Moroccan Arabic Lessons

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Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby languagepotato » 2013-02-25, 21:47

first off, here is how i am going to write the sounds
first of the vowels: e (ɛ), ë (ə), i (ɪ), ee (i), u (u), o (ɔ), ey (e), a (ɑ)
now the consonants: most of them have the same ipa as their english counterparts so i'll use that, with some exceptions: i'll write ipa j as y, ipa ʒ as j, ɣ, ipa ʕ as 3, ipa ħ as 7, ipa q as q (what a surprise), ipa ʔ as ', ipa x as kh, ipa r as r, ipa l as l, ipa ɣ as gh.
two important notes: the r is trilled (not like in the spanish word 'perro' but rather like in the spanish word 'pero'), the l is 90% of the time not a dark l, and when it is i'll capitalize the l, same goes for some other consonants.

let's start with basic word order
subject-verb (and it's prefixes and suffixes)-object. if the subject is a personal pronoun it can be dropped.
speaking about personal pronouns, "you" is a bit tricky (at least singular). speaking with females it's ntee, speaking with males it's nta, or you could just use the pronoun nteena which can be used with males and females. but if you're talking to more than one person, this problem somehow solved itself and suddenly it's just ntuma. actually plural dropped gender completely, and now the third person uses the male plural for plural even if you're talking about 564345643 women

ERRATUM: I OVERCOMPLICATED IT, HERE'S THE ACTUAL AND EASIER VERB CONJUGATION LESSON

the present continous affirmative is a nice starter.
first that a look at these sentences, and say how you think it's made
(ena) ken-shree lkhobz (i am buying bread)
(nta (m)/ntee (f)/nteena (n)) ket-shree lkhobz (you (singular) are buying bread)
(huwa) key-shree lkhobz (he is buying bread)
(heeya) ket-shree lkhobz (she is buying bread)
(7na) ken-shreeu lkhobz (we are buying bread)
(ntuma) ket-shreeu lkhobz (you (plural) are buying bread)
(huma) key-shreeu lkhobz (they are eating bread)

the stem of the verb is very important in moroccan
oh, so it's
first person ken- stem, second person ket-stem, third person key-stem, third person female singular key-stem
and with a plural you just add u?

yes for one of the two groups in moroccan arabic, the ones i'd like to call the 'i-u-group'. not so much in the schwa group, if the last letter is a consonant and before that is one of the following vowels: a , e or ë. it behaves a little differently. the letter changes into a schwa and moves back a place in plural. we don't have long vowels so, if there already is a vowel, the vowel which already was there wins.

look at this:
kteb to write
(ena) ken-ktëb lëkteb (i am writing a book)
(7na) ken-këtbu lëkteb (we're writing a book)

qëtaq to rip, to cut
(ntee/nta/nteena) ket-qëta3 lkaghit (you're ripping the paper)
(ntuma) ket qët3u lkaghit (you (plural) are ripping the paper)

qtaq - to cross (as in things like a road, a bridge etc.)
(nta/ntee/nteena) ket qta3 triq (you're crossing the road)
(ntuma) ket-qët3u triq (you (plural) cross the road)

n3es to sleep
(ena) ken-n3es (i'm sleeping)
(7na) ken-në3su (we're sleeping)

wait, how do we not confuse those cutting vs crossing? just plain context
last time i checked no one cut the road or crossed a paper.

to eat is irregular, in present tense it's in the schwa-group. but not in every tense. but that won't bother us in this lesson, will it now? nice try, to eat

(ena) ken-ekul (i'm eating)
(7na) ken-eklu (we're eating)

time to add Vocabulary
the personal pronouns (to almost never use them again)
ena - i
ntee - you (female)
nta - you (male)
nteena - you (singular, doesn't matter which gender)
huwa -he
heeya - she
7na - we
ntuma - you (plural)
huma - they

verb stems
shree - to buy
ekul - to eat
ktëb - to write
qëta3 - to rip/cut
qta3 - to cross (in the meaning of to pass over)
fërra7 - to make happy
rSëm - to draw
n3es - to sleep

nouns
lkhobz - bread
lmekla - food
lëkteb - book
lkaghit - paper
Triq - road
së7er - wizard
Dar - house
lfar - mouse
djro – dog

