Standard Arabic or a Dialect?

[WinnerOlmann]

"Two years to say one correct sentence" lol that is so true.. I took 3 semesters of Arabic and I struggled to get a few sentences out. I still would like to study it some more.

[MrAdilson54321]

Assalamu Alaykum, Ana esme Adilson and I am from Brazil lol - anyways, I must thank you for this video. It really has made up my mind in terms of choosing which Arabic to learn as there apepars to be just too many different ways of learning the same language! LOL Shukran Jazeelan Maha!

[imoune49]

In morocco, shnou kat3'mel, shnou kat dir ! :D

[TheArabKnight1]

Standard for reading newspapers, understanding news on TV, reading books ... etc. But you need to learn the dialect of the country you live in to communicate. Cuz you will be seen as odd if you speaks standard arabic in daily conversations.

[meme050679]

how i can learn in magazine if its arabic letters also right?it would be easierfor me to learn in actual conversation..atleast i know how they pronounce word..

[Abusaowod]

There are two major area which everyone could understand each other dialect whithen the same group but they are not familiar with the speech or dialects of the other group, on hand there are Gulf countries,Eygpt,Siria,Iraq and many others.On the other hand there are Morocco,Tunisia,Al geria and many others.the Arabic standard is the best way to cominucate between someone from the first group and someone from the second.

[AthenaPallas]

the other day i was going to tunisia and i asked on your fb page about some tunisian arabic words and now i know why you didnt answer - its hard even for you lol :D

[steeeeeveD]

Hi Maha! is there a country that only speaks standard arabic? thanks

[ahmed337799]

@steeeeeveD

no. although historically standard arabic was the language all arabs spoke, but it deteriorated into many different dialects because of illiteracy.

[Farah2318]

Tunisians say Lebes

[MrMrRiip]

can diffrent dialect understand eac other in arabic? LIke can lets say lebanese understand saudi or egyptian? ANd can morrocan understand Iraqi?

[sousouDZ1]

@MrMrRiip I am from Algeria , i understand morrocan , tunisian , egyptian and syrian very well , iraqi and saudi a little .

[TheMrAttieh]

well lebanese u can say.. shu 3am ta3mel / ta3mle instead of shou bitsawe

[888Jhoe888]

I think I'll dedicate my life to Arabic.....even though it is hard and has so many dialects.

[YouShouldBeSpankful]

Why do they call all of these languages arabic but don't understand eachother,instead of all speaking one language like they're doing in China?

[every1lovestony]

I'm only fluent in the Syrian dialect. I wish I knew Standard Arabic, but when my family communicates they don't use Standard Arabic, no family does. And I'm Christian which doesn't help since I dont use the Qur'an. :(

[cpmower]

Thank you for this video! I am going to be registering for an Arabic class at my Community College. I will eventually be living/working in the Sahel, and Chadian Arabic is common there. Interesting to see how beautiful the Arabic language really is. And REALLY interesting how different the dialects are too! Thanks again for this! VERY informative.

[stridexr]

@cpmower Wtf is Chadian Arabic?

[flaminknight]

@stridexr arabic from chad

[milanpoolbarca]

i just want to understand that song(abdel kader) by khaled,rachid n faudel...i'm not arab but i grew up in uae n understand the badou accent very well

[mafketays]

I disagree. If you're only interested in reading then maybe yes, learn standard arabic first.

But all Arabs learn a dialect first (which they find easy and convenient to speak) and then most of them learn some standard Arabic. But every Arab I've asked finds speaking standard Arabic to be really hard and not natural.

I think learners interested in speaking should learn a dialect first (whichever the have access to) and then add standard arabic if they want.

[Simbaah777]

I will say that Libyian arabic is very hard and very fastly spoken and all the words run to close together so I cant understand hardly anything a Libyian is saying on TV.

[yadeliyahu1985]

perfect!

[Simbaah777]

I already knew of the other way of saying how are you but is sounds to much like the F word to use in public lol so people who dont know what you said might think you are cursing so I prefer the simple Kayfa L Haal

[poleyman]

Maha You are really beautifull in this video.

