Hi,

I have a new offer for people who are going to visit Egypt in holiday. Learn a 30-minute Egyptian Arabic for holiday and pay ONLY 12 USD. Speak some Egyptian and feel like a native Egyptian while you are in Egypt!

Dr.Hamdy!

Fabulous idea, H!! =)

i think Arabic is Arabic, one who speaks Saudi Arabic can communicate with Egyptian, Kuwaiti, Libyan, or any other Arabic dialect, please Hamdi, say Arabic not Egyptian Arabic

Having just come back from a holiday in Egypt I have to disagree. It is true that MSA arabic will get you understood by many, but if you aren’t aware of the Egyptian dialect, then their answers may leave you very puzzled!

hello !

thanks Dr. Hamdy for your offer ,but, in my openion , Arabic is the name or rather the fundemental name for a language. so the other sub-names should be dialects .

any language spoken by one nation or nations , sharing the same chief vocabulary is the mother tongue.

thanks dr. fikry, i agree with you, we teach Arabic of the Arab nation; one nation (indivisible) under one god

Geez Louise guys…….. What’s wrong with differentiating between different types of dialects… Especially, where there is enormous cultural differences between the words spoken of the same language within different countries…. Personally, if I was planning on visiting Egypt, I would want to learn “Egyptian” Arabic not “Saudi” Arabic….. just as if I were a non native visiting the States…. I would want to brush up on my “American” English and not my “British” English…. No offense Guys ….. Get my drift …. Nuff said eh ;)

Hi everybody, you’re right Michelle. We can’t ignore that Egyptian Arabic is different from the other Arabic accents, and it’s easier than others. That’s why all Arabs can understand it, because it’s so familiar for them because of Egyptian films, and series which are so available in all Arabic countries. On the contarary the other Arabic accents aren’t familiar, and there’re some words we can’t understand them espetially in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, it’s difficult for us when they speak fast.

Me too, I agree!
As a student learning Arabic I’ve received so many different opinions (from Arabs exactly) about which dialect to study, it really gets confusing because all I want to do is understand and be understood…. It is scary enough learning how to read and write, it’s an entirely different thing to understand and be understood, obviously, right?!!

what about Keefak and Ezzayak?? I didn’t know they mean the same thing until I attended “Talk like an Egyptian” and I also know that is a minor example!

I like what Dr. Hamdy is doing, I appreciate it very much because someone just traveling to Egypt will get along by his session with an easy, confident mind just enough to get through the tour guides, small talk in the hotel, restaurant etc. without the scares of learning an entire language. I think he should advertise it all over the place, utube, craigslist, and wherever else you can think of! Just my opinion : )

Peace!

Yes Elle, keefak and ezzayak mean the same thing. But the Egyptian accent is special and well known in the Arabic Nation, no offence.

Gihan, no worries, I am certainly NOT offended :) in fact thank you for explaining! I guess I was trying to make an example out of Keefak and Ezzayak, perhaps my example only makes sense to me, lol!
~peace everyone!

i think those who are trying to learn arabic should ignore the difference in dialects right now. in the future when you master the language, you will be able to distinguish the difference yourself. just like spanish, it is spoken all over latin america and spain, and they can communicate with one another, no matter what dialect they speak. the same thing in arabic, if you master arabic, you would be able to communicate with any arab. an american can communicate with australian, british, or canadian. good luck all

i think a foreigner who wants to start learning arabic, should start with the standard one, earn the grammatical rules, get used to the way the language functions , then he can chose t concentrate on a certain dialect. since standard arabic is written and understood by all arabs, then why go and study egyptian or palestinian before learning the basic language??
plus, it is way harder to begin with a dialect then move to the standard, instead, if you learn the standard very good, u already passed 90% of the way and can start with the dialect u choose.

You’re right Maha !

to learn Egyptian dialect in isolation , will cause you many troubles later when you move to another country ,like Libya or Saudi Arabia , so better learn the standard than get confused .

Hi Gihan !

I disagree with you . Egyptian dialect is well-known, no doubt, according to media , but, I still insist that standard Arabic is much more profitable than any dialect.

Maha’s post is fabulous and persuasive .

Great post Maha …

I agree with Maha as well about MSA (I bet Hamdy will agree with that too) however, I’m learning Arabic for other reasons and not just for the day that I visit Egypt, inshallah =)!!

I was thinking that this was an advertisement for tourists…… it says, “holiday” and “30 minutes”, why (and how in 30 minutes) should MSA be taught to tourists of Egypt that have no intentions of learning Arabic for any other reason?!

=) I think Hamdy abandoned this thread, maybe he should clarify???!!!!! cheeeeers to everyone!

i agree with maha and dr. fekry, that the beginner should learn the standard arabic first, then he can choose what dialct he prefers.when we started learning english, we just learned english, not american, australian, british, or canadian. once we started to master the language, we knew the difference(which is not major difference) between the dialect.

Well, Yet again, I disagree because when English is taught you are normally either taught by the American or British English system depending on the country that teaches it. Also, I believe that all opinions aside it is ultimately the decision of the student about which language/dialect that they choose to learn and I for one have no interest in MSA I choose Egyptian Arabic for many reasons which I deem beneficial to me. I fail to see any confusion that may arise if I so choose to study MSA in the future. If I study it , I will treat it as I do any new language that I learn and categorize it separately. I happen to believe that Egyptian Arabic is more than just a different dialect because there are so many different words that are used in Egyptian Arabic than are used in MSA…. just as it is between British and American English which I also believe is a different form of English and not just a different dialect
I.E. Definition of American English as follows: American English (AmE) is the form of English used in the United States. It includes all English dialects used within the United States of America. British English (BrE) is the form of English used in the United Kingdom. It includes all English dialects used within the United Kingdom. So in the same case Egyptian Arabic is a FORM of Arabic containing the Arabic dialects used within Egypt. So as I stated earlier if I was a tourist or someone planning on visiting/ studying in Egypt as I am, it would not benefit me to learn MSA as much as it would to for me to learn Egyptian Arabic. After all when in Rome……

abdul, please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you are suggesting that the tourist of Egypt, that will be there for 10 days, and that have no other interest in Arabic should learn MSA entirely vs. Hamdy’s 30 minute session “Egyptian Arabic” for tourists?

I think that Hamdy’s class Egyptian Arabic would be very beneficial to those who plan on visiting Egypt one day. I know he gives great lessons on Egyptian culture and language. His classes are very exciting and he is a very good teacher.

Hello everyone,

I am sorry for not replying earlier, but I was fascinated reading all your posts. As Elle mentioned, I am giving this class, not as a means to learn Arabic but for tourists who are interested in learning some phrases and vocabulary which would be useful for their holiday in Egypt.

If you you need clarification of my views about the best way to learn Arabic, please feel free to look on my profile where I explain everything clearly! http://edufire.com/users/2308-languages-tutor-dr-hamdy

Thanks to everyone for your support and I hope you will try my Egyptian Arabic class soon! :)

You’re right Michele for one reason . In Egypt , it may be so difficult to use Standard Arabic as a medium of speech . Only a few people use it

hey . it’s really kinda annoying for me to hear this term (egyptian arabic) . i wouldn’t relish it at all for (saudi arabic or whatever) . at the end it’s all arabic . isn’t it . I agree with you abdul .
i just want to add this (i wouldn’t feel like native in just 30 minutes any language) i learn fast though.

yes adel, arabic is arabic, لسان الضاد يجمعنا