it's like for theEgyptian Arabic.
We're using it a lightercharacter which sounds more like
an A أهوى, but the correctstandard Arabic.
We are using it, a lightercharacter which sounds more like
an A Ahwa, ahwa, but thecorrect standard Arabic for that
it's Qahwa, which is not a Ksound, but it's a deeper K sound
.
It's Qahwa, but Ahwa is goodenough.
(31:19):
Ahwa starts with an A sound.
That's understood.
Ahwa, ahwa, ahwa.
It starts with an A sound.
That's understood.
Ahwa, ahwa, Ahwa.
Tea is, I believe, in most Arabcountries.
When we talk about tea, theymean the black tea.
They don't mean green tea.
They don't mean mint tea orhibiscus tea.
Those are different drinks withdifferent names.
Tea is black tea, basically.
(31:41):
So that's something to be awareof.
Like, yeah, any tea will begood, you're going to get a
black tea, basically.
So that's something to be awareof.
Like, yeah, any tea will begood, you're gonna get a black
tea.
So, if you don't, yeah.
So tea is shai.
So it's very, very similar tothe word chai, but it's shai,
shai, shai, shai, shai.
(32:01):
The word for tea, shay, yeah,okay.
So it's going to be S-H-A,maybe Y, it's going to be like
Shay.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Shay, yeah, okay, perfect.
What about yes, no and goodbye.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Goodbye, let's use ma'a salama or bye-bye.
Many people like to say bye-bye, so bye-bye, or ma'a al-salama,
ma'a al-salama, ma'a al-salama,ma'a al-salama.
I would say you would use ma'aal-salama if someone is leaving
(32:35):
you.
Okay, like, let's say, if youare in a restaurant and someone
is leaving, and then you wouldsay ma'a al-salama If you are
leaving, I guess it's going to.
You can use Ma'a Salama as well, but it's bye-bye.
I guess it's going to be morecommon to say bye because you
are the person who is leaving.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
So for English speakers it's always safe to say
the bye-bye.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Bye.
Yeah, it's very understood.
Okay, good and hide are verywell understood.
You can pull back to those twowhen it gets complicated.
Good, good and yes or no.
Yes is aywa, no is la'a, but Iguess it's going to be different
based on the situation.
(33:17):
So, but in general, yes meansaywa and no means la'a.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
And we learned that song la'a La'a, yes.
That was the one song welearned.
I will forever remember youteaching me that song.
Yeah, we just kept hearing itout in the town.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
And I always thought it was very popular.
Then, yeah, it was good, it wasa super fun song.
I always thought iowa soundedlike the state of iowa very yes,
that's true.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Yes, it's just like it's iowa instead of iowa, and
that's hello or goodbye.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
That's that the yes.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Say it slowly for me A-Y-W-A.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
A-Y-W-A.
Okay, yeah, it is.
It's exactly like Iowa, butit's a little bit lighter.
At the beginning it was likeA-Y instead of A A, so A-Y-W-A.
Okay, let's say that if youwant to say your name, that's
(34:29):
because that's.
It doesn't have variables.
It's just like either if youare saying or a man is saying it
or a woman is saying is thatstays the same compared to the
question.
If you are going to ask someoneabout their name, then it
depends on the gender of theperson you are talking to.
So my name is it's going to beIsmi, and then you put your name
.
Okay, ismi.
(34:51):
Ismi means my name.
Yes, ismi Is Mi.
It's easy.
Yeah, it's almost like Ismi.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Exactly.
Yes, ismi, ismi, rory, yeah,and then you go Exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Yeah, if you want, as you can say, ismack or Ismack
if you are talking to a man,ismack if you are talking to a
woman, and then you add thequestion A Okay, so that's one.
So Is add the question A OK, sothat's what.
So Esmec A or Esmec A?
Great, yeah, I can dig it.
Yeah, but I guess, if you, justif you shared your name, most
(35:34):
likely they are going to tellyou their name without you
asking.
So, you saved yourself aquestion in Arabic.
You don't have to learn thisone.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
That's right.
What can we get by with?
Speaker 1 (35:47):
Absolutely Bye-bye, good start.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
Bye-bye.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
You can spend your mental energy on the other words
, in this episode Absolutely.
Well, this gets us started.
Thank you so much.
John, I really appreciate youtaking us to the Arab world and
giving us a little introduction.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Yes, quite literally all those years ago and now.
Love it.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Love it, love it Very happy to be here.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Thank you very much for having me.