[12344321123ful]

yes you are right learning standard arabic first is the easiest way , then u can pick the dialect u want to learn and can speak ... i am emirati and i can perfectly understand almost every dialect except tunisian , Moroccan and algerian :)

[elchasai]

god she's gorgeous

[foreverfreebird27]

Thank you! very helpful! I am going to be taking standard arabic on rosetta stone at school because I am hoping to study in egypt later on in college and I just wanted to start now while im in high school. I wasnt sure if it was a good idea to take standard instead of dialect, but it was all it offered :)

[samuraialfredo]

This is the answer I've been looking for!

Now my question is. After you study/learn fusha, how can you learn a dialect? All the classes and books I've seen teach fusha. Some of them just show you an introduction to some dialects. I haven't seen anything to get you advanced in a dialect.

[ms6729]

@samuraialfredo I think the best and quickest way to learn the dialects is by mingling with the arabs, try visiting any of the arab countries. My non-arab friends quickly learnt the daily spoken phrases by just staying in my country for few weeks. If you already have a background in arabic and you understand the arabic fusha well, then learning dialect will be a just piece of cake for you.

[marylandman12]

Maha, that staing at 07:43, scare me!!!

[Taught77]

know anything about Bedouin?

[amerm1990]

بالنسبة للهجات العربية

اتوقع الأفضل انو تتقسم على حسب المناطق وليس الدول

لأنو في مجموعة دول بلهجة وحدة وفي لهجات متنوعة في دولة وحدة

فمثلاً عندنا اللهجة المصرية ، اللهجة الشامية ، اللهجة الحجازية اللهجة النجدية أو وسط الجزيرة وعندنا اللهجة الجنوبية واللهجة الشرقية و.......

وبرأيي أقرب اللهجات للغة العربية الفصحى هي اللهجة الحجازية اللي هيه في غرب السعودية

ليس لأني منها لكن أغلب الكلمات من اللغة العربية الفصحى بنسبة 95% أو اكتر ويستطيع اي متحدث باللغة العربية الفصحى ان يفهمها

[alitareqali]

I am Egyptian.. and i am honestly really Flattered :) thank you!

[alger100]

ku nefhem dechdi ku tqoul .

I understand what you say .

ku nefhem = I understand

dechdi = what

ku tqoul = you say .

algerian regional dialect.

[munzekonza2010]

@bindasUA Quran is written in FusHa - standard Arabic - it is the strongest factor that keeps standard Arabic alive - otherwise it would disappear. It also brings all Arabs closer together. :)

[naser1109]

I am proud that i speak arabic, and proud to have such beauty as yours as part of my culture

[Britishguy18]

@bindasUA The Quran is in standard arabic its also called Fusha (dont pronounce it sh)

[vinayamoz]

Some dialects can provoke some funny situation when in other countries I had learned some maltese where" mchi "means come...So I called people and saw them not very pleased....Also In Malta eloof is a goat...But even maltese still helps me a lot when in Egypt

Btw ; How are you ? in maltese: is kif inti ? Francis in Belgium, thank you for the lessons

[MrTizzle666]

this is a very good explanation of the dialects. one question i do have though is is there only a main difference between middle eastern arabic and north african arabic?

[IrisMG]

@zzukizzz Al-Jazeera is here on YouTube, both the English and the Arabic versions. Simply subscribe to their channels. If you find one, there is a link to the other.

[syedfaez]

i think hijazi arabic is much closer to msa..infact it is in fushaaa .. sah ??

[clitemnestro]

¡Muy interesante! Mis felicitaciones

[IbrahimEli]

Here is a fact: I teach standard arabic and the Yemeni dialect is the closest to standard arabic. There is no doubt about that. Iraqi dialect comes in close too. I've engaged in so many conversations with all arab brothers and sisters from all the arab countries and I have to say yemeni dialect comes in first as the closest to standard.

[YeGraphicFilms]

Syrian, and Lebanese close to Fosha? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Yemeni and Iraqi are the closest.....

[darkguyitsme]

@YeGraphicFilms السوري قريب للفصحى من ناحية القواعد

[ShaheenHA]

@YeGraphicFilms Iraqi similar to the Gulf , i don't know but Yemeni is the closest to the Fusha!