Exercises, warning: these sentences are for the sake of learning the system only, they make no sense whatsoever:

translate into moroccan arabic
1. the wizard is making the house happy.
2. the house is crossing the road.
3. the book is buying the mouse
4. you (plural) are eating the paper.
5. they are drawing the dog.*

translate into english
1. djro key-ferra7 lkaghit
2. (huwa) key-ekul lëkteb
3. (7na) ken-qët3u Triq*
4. lmekla ket-rSëm lfar
5. lëkteb key-shree së7er

*hint, these two make some sense

the answers of the exercises are in the spoilers

answers: english to moroccan arabic
1. së7er key-ferra7 Dar
2. dar key-qta3 triq
3. lëkteb key-shree lfar
4.(ntuma) ket-eklu lkaghit
5. (huma) key rëSmu djro


answers: moroccan arabic to english
1.the dog is making the paper happy
2.he is eating the book
3. we are crossing the road
4. the food is drawing the mouse
5. the book is buying the wizard


the following lessons will also be about the irregular quartet (as far as i know we have exactly 4 irregular verbs: to be, to want, to eat, to choose)
it will start with to be
Last edited by languagepotato on 2013-08-08, 18:14, edited 7 times in total.

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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby Shad » 2013-03-12, 5:51

Very nice :) Thank you. Could you record yourself saying something in Moroccan Arabic?

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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby Lur » 2013-03-14, 18:11

I just saw this! I hope you continue :D

shprakh wrote:Very nice :) Thank you. Could you record yourself saying something in Moroccan Arabic?

That'd be cool!
Geurea dena lapurtzen uzteagatik, geure izaerari uko egiteagatik.

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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby Hoogstwaarschijnlijk » 2013-03-14, 18:26

I think he already did in the thread about the Human Rights..

Ik vind het ook interessant!
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Knows also (a bit): English, German, Turkish, Danish

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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby Meera » 2013-03-15, 16:58

These are vey good lessons! Shukraan kateer!
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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby languagepotato » 2013-03-16, 13:22

vocabulary and exercises have been added
soon to come, the wonderful world of the verb to be
native: (ar-MA) (nl)
very comfortable: (en-US)
somewhat comfortable: (de) (es) (af)
forgetting: (fr) (ar-arb)
touristy level: (ro) (sv)(ber)(pl)
someday hopefully: (ja) (sq) (cs) (tr) and many others

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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby languagepotato » 2013-03-20, 10:58

LESSON TWO: TO BE

you: oh, the verb 'to be' is irregular, what a surprise. a gazillion conjugations, am i right?
me: not in moroccan arabic. it's actually irregular for not having a conjugation.
you: wait, what?
me: well, it actually has a conjugation, just not in present tense usually
you: i heard you say usually.
me: well, okay, now you've asked for it.


in the present tense we usually leave out the verb to be

ena l3e-yël (i'm a boy, literally "i boy")
nti l3eyla (you're a girl, literally "you girl")
huwa rajël (he's a man)
heeya lëmra (she's a woman)

you get the point

but if we want to mean 'usually in that set time or location i am' this usually followed by a welekeen (but) but not necessarily
we actually conjugate our verb to be

if i ask: feyn ket-kun fëlkhëmsa dënhar (where are you usually at 5 pm)
ena ken-kun fëDar (i'm at home)

long story short

usually you don't use the verb to be
unless you mean to be usually

just for the completeness
here's the full present tense conjugation of the present tense of to be, which as i told you means 'to be usually' because it's used in present tense

ena ken-kun
nta/ntee/nteena ket-kun
huwa key-kun
hiya ket-kun
7na ken-kunu
ntuma ket-kunu
huma key-kunu