Thank you, absolutely Okay,bye-bye.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
We hope we've inspired you this episode, so
join us next time.
Please subscribe to rate andshare our podcast with your
friends or you know whomever?
And please like and follow uson Instagram, youtube and
Facebook.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
We're also on X and on all social platforms.
We are at TheRomies, that'sT-H-E, r-o-a-m, i-e-s, and our
main hub is our website.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
At wwwtheromiescom, that's right, that's.
T-h-e-r-o-a-m-i-e-scom.
We'll be there until next time.
Yeah, thanks for listening, bye.
This transcript has not be read or edited by our
team.
Hi, I'm Alexa and I'm Rory, andtogether we are the ROAMies.
We are married to each other.
Right?
We are a touring musical duo.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
And our music has taken us to all kinds of places
all around the world and keepsus always on the go.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So we hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while
running around working to keepall your plates spinning.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
And we hope, to facilitate your busy lifestyle
and feed your inner travel bug.
Hi everyone, hello, we have afun episode today.
So we are in our second week ofour learning languages for
travel, and so today we're goingto dive into Arabic.
(00:45):
So we have with us our goodfriend John, and we asked John
because not only is he super fun, but also he was.
We first met John because wewere traveling in Egypt and we
were John and his wife were ourcultural guides and translators
for our trip to Egypt, and wewere in Egypt for 10 days.
(01:07):
We got to do like so much ofthe country.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
It's okay, you can pity them.
They need a little pity yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
They put up with so much, with us y'all.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Yeah, I mean, you've met my wife.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I mean yeah, and they're like no, you can't act
that way.
You can't do like, just calmdown, like what are you doing?
Stop, don't.
let me ask right yeah so so aswe kind of want to share the
link, like just give you somebasic language tips on arabic
for travel, he's going to alsothrow in some of those cultural
things before we kind of dive inwith that, john, you're going
(01:38):
to share with us.
You're not going to give usproper arabic right.
You're going to give usegyptian arabic, so're going to
give us Egyptian Arabic.
So explain about that.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Just a little quick thing so people know, like what
they're learning.
Okay, so Arabic.
It has the standard Arabic,which is like what you hear on
the TV news or you read in anewspaper spoken in schools, and
that's like standard Arabic.
It has like its rule and youneed to like, if you are going
to speak it correctly, you needto know those rules.
Then we have all differentkinds of dialects of Arabic Like
(02:13):
for, we have Egyptian Arabic,we have Levant Arabic, like for
Syria, lebanon, that region, andthen we have the Gulf Arabic,
which is Saudi Arabia, qatar,dubai.
So Egyptian Arabic.
I would say it's understoodacross the Arab countries.
So that's, I guess it's goingto be useful to, especially with
(02:33):
those small phrases in Arabic,hopefully that if you use those,
you are going to be understoodregardless of the country you
are in.
So this is Egyptian Arabic.
Yes, that's what I will bepassing on to you today.
End.
So this is egyptian arabic.
Yes, that's what I will, I willbe passing into you today.
Okay, all right, like if you arevisiting like a local market in
morocco, for example, or injordan, and if you are dealing
(02:55):
with like people, they might belike highly educated if you
start speaking like standardarabic, or what we call it the
fosha arabic.
I don't know how much of thisis going to be.
It's not about understanding,because they understand it, but
it's how much they are going tobe expecting you, as a foreigner
in the country, to be speakingstandard Arabic.
So, between the accent, betweenthe foreign pronunciation, and
(03:19):
it's not the common languagethey are using every day, I
guess it's going to be morechallenging.
But if you will say somethingin Egyptian Arabic or in the
dialect of the country you arevisiting, I believe that you
have higher chances of beingunderstood.
They are going to appreciate itregardless the fact that you
are trying to speak theirlanguage.
That's going to be the mainthing.
(03:40):
They are going to be amazed andappreciating that you are
trying to speak their language.
So, it's just like we're tryingto give people like higher
chances of being understood orpassing the message they are
trying to like.
If they are trying to ask aquestion or ask for direction or
something, then just give thema higher chance of being
understood.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Yeah, it's good we're going over Arabic, because
right now we're in Finland andthat's the language as all
Americans know, that's thelanguage of the country of
Finland is Arabic, particularlyEgyptian Arabic, so it's good
that we're learning this so wecan go out and make use of it
immediately in Lapland.
Oh yeah, y'all.
Good luck with that.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Yeah, so y'all, last week we recorded learning
Japanese when we were inSwitzerland and now that we're
in Finland, we're recordinglearn Arabic.