[NaBjE11]

in moroccon dialect they say fin ket dir or shno ket dir

[LeftShia4good]

@YeGraphicFilms

True, Yamani, especially San3ani is very, very close to Fus7a. And so is Hijazi. But LEBANESE?????????????????????? SYRIAN? What the heck?

[TheInsidiousParadigm]

@YeGraphicFilms I can see Yemeni being closer, but Iraqi? Iraqi has a "gaf" "g" as in "get", they also use/have a "che", so phonetically speaking, and even in the lexicon because of these letters, Iraqi is in no way shape or form related to "fus-Ha", why? Because in MSA, or Qur'anic Arabic, there is no "gaf" or "Che"

[afialover2]

I'm Moroccan and live in Holland. But I understand every dialect in the arab world.

I'm now learning the Egyptian dialect. The Tunisian say Kayfa haluka (how are you) they say just like the moroccan people: Ki dayer or Lebes?.

You speak Egyptian, aren't you?

If you want to help me, it will be nice!

Shukran jazilane ya okhti

[f0l0y]

Greetings Maha. Many many thanks for posting this wonderfully valuable guidance & wisdom re: why studying MSA first is a solid foundational choice for a student new to the world of learning Arabic.

[xistoxs]

Thank you . Now I am more sure which arabic I should start learning.

[Azardinho]

the shami dialect is not the closest to standard... no dialect is very close to standard arabic.... if there were to be a close dialect to the standard it would be the yemeni dialect... we say kaif 7alak exactly like the standard except without the tashkeel

[urdun66]

I dont agree with you. There is no such thing as an easy or hard langauge. It depends on your mother tongue and how close it is to the langauge that you're learning. Arabic language for indoeuropean speakers is not that hard.

The issue is that you have old school teachers, teaching arabic as if it were some kind of untouchable inacessible language. It need to be demistified.

After 6 months of standard arabic, it is highly recomened to start with a dialect, any dialect.

[chadiarabi]

Lebanese is the best :)

[gzyyy6]

cant never did anythink yes nothings easy

[SiD96]

Ya Maha in Egyptian:

how are u=3amla e(female)=3amel e(male)=zayek

what are u doing=bete3mely e(female)=bete3mel e(male)

[YouStoleMyTube]

So everybody speaks Standard Arabic on top of their own Arabic dialect?

[dashreef44]

@YouStoleMyTube

yes of course

[LAITHABBADI2]

@YouStoleMyTube no not really

it depends on the education you took if you took arabic in school or college

and not many arabs speak good standard arabic the same idea as proper english using grammer and slang english

[venesaw10]

Hello,

Thank you for the lesson. It is very helpful since i am concentrating on Egyptian Arabic.

Thank you all round.

[kalisiowa]

 I MISS YOU- in lebanese dialect mochta2lik ktir in moroccan dialect tou7chteek bzaaf ----->>> ana bahebak kbida, shukran habibi :-)

[00seropram00]

tutte le volte che provo a parlare in arabo, così come lo apprendo da te, il mio fidanzato mi corregge e mi insegna le stesse parole in palestinese. Diventerò pazza -.-

[arivas713]

why are these called dialects if from what ive been told these are different languages? is it because of the pan-arab sentiment? anyways, thats not the question i wanna focus on. what are these different dialect/languages? how many are there?

[icylakepaxphile]

@arivas713 because they have the only written form. and all of " dialects" regard it as 'standard form'. before the invention of indefendent writing form, all of various Latin varieties were regarded as "vulgar latin" in early mediaval age .but the real diffrence between many spoken forms was really great. and the situation of Chinese is the same also.

[spa000sil]

thanx great video

but u 4got about the 5aleeji accent .. also very popular and widely used ...

[WaleedRahman]

I read an article today about a lady who is learning Arabic. Her teacher gave her a tip: instead of say "shukran" she should say "May the lord bless your hands." However, she didn't translate! Ya Maha+Luca, te prego per favore i miei amici, tell me how to say "God bless your hands."

[etch360]

FYI:

ezzayak=a'amel eih=how r u (to male)

ezzayek=a'amla eih=how r u (to female)

bete'mel eih =bete'mely eih =what r u doing?

[gypoinc]

@etch360 This is correct, I noticed this too. But good on her for making the effort.