vocabulary
l3e-yël - boy
lë3yel - boys
l3eyla/lbënt - girl
l3eylat/lëbnet - girls
rajël - man
rjel - men
lëmra - woman
nsa - women
l7enut - store
lë7wenët -stores
lferan - bakery/oven
lëfrani - bakeries/ovens
mul-lfëran - baker/oven owner
mul-lëfrani-baker/oven owner (of multiple bakeries or ovens)
mwelee-lfëran - bakers/oven owners (of just one bakery or oven)
mwelee-lëfrani - bakers/oven owners (of more than one bakery or oven)


exercises this time they will make more sense but even if they don't, again it's to learn the system.

english to moroccan arabic
1. the baker is a wizard*
2. the store is a bakery
3. the stores are usually bakeries (at a specific time)**
4. we are boys
5. you are a girl***

* he owns only one bakery
**you don't have to translate the part between brackets
***notice that i said girl

moroccan arabic to english
1. 7na mwelee-lëfrani
2. ntuma nsa
3. huma rjel
4. nti l3eyla
5. huwa l3eyël

answers
answers: english to moroccan arabic
1. mul-lfëran së7er
2. l7enut lfëran
3. lë7wenët key-kunu lëfrani
4. 7na lë3yel
5. ntee/nteena l3eyla


answers: moroccan arabic to english
1. we are bakers/we are oven owners
2. you are women
3. they are men
4. you are a girl
5. he's a boy


next up, present negative
have a nice day, and if you have a question, just ask.
Last edited by languagepotato on 2013-04-12, 16:45, edited 1 time in total.
native: (ar-MA) (nl)
very comfortable: (en-US)
somewhat comfortable: (de) (es) (af)
forgetting: (fr) (ar-arb)
touristy level: (ro) (sv)(ber)(pl)
someday hopefully: (ja) (sq) (cs) (tr) and many others

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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby languagepotato » 2013-03-22, 13:20

LESSON 3: PRESENT NEGATIVE
me...sh(ee)
done with the lesson.
well, almost
me goes before the first verb (so as far as you know before the verb), it' goes before the complete verb including prefixes. shee, same story but with the end and suffixes.

i am buying ken-shree
i am not buying me-ken-shri-sh(ee)

what about to be when you don't use it
ena l3e-yël i'm a boy
ena me-shee l3eyla i'm not a girl

easy, isn't it?

vocabulary:
verb stems:
nSë7 - to advice/to give advice
7sëb - to count
jee - to come
3tedër - to apologise
sme7- to forgive
D7ak - to laugh
bkee- to cry

exercises: congratulations, you're already at somewhat of a story, just after three lessons

translate to moroccan
he is a boy. he is not a girl. the boy is eating paper. the man is coming. the man gives advice.* the boy apologises. the man forgives. the boy laughs. he is not crying.

*in a lot of cases present continuous and present simple are interchangable and in english the present simple would fit.

huwa l3e-yël. huwa me-shee l3eyla. l3eyël key-ekul lkaghit. rajël key-nSë7. l3e-yël key-3tedër. rajël key-sme7. l3e-yel key-D7ak. huwa ma-key-bki-sh(ee).
Last edited by languagepotato on 2013-04-12, 16:37, edited 1 time in total.
native: (ar-MA) (nl)
very comfortable: (en-US)
somewhat comfortable: (de) (es) (af)
forgetting: (fr) (ar-arb)
touristy level: (ro) (sv)(ber)(pl)
someday hopefully: (ja) (sq) (cs) (tr) and many others

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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby Meera » 2013-03-26, 2:19

Wow Morrocan Arabic is so interesting! Thanks LanguagePotato!
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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby languagepotato » 2013-05-12, 12:05

first of all, thanks for all the reactions

MOROCCAN ARABIC LESSON 4: INTRODUCE YOURSELF

John and Pete meet eachother for the first time:

John: salam 3leekum, enna John.
Pete: o 3leekum salam, enna Pete, keef dayër, ya john?
John: l7emdullilleh,ena beekhir*, o nta?
Pete: 7ëtayena, mneyn nta?
John: ena m-emreeka, o nta?
Pete: ena më-leengliz, smë7li ya john, khësni nëmshi, bëslema
John: ma3lihsh bëslema, T-hëLLa f rasëk

here's the conversation: http://vocaroo.com/i/s1ywbSmRlhsz

*l7emdullilleh means praise to God.
the not religious among us can answer without it but i included it because pretty much every moroccan answers with it

translation
John: hello, i'm John
Pete: and hello too, i'm pete, how are you, john?
John: praise to God, i'm fine, and you?
Pete: me too, where are you from?
John: i'm from america, and you?
Pete: i'm from england, sorry john, i have to go,goodbye
John: no problem, goodbye, take care.

vocabulary ( in the form arabic=english (literal translation)):
salaam 3leekum=hello (peace (up)on ye*)
o 3leekum salaam=and hello too (and upon ye peace)
keef dayër=how are you (how doing**)
ena beekhir=i'm fine (i('m) with good)
7ëtayena=me too (too-y-i)
mneyn=wherefrom
m(ë)=from
sme7li=sorry (forgive me)
khesni=i have to/i want to***
beslama=goodbye (with safety/ with peace)
ma3lihsh=no problem/don't worry (not on it)
t-hëLLa f-rasëk=take care (take care in your head)

*when we greet we always use the plural form of you, ALWAYS
**this is sorta the present continuous continuous, it's a bit hard to explain but if time were visible it would be the time directly around you, i'll focus on this in a later lesson as this verb form is the hardest verb form in the language/dialect
***khesni has no direct translation but the closest translation would be important for me. yes, having to do something isn't a verb in moroccan arabic

grammar.
today we will talk about pronouns. But wait, didn't we do that in the first lesson? we sure did, but only the nominative pronouns. so, wait how many cases are there in moroccan arabic. no, it's not like that, let me explain. okay

our way of 'declining' pronouns isn't particularly difficult, but it's something i haven't seen in any other language (so far)
we sorta have three cases, yes sorta.
there's the nominative cases, and there's the rest (mainly prepositional and object)
the most important one is the prepositional case.
the pronouns come directly after the preposition, and here comes the thing i have never seen in another language:
if the preposition end in a vowel, the pronoun will take different forms than if the preposition ends in a consonant, a great way to show this is to use the preposition for 'for'
in the north the preposition is leel, in the south it's lee
i'll write it english - north - south
for me - leelee - leeya
for you (singular) - leelëk - leek
for him - leelu - leeh
for her - leelha - leeha
for us - leelna - leena
for you (plural) - leelkum - leekum
for them - leelhum - leehum

so,
long story short, the prepositional case is:
depending on whether the preposition ends in a vowel or not
singular
1st person - ya / ee
2nd person - k / ëk
3rd person (masculine) - h / u
3rd person (feminine) - ha
plural
1st person - na
2nd person - kum
3rd person - hum
the object pronouns are exactly the same, except for one thing, if the object is the first person singular, it's not -ee or -ya but -ni

if you have any questions just ask.
native: (ar-MA) (nl)
very comfortable: (en-US)
somewhat comfortable: (de) (es) (af)
forgetting: (fr) (ar-arb)
touristy level: (ro) (sv)(ber)(pl)
someday hopefully: (ja) (sq) (cs) (tr) and many others

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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby Hoogstwaarschijnlijk » 2013-06-04, 9:53

I just like to read these lessons, thanks languagepotato :)

Yesterday I heard someone answer 'l7emdullilleh', now I know what this means!