So you're a Romy when you'rewith us.
So, john, I've got.
Before we dive into languagefor like specific words, just a
(04:37):
quick question.
I remember visiting I believeit was Egypt.
We were told, not by you, butmaybe and maybe it's just the
women, but as we're like walkingdown the street that we
shouldn't just like make eyecontact with people, so is that
like a woman thing?
Is that an Arabic thing?
(04:58):
Was that specific to whereverwe were at the time?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
It's probably they told you they meant to.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
I mean, that's what Rory and I, when we're walking
around, whether we're justtaking a walk on a trail or
going to the store we're goingto make eye contact with people
and say hi, I'm like I don'tknow exactly it's going to be.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
I don't know how to answer this because it's going
to depend on where you are.
So, for example, if you are ina tourist area and like people
are trying to show you theirlike tourist products and stuff,
they are expecting you tocommunicate this way with them.
But if you are just likewalking in the street, I believe
yeah, we don't do much of likeeye contact all the time or just
(05:40):
like saying hi to everybody yousee on on the, if you are just
like taking a walk, or if youare getting into the subway and
you start greeting everyone, Iguess that's going to be like
yeah.
But if you are like gettinginto like an office, for example
, if you are like a doctoroffice and people are there and
you say hi just like a generalone, not with an eye contact
(06:02):
with every single person of them, I guess that's normal and
expected.
Hey, yeah, when we do that eyecontact, I believe it's just
like gonna have more signal oflike I want to have like a
personal like, uh, communicate,starting a personal conversation
.
Maybe that's why you were toldthat to avoid the, the direct
(06:23):
eye contact, because that mightbe misunderstood.
Yes, like hey, let's talk.
It's almost like an invitationto start a conversation instead
of just walking or keeping yourdirection.
That's it, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
I do remember one specific instance when we were
visiting might have been afriend of yours home, their
house, and it was in anapartment building and we were
walking up the stairs and a girlwas coming down the stairs.
She was probably in her 20s orlate teens and she, very
specifically, when she saw mecoming, she looked down and away
and would not make eye contact.
(06:57):
And I think I'd asked you aboutthat and you said young girls
or whatever, something aboutthat.
What's tell me about that?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Yeah, it's for the same thing, like what I'm
telling you.
If she is going to be lookingto you and smiling and stuff,
this means hey, I'm starting aconversation and she doesn't
want to send that message,especially to someone from a
foreign culture.
But even if it's just like anEgyptian man, she doesn't know,
(07:25):
most likely she's not going tobe trying to send a signal or a
message say like, hey, let's befriends.
if she doesn't know this person.
Yeah, right, so I guess thatwas just like a sign of respect,
just like.
Hey, like I'm not inviting youto my personal space with you
yeah, I'm not inviting you to mypersonal space, basically, just
like.
Hey, just like I'm going on myway and that's it.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Yeah, it was real, it was very clear.
That's a good point, because itwas very clear, you know,
because, as an American, I waswanting to go up and you know,
just walk up and nod my head,you know, as we pass people,
because we like to be friendlyand say hi.
But we're not flirting, wepromise, yeah, she looked down
on the way and I thought thatwas a very specific message to
me.
Yes, it was.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Okay, yeah, but this doesn't mean, if you said hi or
if you smile, that she's goingto be like completely like
aggressive, or anything likethis.
No, it's just like she's nottrying to start that
conversation or send you a wrongsignal.
But if you said like, let's say, if you, by the time you knew
(08:26):
how to speak Arabic and you saidsomething like good morning or
something like this, most likelyshe would have responded with
the same word and then she wouldcontinue walking.
It's not going like hey, we areenemy.
That's not the message at all.
That's yeah okay, cool.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
So let's dive into how do we greet.
Speaker 3 (08:45):
Okay, we have greeting for the morning and we
have a greeting for the eveningand I believe that's it.
I mean, like I don't think wehave like someone for the early
afternoon, late afternoon, it'sjust like morning and night and
that's basically.
They have some other names, butI don't know if they are used
in greetings, other names but Idon't know if they are used in
(09:08):
in greetings.
So in the morning we say sabahand the word khair means
goodness, means just likesomething good.
So sabah, it's basically goodmorning.
If it's in the evening, we aregoing to say masaa.
The same word is just like theword sabah and masaa.
That's what, what they changemorning and evening.
Okay, good morning is going tobe sabah al-khair, sabah
(09:32):
al-khair, that's good morning.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
One more time, slowly with the sabah thing.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
Yes thing, yes and oh .
