Beginners: Learn Jordanian Arabic through Sesame Street!

Beginners – this post is for you!

There aren’t many shows available that are suited for beginners which can be quite frustrating especially when you want to practice listening or take a break from textbooks.

But fear not! If you look around hard enough, there are videos out there suited for beginners. And what another great way is there than to start with cartoon series!?!

Hikayat Simsim is a Jordanian production and unlike most cartoons that are in Modern Standard Arabic, Hikayat Simsim is in Amiyya (spoken Arabic). There are not a lot of videos on the channel but there should be enough to get you started.

So in this post, I will provide the transcription for a video so you can learn new words and practice your listening skill. Read until the end for further explanations on certain useful phrases.

Source

It’s time to relive your childhood days watching Sesame Street, but this time in Jordanian Arabic! Ready? Yalla!

يا عينباتي ما احلاكم ما اطيبكم ما ازكاكم

Oh my grapes, how beautiful and delicious you are

طعم الحبة متل سكر

The taste of the piece of grape is like sugar

يا سلام ما ازكا طعمة العينب

Oh wow, how delicious is the taste of the grape!

فعلا يا جل جل بيشهو ما ازكاهم خصوصا لما يكونو مقطوفين من الحديقة ومغسولين منيح وناضجين

Indeed they are appetizing and delicious especially when they are picked directly from the garden, properly washed and when they are ripe

الى عينب من الفواكة مفيدة كتير لما باكله بشعر بالقوة

the grapes are one of the very healthy (lit: beneficial) fruits – when I ate it, I feel energised

فعلا معك حق يا جل جل

Indeed you’re right, Jul Jul

مرحبا عمه كامل

Hello Uncle Kamel

اهلا تن تن

Hello Tun Tun

مرحبا جل جل

Hello Jul Jul

اهلا اهلا يا تن تن

Hello Tun Tun

انت قطفت العينب من الدالية؟

You plucked the grapes from the grapevines?

 انا كمان بدي اقطف عينب

I, too, want to pluck grapes

كتير كتير كتير طيبين

They are very very very delicious!

تفضلي يا تن تن كلي عينب

Here you go, Tun Tun, eat the grapes

شكرا يا عمه كامل بس انا بدي هدا كل القطف

Thank you Uncle Kamel, but I want all of that grapes

هاد يا تن تن؟ بس هاد يا تن تن بعضه مش ناضج

This one, Tun Tun? But this one, Tun Tun…some of them are not ripe

بس انا بدي اياه

But I want them

يا تن تن بحكيلك ما رح يكون ناضج يعني رح يكون حامض

Tun Tun, I’m telling you that it will not be ripe. That means it will be sour

خليني اجربه

Let me try it

شوفي العينب كتير قاسي

Look, the grape is very hard

يا عمه كامل لو سمحت

Oh Uncle Kamel, pleaseeee

حاضر يا تن تن امري ل الله مع انو مش مستوي

Alright Tun Tun, I will do as you say, even though it’s not ripe

بس لازم اغسلك اياه بالأول

But I will have to wash it first

يا عيني على عينباتي شو انو طعمهم زي العسل متل السكر

Oh my god, the grapes – they taste like honey, like sugar

تفصلي يا تن تن

Here you go, Tun Tun

حامض حامض حامض

It’s sour, sour, sour!

بس انا شايف انو زاكي , زاكي كتيرمتل سكر

but I see that it’s delicious! Very delicious like sugar

لأ حامض حامض انا ذقته حامض

Nope, it’s sour, sour…I tasted it, it’s sour!

طبعا حامض يا تن تن بس عرفي ليش عينباتك حامضين بس عينبات جل جل حلوين وزاكيين؟

Of course it’s sour, Tun Tun. But do you know why your grapes are sour but Jul Jul’s grapes are nice and delicious?

ليش؟

Why?

لانو العينب اللي لقدام جل جل عينب ناضج يعني مستوي

Because the grapes that are in front of Jul Jul are ripe, meaning they are ready to be eaten

والعينب اللي لقدامك عينب لساته مش مستوي

and the grapes that are in front of you are still not ripe yet

طيب انا كيف رح اعرف اذا العينب مستوي؟

Okay, how will I know if the grapes are ripe?

اه هاي بسيطة يا تن تن

Ah, this is easy, Tun Tun

شوف لما بتتطلع على العينب بتلاقي انوملمسه قاسي كتير معناته مش مستوي

Look, when you look at the grapes, if you’ll find that the feel of it (texture) is hard, that means they are not ripe

اذا كان طري؟

if they are soft?

