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!

Learning Spoken Arabic from the LGBT voices of the Levant.

A few months ago, the Human Rights Watch released short snippets featuring video potraits of people from the LQBT community in the Middle East on their FaceBook page. I have specifically chosen those from the Levant (Jordan and Lebanon) and I will be providing the transcriptions in this post.

The topic may be controversial for some but my intention is to learn spoken Arabic. So reserve your judgements and let’s learn Levantine Arabic!

Ready? Yalla!

Mike Massy – Khalasna Ba2a [Lebanese]

Yippee, another song post!

Mike Massy is one of my favourite Lebanese artists – so presenting to you a catchy and upbeat song of his for this post!

Mike Massy - Khalasna Ba'a - English Subtitles
Watch this video on YouTube.

6 phrases to tell someone to get get get out of here

The title says it all!

Read on to find out the 6 phrases to tell someone to get lost!

I’ve personally never said any of them although I’m probably guilty of muttering some under my breath ๐Ÿ˜‰

Wahde Bteshbahek – Jadal | 13 verbs and an expression

Jadal is a famous Jordanian rock band. Like crazy famous so there’s really no need for any further description..

And I decided to choose this song called “Wahde Bteshbahek” because of the simplicity of the lyrics. In this post, you can learn 13 simple verbs and an expression.

So..ch ch ch check it out!

Wahde Bteshbahek, ูˆุญุฏู‡ ุจุชุดุจู‡ูƒ – JadaL, ุฌุฏู„, Coke Studio ุจุงู„ุนุฑุจูŠ S03E03
Watch this video on YouTube.

The One Book That You Must Have If You’re Learning Levantine Arabic

Do you have years of MSA classes under your belt but felt discouraged and frustrated when you arrived in a Middle Eastern country and realised that you cannot understand most of the conversations?

Or are you already aware that practically nobody speaks MSA in their daily lives and desperately hope to avoid being caught in the above-mentioned situation?

Ever wish for a book that you can invest in and refer to it constantly as a guide?

But have yet to find a suitable book?

Luckily for all of us Levantine Arabic learners, that book does exist!

And that book is…..

Heyye by Aziz Maraka | She…she’s the one โค๏ธ

Aziz Maraka is a musician from Jordan and is famous for his musical style which is a fusion of both rock and jazz.

Check out one of his songs called “Heyye” (ู‡ูŠ) or “She” in English. This song contains some useful phrases that you can use in your daily conversations. I will elaborate on them below.

Balafeesh: Aziz Maraka - โ€œHeyeโ€ โ€œู‡ูŠโ€ - ุนุฒูŠุฒ ู…ุฑู‚ุฉ
Watch this video on YouTube.

Undocumented ุจุฏูˆู† ู‚ูŠุฏ [Syrian]

Ahla w Sahla to my first post on a Syrian mosalsal!

This post is especially interesting since I have taken a clip from a Syrian mini-drama series that is unlike any others. The series is an interactive drama series where you can choose which character to follow in the beginning.

ุจุฏูˆู† ู‚ูŠุฏ - ูƒุฑูŠู… ุงู„ุญู„ู‚ุฉ 1 : ุนู„ู‰ ุบูู„ุฉ
Watch this video on YouTube.

I came across the series via an article published by the Middle East Eye. The whole series contains short clips under 5 minutes -which is great cause they are not that long. You can check out the article hereย 

Batalte Elli by ZAMAN Band | ุจุทู„ุชูŠ ุงู„ูŠ You’re no longer mine…

Presenting to you, in this post, a song by ZAMAN Band…

According to their Facebook page, they describe themselves as “a Palestinian Band which combines beautifully Arabic music with Gypsy music.”

From that description itself, you could probably tell that they create awesome music. And they do ๐Ÿ™‚

So I will be using their song, Batalte Elliย ุจุทู„ู‘ุชูŠ ุฅู„ูŠ

There is so much to learn from the lyrics of this song alone. But for now, just sit back and enjoy the song.

ZAMAN Band - Batalte Elli ูุฑู‚ุฉ ุฒู…ู† - ุจุทู„ุชูŠ ุงู„ูŠ
Watch this video on YouTube.

Ya Reitek by Yazan Haifawi | How I wish…

Let’s learn words and expressions in Levantine Arabic through songs!

Yazan Haifawi is a Jordanian solo artist who used to be part of Jordan’s first ever alternative rock band.

And as a fan of alternative rock or just rock in general, I decided to use one of his songs for this post.

This song is on the slow side with simple lyrics – nothing too complicated which is great for all of us ๐Ÿ™‚

Yazan Haifawi - Ya Raitek ูŠุฒู† ุญูŠูุงูˆูŠ - ูŠุง ุฑูŠุชูƒ
Watch this video on YouTube.

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