By the way, in Arabic we havewhat I call it like three levels
of the letter h.
Okay, because the reason I callit letter h?
Because most of foreigners theyhear all these three Arabic
letters and they either write itor repeat it as a letter h, but
they are actually in Arabic.
(10:01):
They are three differentletters.
So we have the regular standardH, like the air sound, like he,
for example.
And then we have another one,which is the one used in the
word good morning, which is it'snot from the nose, it's from
the throat, it's like sabah.
(10:21):
And that's the one we are usingin the word good morning, okay,
sabah, okay, that's mean meansmorning, and then the.
The last one is the one it'slike mostly from the nose.
Is that like the sound here?
(10:41):
And that's the one in thesecond word in good morning.
So in the first word we havethe second h, or the middle h,
which is صباح, and then in thesecond word we have the third
one, which is الخير, khair.
(11:02):
So sabah, al-khair.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Great Okay.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
And for evening or night, it's going to be masaa,
masaa, masaa al-khair the sameexact word from the good morning
meeting, greeting Masaaal-khair.
That's good evening okay andbasically, if we literally, can
(11:32):
say hi, okay, just like when, ifit got complicated, just like
say hi and you're gonna be okay,you're good yeah oh, you know
yes I don't know, I yes yes ifwe directly translate, we're
basically saying morning goodand then evening good.
Correct, yes, okay.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
All right Cool Water down the wrong pipe.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Usually this happens when you practice el cheir a lot
.
Yeah, so expect that.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
This is where I can learn this language.
I feel like I would damage myvocal cords in German.
Okay Okay, all right, can learnthis language.
I would damage my vocal cords.
Okay okay, all right.
If we're gonna visit an arabiccountry, what else might we need
for greetings or just gettingaround?
Speaker 3 (12:16):
okay for greeting, like when we say hi or hello.
It's different when you aregoing to someone or getting into
a place or when someone iscoming to you.
Okay.
So if you are, let's say, in ahotel and you have a guest taxi
driver or anybody who's comingto meet you in the hotel, but
(12:38):
you are receiving them a simplegreeting, it can be just like
ahlan, it means welcome, or hi,it can be used this way when you
are receiving someone.
Okay, if you want the first hright that you said yes, you're
right, yeah ahlan, so that's a,so that's a regular english h
ahlan, there is no, there is no,it's just the regular h.
(13:02):
So yes, so you can say alsoahlan.
Some many people to say ah,also many people say it's also a
very, very common, it's justlike an extra greeting, like you
are very, very welcome,something like this.
So it's, but ahlan by itself isgood enough.
So ahlan, ahlan, you can, yeah,you can repeat it multiple
(13:24):
times, or you can.
You will hear people arerepeating this word multiple
times when they are greetingsomeone and say like ahlan,
ahlan, ahlan, it's just the sameword.
You're just like repeating itmultiple times.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
It's just like intense welcoming here, very
excited to welcome you veryexcited to receive you.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Oh, I like the rhyme of the Ahlan Wahlan Ahlan, ahlan
, ahlan, ahlan.
Yeah, it's just like you keeprepeating it.
So Ahlan Ahlan, ahlan, okay.
But if you are going to visitsomeone or you are going to
their place, I guess it's goingto be the time of the day
greeting.
It's going to be like the Masaaal-Khair or Sabah al-Khair when
(14:01):
you are getting into theirplaces, because usually the host
is welcoming the visitors.
So when you say Ahlan, it'sbasically when you are the host.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Now, do you have to wait for them to say it first,
or can you?
If you're outgoing like me, canyou just say it?
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Yeah, I don't think you are going to need to do any
waiting.
As soon as they open the door,the Ahlan, ahlan, ahlan,
immediately.
So, yes, that's gonna be.
That's just gonna be like, hey,we are welcoming you and that's
gonna be immediate.
Yeah, yes all right.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
The arabic people are very welcoming people.
They are very welcome that'strue.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Yes, all right, speaking of welcome, do you say?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
like.
Thank you and you're welcome.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Shokran is the thank you Shokran, so it's like an S-H
sound.
So it's like shokran, shokran.
Yeah, you can say shokran,absolutely, yes.
Yeah, the word thank you meansshokran, and again you can say
shokran, shokran, shokran, yeahyou can repeat that several
times as well.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
John, I love the way you said that.
You said the word thank youmeans shokran instead of shokran
means thank you.
That was awesome.
Yes, the word thank you meansshokran.
