Simple Arabic-English Lessons Part 7 (Lazy, Tired, Work)

TA-BAN : tired

KA-SOOL : lazy

NOM : sleep

SI-YA-RAH : car

RI-YA-DA : sports/exercise


YAM-SHI : walk

YAJ-REE : run

CAR-BAN : broken

AH-MAL : work

SHO-GUL / SHO-KUL : work


BUK-RA : tomorrow

GHA-DAN : tomorrow (same with BUK-RA)

AG-GRAD : things (utensils or things in the home)

HA-DI-YA : gift

KOF : scared

DA-LAM : dark



#arabiclessons

Simple Arabic-English Lessons Part 6 (Vegetables and Meat)

KHU-DRA : vegetables

JA-ZR : carrots

BA-NA-DU-RA : tomato

BA-DIN-JAN : eggplant

BA-TA-TA : potato


FA-QI-HA : fruits

HA-YA-WA-NAT : animals

KAN-SIR : pig

DA-JA-JA : chicken

BA-QA-RA : beef


LAHM : meat

KHA-ROOF : sheep

SA-MA-KA : fish

TA-BAKH : cook

MAT-BAKH : kitchen




#arabiclesson

Simple Arabic-English Lessons Part 5 (Color)

KA-RA : shit (cursing/bad word)

MU-SA-A-DA : help

LA-WON : color

AKH-DAR : green

AH-MAR : red


AS-FAR : yellow

BUR-TU-QAL : orange

BA-NAF-SE-JI : purple

AS-WAD : black

AB-YAD : white


AZ-RAQ : blue

QO-RON-FO-LI : pink

BU-NI : brown

JA-MI-LA : beautiful

JA-DEED : new






#arabiclesson

Simple Arabic-English Lessons Part 4 (Fruits and Vegetables)

RO : go

UR-GOS : dance

BIB-KI : cry

KHUBZ : bread

TO-FAH : apple


BUR-TU-QAL : orange

EI-NAB : grapes

I-JAZ : pear

BA-TA-TA : potato

BA-SAL : onion


THUM : garlic

SUK-KAR : sugar

JO-BN : cheese

MO-RA-BA : jam

A-SEER : juice



#arabiclesson

Simple Arabic-English Lessons Part 3

15 more words to memorize :)


FU-LOOS or FLUS : money

SHUR-TA : police

AKH-EL : eat

MAH-MUL : dates (date fruit)

QA-WA : coffee


SHAY : tea

MA-FI MUSH-KI-LA : no problem

A-REF : understand

LA A-REF :  (i) don't understand

THA-LA-JA : fridge (refrigerator)


SHI-TA : winter

SAYF : summer

MA-LA-BIS : clothes

RA-KEES : cheap

GHA-LI : expensive




#arabiclessons

SImple Arabic-English Lessons Part 2

MUSH-KI-LA : problem

MUM-TAZ : good

BEYT : house

TAK-RI-BAN : almost



YO-GHA-NEE : sing

BA-RA : outside

SI-DA : straight

BAB : door

SHAMS : sun



SA-DIQ : friend

AR-BAB : boss

QA-DA-MA : maid

RI-MAL : sand

TA-A-LEE : let's go! or come!



#arabic #arabiclanguage #arabiclessons

Why A Louis Vuitton Bag (Or Any Other Expensive Bag) Is Not For Me

The sight of Louis Vuitton (LV) bags in malls, parks, or even in zoos is very common here in the UAE. Woman or man, young or old, can be seen carrying these expensive bags. But it's not just the LV that's common here. In this region where luxury is synonymous to Dubai, well, let's just say there's no shortage of luxury here, from houses to cars and gadgets, if its luxurious, you can find it here in the UAE. Let's just focus on the bags for now and the most common luxury bag here is LV.

LV's prices start from 1500 dirhams to higher than 15,000 dirhams per item. That's already a small fortune where I am from! Of course I dream of owning a LV (who doesn't?) in the future where I see myself swimming in money, but in the present, these are the reasons that hinder me from actually buying one.


For one, I don't own a car, I use public transportation. I would probably save money first for a car rather than buy a LV. If I can't afford a car, that means I still can't afford a LV. There are times where I imagine myself clutching a LV bag tightly for fear that it might get snatched or slashed while inside the public bus in my country. Oh the perks of living in a third-world country.

An original LV would look fake if I carry it. I kid you not. I am not the well-dressed type of woman. I don't keep up with the trends and insist on my simple yet dependable wardrobe. I go to the hypermarket in ratty old sweatpants and loose shirts, if I see someone in the same outfit wielding a LV, even I would assume it's fake.

I don't own a house. I will save money first for my house before I buy a LV. No house, no LV.

I would rather buy gold jewelry than buy a bag. The jewelry I can sell for a higher price if I would need money in the future, but the bag, I don't think I can sell it for more than what I paid for. I see bags as liabilities and not as assets.

I haven't saved enough money. If I buy a LV, it would make a huge dent on our savings and saving money is one of our priorities since we don't want to be expats forever. We need to save so we can go live a simple and decent life back home. 

I easily get tired of using the same bag for long periods. With LV's, in order to get more bang for your buck, you have to use the bag every chance you get. And I think it would take years to get your money's worth.

I also think about the people who barely have enough to money to feed their families and here I am contemplating whether to buy a bag that would probably buy them a year's supply of food. I get guilty just entertaining the thought of buying an expensive bag. 

