What not to say and do

Despite the many differences in pronunciation between English and Arabic words, be wary of some false friends, i.e. terms that are pronounced practically the same in both languages, but refer to totally different things. If you were to enquire about when an event’s taking place, for example, don’t be shocked if you’re given information about the location …

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Learning arabic, will it help me with other languages?

Arabic is a Semitic language and therefore shares similarities with other Semitic languages, such as Aramaic and Hebrew. In terms of writing, several languages use the Arabic alphabet, such as Persian/Farsi, Urdu, Pashto and Kurdish. Arabic learners would be able to read words or sentences written in any of those languages, but not necessarily understand what they’re reading! If you like this post, please don’t …

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The most difficult Arabic language words and tongue twisters

خيط حرير على حيط خالتي ام خليل[Kheit hareer a’alaa heet khalti imm khalil.]A silk thread runs through my Aunt Imm Khalil’s Wall. مشمشنا مش مشمشكم ومشمشكم مش مشمشنا، لما مشمش مشمشكم، ما كان مشمش مشمشنا[Mishmishna mish mishmishkom w mishmishkom mish mishmishna, lamma mashmash mishmishkon, ma kan mashmash mishmishna.]Our apricots are not the same as your …

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