That's awesome.
It is, of course it does.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Okay.
So if I just said thank you andyou said you're welcome to me,
or I said chokran and then yousaid you're welcome, how would I
say that?
How would someone say that?
Speaker 3 (15:33):
you're welcome.
Okay, so just like to keep itsimple.
There are different ways to torespond to chokran, but just
like to keep it easier tomemorize uh we have the word
afwan af one, and that can be it, because it rhyme with chakran.
So if someone say chakran, youcan say half one, like let's say
, if you are giving someone agift and they say chakran,
(15:55):
that's the response for this one.
Like say, hey, half one.
There's like, don't mention it,it's more one and not wan.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
Afwan, yeah, afwan.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Afwan Wan Wan.
Okay, okay, and it's a wordthat starts with the letter ain,
which doesn't exist in English.
So it's close to the A sound,but it's not an A, it's a
special character.
It's called Ayn yes.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Afwan.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
That's great.
Excuse me Almost like, please.
You can use the word lausamaatIf you are going to ask someone
something like if you need water, if you need anything from
anyone, or if you need water, ifyou need anything for anyone.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Anyone accidentally bump into them, yeah, or?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
or if your friend's wife gives you this thing called
lax tea and you're at thepyramids and you're in a really
bad situation yeah, you need touse this.
I'm just saying not that thatwould ever happen with us.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
no, no, no, no.
I did that to me.
No, I'm just saying not thatthat would ever happen, not that
that's happened with us.
No, no, and your wife Not thatJohn's wife did that to me.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
No, I'm just saying, you know, it could happen True.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
If you like, hit someone or something and you
want to say, excuse me, that's alittle bit different than when
you are asking for somethingfrom someone.
Gotcha, okay, respectively.
Gotcha, two different things,okay, okay.
So if you are asking someone tohelp you with something, then
you will use the word لو سمحت,لو سمحت.
(17:36):
So let's say, if you need wateror ask any question, you will
say I need this, لو سمحت.
Or then you will ask yourquestion or your request,
whatever you are asking.
If you are ordering food orsomething, then it's just kind
of like asking in a polite wayit sounds like the second H, the
(17:56):
middle.
That's correct.
Yes, yeah, you are trying tokeep up with her.
Yes, and that's a good one tomemorize because it can be used
in many different situations andit shows respect and it was
understanding of the culture aswell.
So it is, and it's not verydifficult, it doesn't have that
(18:17):
or anything, so it can beaccomplished easily.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
yeah, so then, if we're going to accidentally bump
into somebody and we needexcuse me for that, then what's
that one?
Speaker 3 (18:30):
if the mistake or the problem already happened.
I guess it's going to be I amsorry instead of excuse me.
So it's going to be as if, asif, as if, okay, so that's if,
like, if you step on somebody'sshoes or something, so like,
like, as if, okay, but if youwant them to make a space for
(18:50):
you, like as in, excuse me, youwant, like to….
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Right, let me pass and get by.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Then that's a third one.
It's going to be bad, isn't itBad?
Isn't it Bad?
Isn't it bad?
Isn't it bad?
Isn't it so, like if you'regonna tap on someone's shoulder
and ask them to move so you can,like, exit a subway or
something bad, isn't it bad,isn't it?
Speaker 1 (19:20):
How would you spell that in English, for example?
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Bad like B-A-D, and then Iznak I-Z-N-A-K.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
Yeah, is that what you said?
Bad again, it has that letterAyn, which doesn't exist in
English.
So, actually, like youngergeneration, if they are texting
phonetically it's Arabic word,but they are using Arabic like
English keyboard.
Instead of that word, thatletter, they are going to use
the digit three.
(19:48):
Okay, because the Arabic letterfor the letter Ayn, it looks
very similar to the digit three,but the opposite direction.
So they use it to indicate hey,we are using that Arabic letter
Ayn.
Yes, so it is special.
It is a special Arabic letter,but you can use double A's to
(20:10):
indicate this is not just likeBa, it has the Ayn sound, so
it's going to be Baed.
I'm trying to write it downhere.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
So B-A-E-D almost Baed, yeah, baed, and then Eznak
, e-z-n-a-e-d, almost Bad, yeah,bad.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
And then is neck E-Z-N-A-K.
I would say Is neck, andthere's like two syllables here
Bad Is neck, bad is neck Great.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Okay, nice.
What else might we need to knowto get to be a respectful
traveler in an Arabic country?
Speaker 1 (20:42):
Or a successful traveler.