[Rafdaganga]

@etch360 ezzayak isn't standard modern arabic. It's egyptian arabic. Keef el Hal is SMA

[Alilification]

@Rafdaganga

keef al 7al is simplified standart arabic. the proper way is: kayfa 7aluka/i (like she said in the video)

[9802972371]

very good egyptian arabic!!!

[mossibaraki]

with her i can learn evry language...she's 2 cute

[manticorex5452452]

what are you doing in algerian arabic

Wash t'3amal or Wash ddir !

[catalincwm1]

what dialtect we learn now?arabic standard os some dialect?your videos r in egiption arabic?plss say me

[HE3991]

Everyone should start with Standard Arabic, but Egyptian Arabic sounds the coolest, and I'm not just saying that because I'm Egyptian. :P

[ilyyou3]

omg i am palestianian and i no this egyption lady from sunday skool (i dont go anymore lol) and everytime she would talk to me in arabic i would just nodd my head and just liten cuz i had NO idea what she was saying lol.!

[myloveispaula]

@ilyyou3 I agree with u... hehee :D

[bigdoul]

@ilyyou3 she is palestinian, not egyptian

[AnaCrisHorta]

Maha, I totally agree with you. It's better to learn standard arabic for first. And, in my opinion, after portuguese, which is my native language (I'm brazilian), arabic is the most beautiful language.

[shakirafan97]

thnx for this video so much :D i'll start standar, then after try egyptian or lebanese. my online arab friends have taught me mostly lebanese and egyptian and all i kno from this video is amala eih (did i spell it rite?) and kifak.

[EpicFailureArena]

I think Tunisians say 'Shnu smitk' or something for 'How are you' :p dialects are just sooo different.

[7shixahbakak]

@EpicFailureArena 'shnu smitk' is 'whats your name' in Tunisian... even i know that and i dont usually understand what they say :P

[thedinko69]

I congratulate you for your videos, they're very good and you explain very well.

PS: I'm algerian.

[Yasmieen13]

heey ,are you arabic and italian?

btw ; thanks for your video =)

[Enlightened8]

Thank you. I am glad that I had seen your video. This is a hard language to learn. Lol.

[venesaw10]

Thank you.I think i'll concentrate on Egyptian Arabic.

[Counseloration]

I agree, learn standard first. I grew up speaking Iraqi Arabic (baghdad dialect), because I was born in the US and my parents emigrated from Iraq, I acculturated to the US and got really rusty in my grammar with Iraqi Arabic. I began learning MSA (standard) and this in itself allowed me to strengthen my Iraqi Arabic at the same time. MSA is the mothership, it makes many of the other dialects easier to grasp. Plus, you get to codeswitch, and interact with many other dialects!

[xavierpaquin]

What about the differences between Arabic and Persian? Are there large differences or are they close to each other?

[Pahlevuni]

@xavierpaquin Persian is an Indo-European language, while Arabic is Semitic, so they are fundamentally unrelated. The intonations in Persian are completely different from Arabic and grammar is totally different as well, but there are quite a number of vocabulary borrowing between the two languages (because of Islam and historical interactions) which may make it easier if you know one and want to learn the other.

[manticorex5452452]

@Pahlevuni I would add that the real name of the persian language is farsi.

And Persia and Persian is the name the ancient greek called the iranian. Iranian called themselves iranian from ancient times :)

[lilwayne5194]

ye arabic is my lanuage and its the best

[kovatchekian]

what is your original dialect maha?

[melzebuth85]

Maha, I m french and following your lessons since the beginning of january. you are great teacher! and it's a real pleasure to learn with you.

Could you teach us basic sentences like 'my name is..' 'how are you doing? that would help me a lot! thank you! Mélanie

[alhotti]

@melzebuth85 my name is .........anna esmi

انا اسمي

[maddyred334]

Hi Maha,

Wanted to know if Kuwaiti arabic is any different from what you teach out her \e ?

if so could you please take a lesson on kuwaiti arabic or guide me for suitable learning content

Please

[arabgirl66]

keep doing the great work

your awsome

[MABx4]

you make Arabic dialect sounds really complex.

