First-Year Arabic

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson introduces basic Arabic classroom vocabulary, numbers, and simple conversational phrases for asking about quantities and identifying people.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Core vocabulary: numbers (واحد through عشرة), classroom objects (كتاب book, باب door, شباك window), and roles (أستاذ teacher, طالب student, تلميذة female student)
• Basic question patterns: "كم/كام" (how many) for counting objects and people in a room
• Polite expressions: "لوسمحت" (please), "حضرتك" (polite form of "you"), and "معاك/معاكي" (do you have with you)
• Gender distinctions: different forms for male (طالب) vs female (طالبة) students, and masculine vs feminine command forms
• Common confusion: the lesson shows both formal Arabic (كم، ثلاثة) and colloquial variants (كام، تلاتة) side by side

🔢 Numbers and counting

🔢 Basic numbers 1-10

The lesson introduces Arabic numbers through example sentences:

• واحد (one): "I have one book with me"
• اثنين/اتنين (two): "That's a big door"
• ثلاثة/تلاتة (three): "Open the window please"
• أربعة (four): "You are a student"
• خمسة (five): "No, I am a teacher"
• ستة (six): "Open the book to page ten"
• سبعة (seven): "Nadia is a good student"
• عشرة (ten): appears in counting exercises
• تسعة (nine): appears in counting exercises

📊 Formal vs colloquial variants

The lesson consistently shows two forms:

• Formal: اثنين، ثلاثة
• Colloquial: اتنين، تلاتة
• Both كم and كام mean "how many"

Don't confuse: these are not different numbers but different pronunciation styles used in different contexts.

🏫 Classroom vocabulary

📚 Objects and spaces

Key nouns introduced:

• كتاب (book)
• باب (door)
• شباك (window)
• أوضة (room)
• فصل (classroom)
• صفحة (page)

👥 People and roles

Arabic	English	Notes
أستاذ	teacher/professor	masculine
طالب	student	masculine
طالبة	student	feminine
تلميذة	student/pupil	feminine

Example: "نادية تلميذة كويسة" (Nadia is a good student)

💬 Conversational patterns

❓ Asking "how many"

The pattern "كم/كام + noun + في + place?" is used repeatedly:

• "كم باب في الأوضة؟" (How many doors in the room?)
• Answer: "اتنين" (Two)
• "كم شباك؟" (How many windows?)
• Answer: "تلاتة" (Three)

🗣️ Introductions and identification

Pattern: "أنا + name" (I am...)

• "أنا أحمد، مين حضرتك؟" (I am Ahmed, who are you [polite]?)
• "أنا نادية" (I am Nadia)

📖 Commands and requests

• "افتح الكتاب صفحة..." (Open the book to page...)
• "افتحي" is the feminine form when addressing a female
• "لوسمحت" (please) makes requests polite

Example: "افتحي الكتاب صفحة سبعة!" (Open the book to page seven!)

🎯 Possession and presence

🤝 "Do you have...?"

Pattern: "معاك/معاكي + noun"

• "معاكي كتاب يا نادية؟" (Do you have a book with you, Nadia?)
• Answer: "أيوا" (Yes)

Don't confuse: معاك is used with males, معاكي with females.

📍 Counting people in context

Dialogue example from Lesson 1.5:

• "كم طالب في الفصل؟" (How many male students in the classroom?)
• "عشرة" (Ten)
• "وكم طالبة؟" (And how many female students?)
• "تسعة" (Nine)
• "وكم أستاذ؟" (And how many teachers?)
• "أستاذ واحد" (One teacher)

This shows how to distinguish between masculine and feminine forms when counting people.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Lesson Two introduces Egyptian Arabic vocabulary and sentence patterns for talking about cities, countries, leaders, and personal origins in the Arab world.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Geographic vocabulary: names of Arab cities and countries (Cairo, Alexandria, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Baghdad, Yemen, Iraq, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Egypt).
• Describing location and origin: phrases for stating where someone lives (ساكن في) and where someone is from (من / منين).
• Basic sentence structures: statements about residence, nationality, and identity using "I am" (أنا) and negation (مش).
• Greetings and introductions: morning greetings (صباح الخير / صباح النور) and asking someone's name and origin.
• Common confusion: distinguishing between "capital" (عاصمة) and "city" (مدينة)—Alexandria is a city in Egypt, but Cairo is the capital.