Do we need like?
I don't?
Speaker 2 (20:46):
understand or do you speak English?
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Yes, hugs and kisses and that's easy.
Yeah, tell us about it.
Usually, like the oppositegenders, they don't hug each
other unless they know eachother.
So if you go visit like, let'ssay, you started a relationship
with your tour guide and youbecame friends and he invited
(21:10):
you to go visit his family youdon't go either when you are
getting into the house or whenyou are leaving, and hug
everyone, including his femalefamily members.
That's extremely.
It's going to be differentbased on where he is from family
education.
So that's a little bit ofsomething to avoid unless you
(21:31):
know this person and his familyand they are okay with that.
And same thing for the womannot to hug all men of that
family unless they know thatthey are okay with that and they
understand what exactly itmeans.
Because that that it is asensitive issue.
Yeah, because that's not acommon thing in most of our
country?
Yes, yeah, because you knowvery yeah, but it is very normal
(21:55):
to see like two men or twowomen, arabic people.
They are greeting each otherand and are shaking hands and
hugging each other or kissing.
That's just the normalgreetings between them.
What else?
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Would we reach out a hand to shake their hand, to say
hello.
My name is and we would.
Would we shake their hand?
Is that kind of the normal?
Speaker 3 (22:17):
I would say, yeah, that's not as sensitive, like.
The worst case scenario is likeif some of the families they
are really traditional or theyare very religious, they might
say I'm sorry, I don't shakehands with opposite gender, but
it's not going to be anysensitivity, it's not going to
be like something that will makeeverybody uncomfortable in the
(22:38):
room.
It's not like this, no.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Yeah, actually, if they rejected that, they would
be apologetic.
Well, whether what they say,like I'm sorry I can't do this,
but they would like understand,like you don't mean anything bad
or you don't mean, you don'tmean any disrespect to them,
they are not going to see this.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Yeah, yeah Is it.
Is there a?
Thing?
Speaker 3 (23:08):
in Arab culture with, like if you were to meet the
family and you don't knowwhether to shake hands or what,
if you just sort of do a like, a, a bit of a not a bow, but just
a nod, like nice to meet you,yeah, yeah, that's absolutely
understood.
It's like, it's a it'sunderstood gesture.
But shaking hand, it is alsolike it's very common in Arab
countries now, you missed.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
You mentioned the kiss.
Is that a bit like what?
What they call the bizu, whereit's on the, on the cheek, like
in europe?
Speaker 3 (23:26):
yeah, yeah, just like a like, check on it like this,
and that's just, it can bebetween men and men or women and
women, and it's just like typeof greeting.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Is it normally both cheeks, one cheek?
Does it vary that?
Speaker 2 (23:39):
different from one country to country same with the
french countries, then yeah,Some countries they are only two
, others they are three.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
So that's going to be something you need to ask when
you visit the country, at leastlike pay attention, count when
you see it happening.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
So you ask how many times can I kiss you?
Is that the?
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Please don't start very nice to meet you, that's
another thing yeah, even if,like men or women, they like
kiss each other in irk, but theyare not expecting you to
practice that when you are justmeeting with them or when you
are visiting with them.
So that's a that's anotherthing.
The people are not verysensitive to those things.
(24:25):
When you are like starting,they understand there is
difference.
They understand that is you'rejust trying to find out how
things work in that country.
So there is no, yeah, it's notgonna be.
Like, hey, you should have justfour times, not three.
I mean, like, how can we startthis friendship now?
(24:45):
I mean, like we are starting onthe wrong foot here.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
We're fed a very specific diet of information
about the Middle East and theArabic people.
So would you say that, ingeneral, they are not looking
for offense, like they're notlooking for something that
you've done that is offensive.
They're not on edge all thetime Because I felt like it was
a very welcoming, a very open,friendly culture, like blew my
(25:11):
mind.
Speaker 3 (25:12):
Yeah, yeah, that's absolutely correct and that's
straight.
I mean, I work with a lot ofpeople from America, europe and
different other like countriescoming to work and inside the
Middle East, and even when youare dealing with people, they
are not like they don't evenknow how to read and write
Arabic, like if they are totallyuneducated, they have no idea
(25:34):
about cross-culture processes oranything like that, but still
they can absolutely tell if youlove them, you respect them or
not, even if they don'tunderstand a word you are saying
.
When you don't know how to talkto them and I witnessed this
firsthand.
I see people they are like thisfamily coming from the South
(25:55):
here and in America.
They have no idea how even tosay hi in Arabic.
