Colloquial Arabic (Levantine)

257 Pages·2015·7.38 MB·English

Colloquial
Arabic (Levantine)
Colloquial Arabic (Levantine) provides a step-by-step course in Levantine
Arabic as it is used today. Combining a user-friendly approach with
a thorough treatment of the language, it equips learners with the
essential skills needed to communicate confidently and effectively in
Levantine Arabic in a broad range of situations. No prior knowledge
of the language is required.
Key features include:
• progressive coverage of speaking, listening, reading and writing
skills
• structured, jargon-free explanations of grammar
• an extensive range of focused and stimulating exercises
• realistic and entertaining dialogues covering a broad variety of
scenarios
• useful vocabulary lists throughout the text
• additional resources available at the back of the book, including
a full answer key and bilingual glossaries.
Balanced, comprehensive and rewarding, Colloquial Arabic (Levantine)
is an indispensable resource both for independent learners and
students taking courses in Levantine Arabic.
Colloquials are now supported by FREE AUDIO available online.
All audio tracks referenced within the text are free to stream or
download from www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials. Recorded by native
speakers, the audio complements the book and will help enhance
learners’ listening and speaking skills.
By the end of this course, you will be at Level B1 of the Common
European Framework for Languages and at the Intermediate-Low on
the ACTFL proficiency scales.
The Colloquial SerieS
Series adviser: Gary King
The following languages are available in the Colloquial series:
Afrikaans German Romanian
Albanian Greek Russian
Amharic Gujarati Scottish Gaelic
Arabic (Levantine) Hebrew Serbian
Arabic of Egypt Hindi Slovak
Arabic of the Gulf Hungarian Slovene
Basque Icelandic Somali
Bengali Indonesian Spanish
Breton Irish Spanish of Latin America
Bulgarian Italian Swahili
Burmese Japanese Swedish
Cambodian Kazakh Tamil
Cantonese Korean Thai
Catalan Latvian Tibetan
Chinese (Mandarin) Lithuanian Turkish
Croatian Malay Ukrainian
Czech Mongolian Urdu
Danish Norwegian Vietnamese
Dutch Panjabi Welsh
English Persian Yiddish
Estonian Polish Yoruba
Finnish Portuguese Zulu (forthcoming)
French Portuguese of Brazil
Colloquial 2s series: The Next Step in Language Learning
Chinese German Russian
Dutch Italian Spanish
French Portuguese of Brazil Spanish of Latin America
Colloquials are now supported by FREE AUDIO available online. All audio tracks
referenced within the text are free to stream or download from www.routledge.
com/cw/colloquials. If you experience any difficulties accessing the audio on
the companion website, or still require to purchase a CD, please contact our
customer services team through www.routledge.com/info/contact.
Colloquial
Arabic
(Levantine)
The Complete Course
for Beginners
Mohammad Al-Masri
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Mohammad Al-Masri
The right of Mohammad Al-Masri to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by
him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Al-Masri, Mohammad.
Colloquial Arabic (Levantine) : the complete course for beginners / Mohammad Al-Masri.
pages cm. — (The colloquial series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Arabic language–Dialects–Syria. 2. Arabic language–Dialects–Lebanon. 3. Arabic
language–Conversation and phrase books–English. 4. Arabic language–Textbooks for
foreign speakers–English. I. Title.
PJ6818.A53 2015
492.7′82421–dc23
2014038212
ISBN: 978-0-415-72685-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-65039-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Avant Garde and Helvetica
by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong
Contents
Transliteration key x
Introduction xiv
1 ًلاهس و ًلاهأ 1
ahlan wa sahlan
Welcome!
in this unit, you will learn about:
• Introductions and greetings
• Leave-taking
• Cultural awareness
• Grammar
• Pronouns
• The definite article /il/
2 ملاعلا اذه 16
haadha il3aalam
This world
in this unit, you will learn about:
• Honorifics
• Nationalities and hometowns
• Cultural awareness
• Subject pronouns
• Nisba adjectives
• Regular plurals
• High frequency connectors (and, or, but)
• Identifying the letters ( خ ،ح ،ج ،ث ،ت ،ب ،ي ،و ،ا )
• Identifying the short vowels: fathah ( ـَـ ), Dammah ( ـُـ ),
kasarah ( ـِـ)
vi Contents
3 يتليع 30
3eylti
My family
in this unit, you will learn about:
• Words for family members
• Cultural awareness
• Numbers 1–10
• Days of the week
• Identifying the letters ( ض ،ص ،ش ،س ،ز ،ر ،ذ ،د )
4 فرِ اع شم 43
mish 3aarif
I do not know!
in this unit, you will learn about:
• Asking questions
• Cultural awareness
• Questions: yes/no
• Questions: who; what; where; when; how much/many
• Negation with ma, mish, laa . . .
• High frequency propositions
• Nominal and verbal sentences: introduction
• Identifying the letters ( ل ،ك ،ق ،ف ،غ ،ع ،ظ ،ط )
5 بابك و لفلاف 55
falaafil wa kabaab
Falafel and kebab
in this unit, you will learn about:
• Ordering in a restaurant
• Food etiquette
• Jordanian currency
• Telling the time
• Numbers – extension
• Countable nouns
• Identifying the letters ( ي ،لا ،و ،ـه ،ن ،م )
Contents vii
6 انتيب يف 72
fii beytna
At our home
in this unit, you will learn about:
• Dining at a family home
• The iDaafah construct
• Months
7 ؟حورن نيو 88
weyn nruuh?
Where shall we go?
in this unit, you will learn about:
• Cultural activities in leisure time
• Giving directions
• Colors
• How much/how many
• 3ind, ma3, fii
• The relative pronoun illi
• The past tense
8 ةعماجلا ةايح 106
hayaat iljaam3ah
University life
in this unit, you will learn about:
• University life
• Fields of study
• Transportation
• Demonstratives
• Present and future tense
viii Contents
9 قوسلا يف 118
fi issuug
At the market
in this unit, you will learn about:
• The Arab souk
• Bargaining
• Cultural awareness
• Imperatives
• Negation of verbs
• Cause and effect
10 ةيبرعلا ةنيدملا 131
ilmadiinih il3arabiyyih
The Arab town
in this unit, you will learn about:
• Going around the city
• Safety and security
• Important places and services
• Nominal sentences
• Verbal sentences
11 ؟كلام وش 142
shuu maalak?
What’s wrong with you?
in this unit, you will learn about:
• Health issues
• Parts of the body
• Precautions
• Quantifiers
• Comparative and superlative forms
Contents ix
12 وجلا 156
iljaw
The weather
in this unit, you will learn about:
• Weather
• Seasons of the year
• Broken plurals
• gabil wa ba3d + ma
13 مدقلا ةرك 165
kurat ilqadam
Football (soccer)
in this unit, you will learn about:
• Sports
• haki shabaab ( youth talk)
• kaan
• biddi, laazim
arabic glossary 177
english glossary 192
answer key 204
audio track listing 230