🗺️ Geographic vocabulary and facts

🏙️ Cities and countries

The excerpt introduces several Arab cities and countries through example sentences:

• Egypt (مصر): Cairo (القاهرة), Alexandria (أسكندرية), Aswan (أسوان)
• Other countries: Jordan (األردن), Syria (سوريا), Palestine (فلسطين), Baghdad (بغداد), Yemen (اليمن), Iraq (العراق), Tunisia (تونس), Libya (ليبيا), Sudan (السودان)

Example sentences include:

• "I live in Cairo and my brother lives in Alexandria."
• "Sudan is the largest Arab country by area and Egypt is the largest Arab country by population."

🏛️ Leaders and political references

The excerpt mentions:

• King Abdullah (الملك عبدهللا) as king of Jordan since 1999
• Bashar al-Assad (بشار األسد) as president of Syria
• Muammar Gaddafi (معمر القذافي) as president of Libya
• Palestine problem (مشكلة فلسطين) described as a big problem

🏠 Expressing location and origin

🏠 Where someone lives

ساكن في: living in / residing in

• Used to state current residence.
• Example: "I live in Cairo" (أنا ساكن في القاهرة).
• The excerpt shows masculine form; context suggests feminine and plural forms exist.

🌍 Where someone is from

من / منين: from / where from

• Used to state origin or hometown.
• Example: "My name is Ahmed, I am from the city of Alexandria in Egypt" (اسمي أحمد، أنا من مدينة أسكندرية في مصر).
• Question form: "Where are you from?" (منين أنتي يا نادية؟).

🏛️ Capital vs. city distinction

The excerpt explicitly clarifies:

• "Alexandria is not the capital of Egypt; Cairo is the capital of Egypt" (اإلسكندرية مش عاصمة مصر : القاهرة عاصمة مصر).
• Don't confuse: a large or important city with the capital (عاصمة).

👥 Identity and introductions

👤 Stating identity

Basic patterns shown:

• "My name is..." (اسمي...)
• "I am a student" (أنا طالب / أنا طالبة)
• "I am from..." (أنا من...)

🗣️ Conversation structure

A sample dialogue between Nadia and Ahmed demonstrates:

• Greeting: "Good morning!" (صباح الخير) / response "Morning of light!" (صباح النور)
• Asking name: "What is your name?" (اسمك إيه؟)
• Asking occupation: "Are you a student, Ahmed?" (أنت طالب يا أحمد؟)
• Asking origin: "Where are you from, Nadia?" (منين أنتي يا نادية؟)
• Asking location: "Where is Aswan?" (فين أسوان؟) / answer "In southern Egypt" (في جنوب مصر)

🔄 Gender and role distinctions

The excerpt shows:

• Student (male): طالب / Student (female): طالبة
• Teacher (male): أستاذ
• Example: "Nadia is from Egypt and Youssef is from Jordan. Nadia is a student, but Youssef is a teacher" (نادية من مصر ويوسف من األردن . نادية تلميذة، لكن يوسف أستاذ).

💬 Useful phrases and connectors

💬 Polite expressions

• "Thank you!" (شكرا)
• "You're welcome!" (عفوا)
• "Please" / "if you please" (من فضلك)
• "Praise God" / "Thank God" (الحمد لله)

🔗 Connecting words

• لكن: but / however (used to contrast)
• و / وأنتي: and / and you
• كمان: also / too

Example: "I am a student. And you?" (أنا طالب . وأنتي؟) / "I am a student too" (أنا طالبة كمان).