Say hi in Arabic and from dayone they are welcome to be to be
treated as family member bytheir like taxi driver or their
doorman, and they are just likeboth sides.
they don't speak any of eachother language, but they are
(26:16):
friends and they are family andthere is great connection.
And I saw the opposite people.
They come with like all theeducation they can get about the
culture and they know stuffabout our country and our
culture that we don't even knowand they are that well educated
and sometimes they teach us evensome Arabic words that we don't
know.
I mean yeah, and then when Isearch, yeah, you're right, yeah
(26:38):
, that means this, but still,when they are leaving, they are
just treated as foreigners.
They didn't have thatconnection.
So, yes, if you are visitingany of the Arab countries and
you have nothing but love andrespect to the people there, I
don't think you should worryabout any of the sensitivity
(26:59):
there.
But if you did something orsaid something that it's not
culturally acceptable orappropriate, most likely they're
going to receive it with a lotof like laughing and they're
like, hey, don't do this again.
That's gonna be about it, yeahright.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
This means this and this, but it's not gonna be like
hey, please leave, like wecan't have you here, like no, I
don't think that's gonna be thecase yeah, yeah, there's gonna
be grace, and as long as we come, with respect and love, yes,
and wherever we travel, thatshould be kind of the approach,
which is why we want to learnsome basic things, because that
(27:36):
shows respect when you try tospeak the language even just a
little bit yeah, the main thingdoes it.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
it can be like an oversensitive area is religion,
regardless of christian or islam, like when that's something.
You need to be a little bitcareful not to be like
intentionally try to bedisrespectful to what people,
what people believe, because,across the board, all the people
from the arab countries, theyare religious, even if they are
(28:03):
not practicing their faith asthey should.
Still, when it comes toreligion and faith, they are
like that's a very importantaspect of their life.
So that's, I would say that'sthe only thing that it's like
they don't take it lightly, butagain, they are not on the edge,
they are not like just likewaiting for the slight thing.
So, no, that's not the case,but it is an important item for
(28:27):
everybody's life.
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Any other phrases we need to know before we close out
today's episode.
Well, toilet, everybody needsto know that one, oh, everybody
needs toilet and water.
Speaker 3 (28:38):
Okay, I guess the best word to use is ham-mam, and
it is very important to havethat two-syllable thing, hamam.
It has like an M and then it'sstarting with another M, so it's
hamam, that's bathroom or therestroom.
But because if you said hamam,that's peasant, that's just like
(29:00):
it comes to a completelydifferent thing.
Yeah, that's a bird, so it'simportant.
A completely different thing.
Yeah, it's a bird, so it'sunmanly.
Yes, because you're going to belike on the edge.
And then the other side, theother person, is just like do
you think that maybe you likehunting or you're hungry, you
want food, and so that's not thetime to mispronounce an Arabic
(29:21):
word.
You urgently need food or tohunt?
Yes, but again, that's anEgyptian Arabic.
I don't know if there'sdifferent words for different
Arabic countries, but I believeit's going to be understood
across the Arab region.
(29:42):
And water, water is maya, it'snot ma, it's ma, maya, maya,
maya.
Another verb you can use andthat will help.
You can say like to drink,which is yashrab.
That's the verb.
But if you want to say I wantto drink, you say like to drink.
(30:03):
That's the verb.
But if you want to say I wantto drink, you say like, and if
you said and you stop this, itdoesn't mean tea or coffee or
anything, it just means I need adrink of water Basically.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
So water means and then I want to drink.
Is how you say that.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
I is, I is to drink, is how you say that?
Ais ashrab, ais, ashrab Aismeans I want, or I would like,
and again, when we use, we canuse it with the word we learned
before, which is please, it'slausamah.
So ais ashrab, lausamمحت.
That's beautiful.
(30:44):
You have a complete Arabicsentence now, not just words,
whole sentence.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
Okay, real quick Coffee and tea.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Coffee أهوى.
Again, it's like for theEgyptian Arabic.
We're using it a lightercharacter which sounds more like
an A أهوى, but the correctstandard Arabic.
We are using it, a lightercharacter which sounds more like
an A Ahwa, ahwa, but thecorrect standard Arabic for that
it's Qahwa, which is not a Ksound, but it's a deeper K sound
.
It's Qahwa, but Ahwa is goodenough.
(31:19):
Ahwa starts with an A sound.
That's understood.
Ahwa, ahwa, ahwa.
It starts with an A sound.
That's understood.
Ahwa, ahwa, Ahwa.