I'm usually content with my bags which I bought for about 80 dirhams each back home. But there are occasions when I find myself regretting not having a LV, or any designer bag at that. Like the times when I go out with friends and all of them are carrying LV bags and wallets, well, you get the picture, I'm the ONLY ONE without LV. Don't get me wrong, I love my bag. It's simple but pretty, it serves it purpose well by carrying the things I need, it's waterproof, it's just the right size, but then again it's not LV. Alas, peer pressure is still present even now that I'm no longer in school.

Several times I almost succumbed to the pressure of owning a LV. But then I think of the reasons why don't buy one in the first place and I get sad for a few moments, then carry on. It's just a bag. There are other things more beautiful and rewarding to spend that much money on.

Maybe I am practical, or maybe I'm a cheapskate. Whatever it is, I'm sticking with my bag. 

Simple Arabic-English Lessons Part 1 (Family)

As I've written in my last post, I have been trying to learn Arabic lately with the help of my neighbor. Here are a few words that I remember from our lessons.


HA-I-LA : family

BA-BA : father

U-MI : mother

AW-LAD : children

JAD : grandfather

JAD-AH : grandmother


BI-LAD : country

HARB : war

MAWT : dead

HA-ZEN : sad


MA-FI : none; don't have

ZI-YA-DA : many (same as KA-THIR)

SHUF : look

SHU-HAY : what is this?

O-HEB : like or love.


Our lessons are actually just small talk/chat, nothing formal. My neighbor and I are both stay-at-home-moms so we have quite a few topics to talk about.

I learned Arabic faster by talking with a native speaker than in the school. I'm not discouraging those who want to enroll in Arabic Language classes though. It is because I already know a few Arabic words from school that I am able to understand some of the words my "teacher" is saying. I only attended 2 introductory lessons, and even if I wanted to attend the succeeding lessons, time and money became a bit scarce so I was forced to put the lessons on hold.



#arabiclessons 

So Sorry

I apologize for not being able to continue with my 30 Surprise Eggs Project.  I will get back to that as soon as I come back from our vacation. Thanks!


ourdailyegg.blogspot.com

#30surpriseeggsproject #sorry #surpriseeggs

Why I Want To Learn The Arabic Language

For almost 6 years, I have been living in Abu Dhabi. I know how to speak in English and my native language, but I can't carry a conversation in Arabic.

A few years back, before I had my daughter, I went to Mother Tongue Arabic Language Center. I studied for 2 introductory levels. I learned how to read Arabic (a little) and some words and grammar rules that I already forgot by this time.

I have never worked in the UAE, I am a Stay-at-Home-Mom and I don't really have a lot of opportunities to meet and talk to a lot of different people. I wasn't able to practice my Arabic because, well, there wasn't really any one to talk to.

A few weeks ago, I was approached by my neighbor as I was chatting away with a friend while my daughter was playing with some kids from within the villa. She was an Arab woman, a Syrian, who knew English as much as I know Arabic.

We usually exchanged polite smiles whenever we see each other but never really talked except for the occasional Marhaba's and Hi's. Through body language we were able to understand that she wanted us to sit (she took out chairs from her house). For a few minutes we sat in silence, then she spoke in Arabic mixed with a few English words, while my friend and I reply in English, by that time, the 3 of us were already frustrated and confused. Luckily our 9-year old neighbor passed by, she knows English, Arabic, Sinhalese, and Malayalam (Yes, she is awesome) and she was able to translate for us. My neighbor asked if I can teach her kids English. Without any hesitation, I said yes.

It's a win-win situation for us, my daughter will have someone to play with (4 girls to be exact), I can learn Arabic, my neighbor will learn English, and I will be able to help her kids fare better in the future because they know how to speak in English.

In the afternoons when we both have free time, I teach her and her kids English while she teaches me Arabic. It isn't the formal school-type lessons and we usually talk with the help of Google translate. The first few days were frustrating. I am no teacher and my patience isn't very long, it's a good thing that the mother was a teacher back in Syria (I think) and she is able to explain to her kids what I was saying.

After a few days of lessons, I decided to teach the Mother first so she can teach her kids. I know she's as chatty as I am but the communication barrier really suck.



Here are a few reasons I can think of why I want to learn the Arabic Language



Reason Number 1 I want to be able to teach the kids better. I want to be able to explain and translate. I want to be able to answer their questions. I want to be able to speak to them and understand what they're telling me. Sometimes I feel they're already making fun of me, and I have no clue what they're saying. It makes me feel stupid.


Reason Number 2  I want to understand what the naughty kids in the streets are saying. These are the kids who will stop in front of you, with smirks on their faces, tell you something in Arabic, and run as they laugh leaving me perplexed as to what has just been said to me. I know it can't be something good judging by their smirks, or can it? I don't know and I hate not knowing.


Reason Number 3 Because I want to start a conversation with random friendly-looking strangers who I think also want to talk but doesn't have a whole lot of English words with them. This would be handy especially when asking for directions.


Reason Number 4 I want to be able to watch news, TV series, and commentaries in sports and actually understand what I'm watching. There was a time I was watching a basketball game on TV and the commentator was so enthusiastic I just wished I knew what he was saying.


Reason Number 5 If I ever look for work here in the UAE, it's an added point in my CV that I can converse in Arabic.


Reason Number 6 It makes me feel good that I (will soon) know how to write and speak in Arabic. I will no longer be bilingual, but multi-lingual! Yey! It definitely a boost in one's confidence to be able to speak more that one language.



According to Wikipedia, there are 295 million Arabic speakers in the world. Living in an Arab country, what are the chances that I'll get to meet an Arabic speaker? Hopefully in a few months, I will be able to greet Arabs with more than just Hi! and proceed to talk about anything under the sun, in Arabic of course.

Shukran! :)



#arabiclanguage #studyarabic

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