I've got a question not about these lessons but a bit related: in the Netherlands, do most people (from Moroccan heritage, I mean) speak Moroccan Arabic? Or a Berber language? And the ones who speak a Berbers dialect, do they also speak Arabic? And do they only speak it, or are they also able to read it? (and I don't mean the Quran, but for example when a multifunctional is broke and there's a note saying 'defect', would it be helpful to write this in Arabic too, or wouldn't that make any difference for the people who don't understand the word 'defect'? Because I've experienced that lots of people in my neighbourhood don't know the word 'defect', which made me wonder a. if we shouldn't write it in Turkish and Arabic too and b. or if they just shouldn't add the word 'kapot' or 'stuk', because I guess much more people would know those words...)

I've never really understood how the situation is...
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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby languagepotato » 2013-06-04, 19:57

Hoogstwaarschijnlijk wrote:I just like to read these lessons, thanks languagepotato :)

Yesterday I heard someone answer 'l7emdullilleh', now I know what this means!

I've got a question not about these lessons but a bit related: in the Netherlands, do most people (from Moroccan heritage, I mean) speak Moroccan Arabic? Or a Berber language? And the ones who speak a Berbers dialect, do they also speak Arabic?


most moroccans (well, at least the ones i know) here in the netherlands speak both a berber language and moroccan arabic because most of us are riffis (i.e. from the riff mountains) but they know moroccan arabic because it's the general language for communication. you could compare it with someone from friesland who also speaks dutch because that's the language for communication in the country.

And do they only speak it, or are they also able to read it? (and I don't mean the Quran, but for example when a multifunctional is broke and there's a note saying 'defect', would it be helpful to write this in Arabic too, or wouldn't that make any difference for the people who don't understand the word 'defect'? Because I've experienced that lots of people in my neighbourhood don't know the word 'defect', which made me wonder a. if we shouldn't write it in Turkish and Arabic too and b. or if they just shouldn't add the word 'kapot' or 'stuk', because I guess much more people would know those words...)


if one would add it in arabic, i would suggest adding it in both the arabic and latin alphabet
e.g. our word for 'defect' (i.e. it doesn't work anymore whether physically broken or not) is مخصر /mkhaSSar* as opposed to our word for 'kapot' (i.e. physically broken) مهرس/mharras* and if one adds it that way more people would understand it. i have no clue about turkish though.

*i used the more common way of writing these words as opposed to my more phonetic spelling mkhëSSër and mhërrës (i.e. with two schwas)
native: (ar-MA) (nl)
very comfortable: (en-US)
somewhat comfortable: (de) (es) (af)
forgetting: (fr) (ar-arb)
touristy level: (ro) (sv)(ber)(pl)
someday hopefully: (ja) (sq) (cs) (tr) and many others

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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby Hoogstwaarschijnlijk » 2013-06-04, 20:16

Thanks for your answer, I never realised that most people spoke both languages! Tsss, and then people are complaining that they don't speak Dutch fluently, one has a limit for the amount of languages one can speak I guess.... Because most also know a bit of French, right? First-generation that is, not those educated in the Netherlands..
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Corrections appreciated.

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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby languagepotato » 2013-06-04, 20:43

Hoogstwaarschijnlijk wrote:Thanks for your answer, I never realised that most people spoke both languages! Tsss, and then people are complaining that they don't speak Dutch fluently, one has a limit for the amount of languages one can speak I guess.... Because most also know a bit of French, right? First-generation that is, not those educated in the Netherlands..


french is kinda the english of morocco (everybody knows at least a few words, whether they want it or not, it's the business language and so on), so to answer your question: yeah, most of them speak french (some speak it at a native level, some speak it at a fluent level and some speak it at a conversational level and the people who really don't care about french could get around as a tourist (i.e. like english here))
native: (ar-MA) (nl)
very comfortable: (en-US)
somewhat comfortable: (de) (es) (af)
forgetting: (fr) (ar-arb)
touristy level: (ro) (sv)(ber)(pl)
someday hopefully: (ja) (sq) (cs) (tr) and many others

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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby Meera » 2013-06-12, 18:23

Thanks for these lessons!
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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby Shad » 2013-06-24, 9:08

I'm under the impression that verb conjugation in Moroccan is easier than in Egyptian or other dialects.