اذا كان طري بيكون مستوي

if they are soft, they are ripe

وكمان لونه لما بيكون صار على اصفر شوي يعني بيكون ناضج

and also when the colour turns slightly yellower, that means they are ripe

صحيح يا جل جل

That’s correct, Jul Jul

عشان هيك عينباتي حامضين وعينبات جل جل حلوين

that is why my grapes are sour and Jul Jul’s grapes are nice

بالضبط يا تن تن برافوعليكي

exactly Tun Tun, Bravo!

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NOTES

1. Grapes

Ok so I have spelled the word as عينب but know that the correct spelling is without the ي.

So the actual spelling of grapes is عنب but the common way to pronounce it is عينب (aynab).

In spoken Arabic, both the words ‘عينب’ and ‘عينبات’ are used to describe grape in its plural form (i.e grapes).

A piece of grape would be described as “عنباية” or less commonly as “حبة عنب”.

2. Fine, I’ll do as you say…

امري الى الله

amri ilaa Allah

So this phrase is often said as a way to give in to the other party’s request. It literally means “my affairs/things to God”.

For example,

You want to go out with friends but your mother insisted that you should stay at home. After multiple futile attempts at persuading your mother, you finally give in to her and say:

امري الى الله ماما ما رح روح معهم

amri ilaa Allah, Mama. ma raH ruH ma3hom

I will do as you say, Mama. I will not go out with them

Or

The wife has been pestering her husband to buy her a new handbag. Her husband initially refused but after much persuasion, he finally gives in and says:

امري الى الله رح اشتريلك

amri ilaa Allah, raH ashtarillek

Okay fine, I will buy for you (the handbag)

3. Oh My Eyes!

يا عيني

This is a common expression to express amazement at how beautiful or amazing something is. It’s sort of like “I can’t believe my eyes!”.

For example,

يا عيني شو حلوة هاي الشنطة

Ya 3aynee, sho helwe hai elshanTah

Oh wowww, how beautiful is this handbag!

But do note that this phrase can be said sarcastically 😉

For example people would often say “يا عيني عليك” as a way to show that they are impressed by what you just did or said.

So depending on context, it can means “yepp, you got it!” if you finally got what the person is trying to convey or “good job!” if you (surprisingly) managed to answer a question correctly.

And by it being said sarcastically, I meant a combination of these two gifs below…

!!يا عيني عليييك

The phrases ‘يا سلام’ and ‘يا سلام عليك’ are also used in the same way. 😀

4. zay or metl, metl or zay

زي او متل

So both words are synonyms that are used in Jordanian Arabic to mean “like” (i.e: it tastes like sugar). To my knowledge, most Syrians do not use the word زي.

5. naaDhej or mistawi, mistawi or naaDhej

ناضج او مستوي

Both words are considered synoyms in spoken arabic.

To refer to food that is ripe or ready to eat, the word “مستوي” is used more often than “ناضج”.

The word, “ناضج” can be used to describe both food and humans, while the word “مستوي” is only exclusively used to describe food.

When using “ناضج” to describe humans, it would carry the meaning of “mature”.

For example,

هو مش جاهز للزواج لانو هو مش ناضج

huwe mesh jaaHiz lal zawaj la eno huwe mesh naaDhej

He is not ready for marriage because he is not mature (in his thinking/behaviour)

6. **drools**

بيشهو

biishahu

From the word ‘appetite’ (شهية shahiiye), the verb form بيشهو is often used to describe food that is appetizing, that you drool over and crave for.

However, it is not limited to describing food but almost anything that had you longing for it.

For example,

هداك المحل بيعمل وبيبيع اكلات بيشهو

hadaak elmahal bya3mal u biibii3  aklat biishahu

That shop makes and sells delicious food that is mouth-watering

البلد ما فيها شي بيشهي الواحد انو يضل فيها

elbalad maa fiihaa shi biishahi elwaaHad eno yDhol fiiha

The country has nothing to entice a person to remain staying in it

7. Verb I – to pick/to pluck:

قطف – بيقطف

2aTaf – bii2Taf

All of the other verbs mentioned in the video are included in the book that I recommend to all serious Levantine Arabic learners.

To check out my review of the book that has helped me tremendously in my learning journey, click HERE

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Like this post? Comment below if you would like to see more posts suited for beginners! A second post on another Hikayat Simsim’s video might be coming soon 🙂

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