[cmndn]

I really love Arab Culture and language. Does عسلmeans 'honey'? can u please traslate Stella(Star) and pronunce it in ur next vid? and can u please write the name Rayan in Arabic and tell me what is the meaning of this name? tytyty ;)

[kokomo248]

omg you are absolutely amazing :) you have done such a great job. I just watched 4 of your videos in a row. I was wondering if you could throw in some Khaleeji dialect as well..thats my absolute favorite :)

[elchami743]

@kokomo248 I'm from Colombia, I speak spanish, english, portuguese and some italian and french. My coworker is a 25 year-old lebanese girl and she's taught me many things in MSA and lebanese dialect, both at the same time cuz i wanted it that way. Apart from that I see videos on youtube, but especially Maha vids. I've found arabic to be really easy to learn, maybe cuz I speak spanish which is a very complex language. So far, it's no big complication. Thank you Maha very much for your vids.

[fredcalife]

1) Keifa Halouka-i (How are you)

------------------

Tun: Esh'n'Hwalek / Kif-enek

Alg/Mor: Wwesh Rak/i ; Esh Hwalek; Esh Khbarek ; Ki Rak/i; Ki Deyer; Ki Rak Dayer (depending on the region)

2) Madha Taf3al (what are you doing)

------------------

Tun: Esh ta3mal? Esh Qa3ed ta3mal ?

Alg: Wesh ddir? Wesh rak ddir? wesh Ga3ed ddir?

Mor: Esh ta ddir? Esh ka ddir?

[0stsee]

Thanks a lot!

MounaConnectee said that "How are you?" in Tunisian is "Shenhou hwalek?"?

[fredcalife]

I tried to post comments some hours ago, but it did not work :(

[gsxxxrk5]

GREAT!

[MounaConnectee]

In tunisian dialect we, say "Shenhou hwalek" ? (how are u?) ^^

I like Egyptian dialect too.

[k9git9]

Thank you so much Maha . I am going to try to study standard arabic as well as a little egyptian dialect phrases as im off for a holiday there soon " diolch un fawr " which is "shukrun jazeelan" in welsh

[loki2504]

Mi piace Haifa Wahbe perché le sue canzone sono un misto di techno e di musica araba ! Io posso communicare in 10 lingue ma ci sono due che devo ancora migliorare: il giapponese e il tedesco... xD

Voglio a tutti costi imparare l'arabo nell futuro perché è una lingua piacevolissima !!!

[timipanda]

I love this video:)I have a lot of arabic friends, and they are all from different countris:))hope they will understand me when I'll finish this course!the dialect in Dubai is very different from standard arabic?

[RapMaroc2008]

بالمغربية:كي دَايْرْ؟ كي دايرَا؟ للمؤنث أو: آشْ خْبَارَكْ (كِي )؟ بالمشرقية: شو أخبارك؟ بالمغرب هناك تأثير أمازيغي واضح على اللغه المتداوله. بالتونسيه أضن: شُو حْوَالكْ؟

[RapMaroc2008]

بالمغربية:

كي دَايْرْ؟

كي دايرَا؟

أو آشْ خْبَارَكْ (كِي للمؤنث)؟ بالمشرقية: شو أخبارك؟

بالمغرب هناك تأثير أمازيغي واضح على اللغه المتداوله. بالتونسيه أضن: شُو حْوَالكْ؟

[al70sam]

انا عربي , لكن اشاهد سلسلتك التعليمية لتعلم الانجليزية ..!

قلتي بأن اللهجة الشامية أقرب لهجة للفصحى

أعتقد أن اللهجة الخليجية هي الاقرب بالاخص الحجازية

لا أعلم فأنتي مدرسة للعربي لذلك ربما انتي احق

شكرا لك على جهودك

[Gudmunddson]

Amazing video as always, Congratulations, keep making more videos please :) 5*

[ctfabd]

What's ur nationality :p

[unhalfbricking1]

I know a bit of Arabic and talk with a Jordanian accent, which seems to make people laugh! Your lessons are great, thank you very much for putting these on - I will try to improve with your help.

[kurmano]

Thanks Maha for your incredible lessons. They are so good that I started to follow your course with Luca (I am Italian and I am very happy you has become an Italian Citizen. Compliments Luca)

[logosfabula]

Your advice is very straight forward and practical.