Is ق widely used in Morocco or replaced by ء like in most dialects?

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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby languagepotato » 2013-06-24, 14:27

shprakh wrote:I'm under the impression that verb conjugation in Moroccan is easier than in Egyptian or other dialects.

Is ق widely used in Morocco or replaced by ء like in most dialects?


most words still have ق but sometimes the ق is replaced by the g-sound as in good
native: (ar-MA) (nl)
very comfortable: (en-US)
somewhat comfortable: (de) (es) (af)
forgetting: (fr) (ar-arb)
touristy level: (ro) (sv)(ber)(pl)
someday hopefully: (ja) (sq) (cs) (tr) and many others

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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby languagepotato » 2013-08-03, 20:32

MOROCCAN ARABIC LESSON 5 "IRREGULAR" VERB TO WANT + I-U-PAST SIMPLE

me: we've already covered the present tense of verb 'to be', now it's time for the next "irregular" verb, the verb to want
you: why did you put irregular between quotes?
me: well, just like the verb to be, the irregularities aren't in its conjugation, but in its tenses.
you: ...?
me: don't worry, pay attention and you'll get it

one uses the simple past of the verb 'bghi'
yes i know i haven't talked about the simple past yet, but i promiss you, it isn't that hard

here's the conjugation
(ena) bghit - I want
(nta/nti/ntina) bghitee - you want
(huwa) bghe - he wants
(hiya) bghet - she wants
(7na) bghina - we want
(ntuma) bghitu - you (plural) want
(huma) bgheu - they want

you: no fair, you said it won't be hard
me: let me finish

as you can see, the stem is bghi, and the stem vowel changes to e in the third person
so, the conjugation is
i-stem+t
i-stem+tee
e-stem
i-stem+na
i-stem+tu
e-stem+u

me: and here's the good part: this is true for the simple past of every verb of the "i u-group"
you: what's an "i u-group verb"
me: we've covered that in lesson one, but maybe i didn't explain it well enough

there are two main verb types in moroccan arabic, one with a completely regular present tense "the i-u"-group, and another group i call the schwa group,the schwa group is the group which has a final consonant preceded by a, e or ë in its stem. every other verb belongs to the i-u-group

within the i-u group there's a distinction between u/i and the rest, the verbs with u or i in their stem keep their stem vowel in places where other verbs of the i-u group change it to ee.


you: so i want bread is 'bghit lkhobz', and i was a wizard is kunt së7er, right?
me: correct
you: does the verb bghi have a present tense? can i say ken-bghi lkhobz?
me: sure you can but people will think you're nuts
you: why?
me: because the present tense of the verb bghi means to love romantically or (to a family member of the same gender) to love platonically , so if you say 'ken-bghi lkhobz' you're saying 'i am in love with bread'

of course some time vocab:
today: lyuma
yesterday: lbere7
the day before yesterday: luwelbere7
last [....]: [....] li fet
week: simena
month: shHar
year: l3ëm
this [....]: hed [....] / hedh [....]
that [....]: dek [....] / deek [....]
morning: SBa7
evening: lë3sheeya
night: leel


that's it for today, and as always: if you don't understand something, just ask
native: (ar-MA) (nl)
very comfortable: (en-US)
somewhat comfortable: (de) (es) (af)
forgetting: (fr) (ar-arb)
touristy level: (ro) (sv)(ber)(pl)
someday hopefully: (ja) (sq) (cs) (tr) and many others

Nooj
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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby Nooj » 2017-01-08, 21:23

salam 3leikum, kif dayrin kulshi?

any chance you could restart the lessons?

ana skoun f lmagrheb walakin sa3iiiiiiiba hiya l 3arabiya :( khsni nt3llemha!

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
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Real Name:Vijay John
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Re: Moroccan Arabic Lessons

Postby vijayjohn » 2017-03-05, 4:01

I'm not currently learning Moroccan Arabic...oh wait, too late, I already learned a little thanks to these lessons of yours. :P

Thanks, languagepotato! :)


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