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The Arabic Verb Is Just A Three-Letter Word: عرف (Levantine)

Inspired by the song “Love Is Just A Four-Letter Word” by Joan Baez (written by Bob Dylan), here’s a first of a series of posts about verbs in Levantine Arabic titled The Arabic Verb Is Just A Three-Letter Word 😁

In each post, I will demonstrate how just by knowing one verb in its three-letter root form (Form I) will enable you to use the verb in its other forms.

I always thought that it makes more sense to be taught all the verbs from the same root at the same time rather than at different points in the language journey.

The meanings of the verb in its other forms can easily be guessed once you grasp how the 10-verbs form system works.

And I hope to demonstrate that through sentence examples and seeing for yourself the pattern that arises.

This series of posts might be especially useful for those learning Spoken Arabic without any formal background in MSA/Fosha.

So for the first post of an ongoing series, we’ll begin with a simple verb:

عرف

 

ALEF #01: Ma BaHut Bidimtii

 A LEVANTINE EXPRESSION FRIDAY (ALEF) #01:

ما بحط بذمتي

Spoken Palestinian Arabic Transcript of Ahed’s Interview with AJ+

Do you need listening practice in Palestinian Arabic?

In this post, I will share the Arabic transcript of Ahed Tamimi’s interview with AJ +. I also copied the English translation provided by AJ + so that it will be easy to compare both Arabic and English version of the sentences simultaneously.

Months ago, Ahed Tamimi was released from prison for slapping an Israeli soldier.

Today, you’ll learn some words in Palestinian Arabic from her.

17 alternative rock bands and solo artists from the Levant

Alternative rock is a term that gets thrown around easily. But hey, if you’re a fan of rock music in general, then I’m sure you’ll be interested in a few of the bands and artists from the Levant (Syria, Jordan, Palestine & Lebanon) that I have compiled and listed down below.

The obvious ones in the list are Mashrou’ Leila from Lebanon and Jadal from Jordan. But there are more bands and artists to check out apart from those two.

Some of them may not be producing music anymore but it’s still worth checking their awesome music out. Folk, ska, reggae, psychedelic rock and even rap…I’m sure there’s at least a band that’s of your liking -read on to discover all of them 😀

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 😉

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, وحده بتشبهك – JadaL, جدل, Coke Studio بالعربي 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…..

Undocumented بدون قيد [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.

بدون قيد - كريم الحلقة 1 : على غفلة
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 here 

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