Tea is, I believe, in most Arabcountries.
When we talk about tea, theymean the black tea.
They don't mean green tea.
They don't mean mint tea orhibiscus tea.
Those are different drinks withdifferent names.
Tea is black tea, basically.
(31:41):
So that's something to be awareof.
Like, yeah, any tea will begood, you're going to get a
black tea, basically.
So that's something to be awareof.
Like, yeah, any tea will begood, you're gonna get a black
tea.
So, if you don't, yeah.
So tea is shai.
So it's very, very similar tothe word chai, but it's shai,
shai, shai, shai, shai.
(32:01):
The word for tea, shay, yeah,okay.
So it's going to be S-H-A,maybe Y, it's going to be like
Shay.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Shay, yeah, okay, perfect.
What about yes, no and goodbye.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Goodbye, let's use ma'a salama or bye-bye.
Many people like to say bye-bye, so bye-bye, or ma'a al-salama,
ma'a al-salama, ma'a al-salama,ma'a al-salama.
I would say you would use ma'aal-salama if someone is leaving
(32:35):
you.
Okay, like, let's say, if youare in a restaurant and someone
is leaving, and then you wouldsay ma'a al-salama If you are
leaving, I guess it's going to.
You can use Ma'a Salama as well, but it's bye-bye.
I guess it's going to be morecommon to say bye because you
are the person who is leaving.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
So for English speakers it's always safe to say
the bye-bye.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
Bye.
Yeah, it's very understood.
Okay, good and hide are verywell understood.
You can pull back to those twowhen it gets complicated.
Good, good and yes or no.
Yes is aywa, no is la'a, but Iguess it's going to be different
based on the situation.
(33:17):
So, but in general, yes meansaywa and no means la'a.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
And we learned that song la'a La'a, yes.
That was the one song welearned.
I will forever remember youteaching me that song.
Yeah, we just kept hearing itout in the town.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
And I always thought it was very popular.
Then, yeah, it was good, it wasa super fun song.
I always thought iowa soundedlike the state of iowa very yes,
that's true.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Yes, it's just like it's iowa instead of iowa, and
that's hello or goodbye.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
That's that the yes.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Say it slowly for me A-Y-W-A.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
A-Y-W-A.
Okay, yeah, it is.
It's exactly like Iowa, butit's a little bit lighter.
At the beginning it was likeA-Y instead of A A, so A-Y-W-A.
Okay, let's say that if youwant to say your name, that's
(34:29):
because that's.
It doesn't have variables.
It's just like either if youare saying or a man is saying it
or a woman is saying is thatstays the same compared to the
question.
If you are going to ask someoneabout their name, then it
depends on the gender of theperson you are talking to.
So my name is it's going to beIsmi, and then you put your name
.
Okay, ismi.
(34:51):
Ismi means my name.
Yes, ismi Is Mi.
It's easy.
Yeah, it's almost like Ismi.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Exactly.
Yes, ismi, ismi, rory, yeah,and then you go Exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Yeah, if you want, as you can say, ismack or Ismack
if you are talking to a man,ismack if you are talking to a
woman, and then you add thequestion A Okay, so that's one.
So Is add the question A OK, sothat's what.
So Esmec A or Esmec A?
Great, yeah, I can dig it.
Yeah, but I guess, if you, justif you shared your name, most
(35:34):
likely they are going to tellyou their name without you
asking.
So, you saved yourself aquestion in Arabic.
You don't have to learn thisone.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
That's right.
What can we get by with?
Speaker 1 (35:47):
Absolutely Bye-bye, good start.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
Bye-bye.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
You can spend your mental energy on the other words
, in this episode Absolutely.
Well, this gets us started.
Thank you so much.
John, I really appreciate youtaking us to the Arab world and
giving us a little introduction.
Speaker 1 (36:08):
Yes, quite literally all those years ago and now.
Love it.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Love it, love it Very happy to be here.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
Thank you very much for having me.
Thank you, absolutely Okay,bye-bye.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
We hope we've inspired you this episode, so
join us next time.
Please subscribe to rate andshare our podcast with your
friends or you know whomever?
And please like and follow uson Instagram, youtube and
Facebook.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
We're also on X and on all social platforms.
We are at TheRomies, that'sT-H-E, r-o-a-m, i-e-s, and our
main hub is our website.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
At wwwtheromiescom, that's right, that's.
T-h-e-r-o-a-m-i-e-scom.
We'll be there until next time.
Yeah, thanks for listening, bye.
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