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Lesson Three teaches how to tell time in Arabic and ask about location and city size through conversational dialogues.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Telling time: how to express hours, quarters, halves, and minutes in Arabic (e.g., "six and a quarter," "ten and a half minus five").
• Asking "what time is it?": the phrase الساعة كم (كام) is used to ask for the current time.
• Asking about arrival time: using جيت الساعة كم to ask "what time did you arrive?"
• Describing location and city size: vocabulary for states, cities, directions (e.g., "northwest"), and size descriptors (big, small, medium).
• Common confusion: distinguishing between asking the current time vs. asking when someone arrived—both use similar structures but different verb forms.

🕐 Telling time in Arabic

🕐 Basic time expressions

The excerpt introduces several time formats:

• الساعة دلوقتي ستة وربع = "The time now is six and a quarter" (6:15)
• خمسة ونص = "five and a half" (5:30)
• عشرة ونص إال خمسة = "ten and a half minus five" (10:25)
• ستة إال ربع = "six minus a quarter" (5:45)
• عشرة ونص وخمسة = "ten and a half and five" (10:35)

⏰ Key time vocabulary

• ربع = quarter
• نص = half
• إال = minus/less
• و = and/plus

Example: To say 4:15, you say "four and a quarter" (أربعة وربع).

💬 Asking about time

💬 "What time is it?"

الساعة كم (كام) من فضلك؟ = "What time is it, please?"

In the dialogue between Ahmed and Nadia:

• Ahmed asks: "الساعة كم (كام) من فضلك؟"
• Nadia responds: "أربعة وربع" (four and a quarter)
• Ahmed thanks her: "شكرا!"
• Nadia replies: "عفوا!" (you're welcome)

🚶 "What time did you arrive?"

جيت الساعة كم (كام)؟ = "What time did you come/arrive?"

In the dialogue:

• Nadia asks Ahmed: "جيت الساعة كم (كام) النهاردة يا أحمد؟"
• Ahmed answers: "الساعة تسعة ونص" (nine and a half)
• Ahmed asks back: "وأنتي جيتي الساعة كم (كام)؟"
• Nadia responds: "الساعة تمنية ونص وخمسة" (eight and a half and five)

Don't confuse: الساعة كم asks for the current time; جيت الساعة كم asks about a past arrival time.

🗺️ Talking about places

🏙️ Asking about origin and location

The dialogue between Sara and Youssef demonstrates location questions:

• "أنت من أي والية يا يوسف؟" = "Which state are you from, Youssef?"
• "من أي مدينة بالوالية؟" = "From which city in the state?"
• "فين مدينة أوستن؟" = "Where is the city of Austin?"

📏 Describing city size

Size descriptors: كبيرة (big), صغيرة (small), وسط (medium/in-between)

In the dialogue:

• Sara asks: "هي مدينة كبيرة وال صغيرة؟" (Is it a big city or a small one?)
• Youssef answers: "مش كبيرة ومش صغيرة، هي وسط" (Not big and not small, it's medium)

🧭 Directional vocabulary

• شمال غرب = northwest
• Example: Youssef describes Austin's location as "شمال غرب هيوستن" (northwest of Houston)
• The excerpt also mentions جنوب (south) in Lesson Two context

🗣️ Conversational phrases

👋 Greetings and responses

Standard exchanges appearing in the dialogues:

• "صباح الخير" / "صباح النور" = Good morning / Response to good morning
• "عاملة إيه النهاردة؟" = How are you doing today?
• "كويسة، الحمد لله!" = Fine, thank God!

🙏 Polite expressions

• من فضلك = please
• شكرا = thank you
• عفوا = you're welcome

These phrases frame the time-asking exchanges and make them more natural and polite.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Lesson Four teaches Egyptian Arabic vocabulary and phrases for discussing days of the week, university schedules, and geographical directions, with a focus on conversational patterns about routines and locations.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Days of the week vocabulary: names of weekdays in Egyptian Arabic and how to ask "what day is today?"
• Talking about schedules: how to ask and answer questions about how many days per week someone goes to university and which specific days
• Geographical and historical context: discussing locations using directional terms (north, south, east, west) with reference to Yemen's historical division
• Common confusion: weekend days differ by country—Friday is mentioned as a day off in Egypt, while Sunday (الحد) is not a holiday there
• Number usage in context: counting days and expressing quantities in natural conversation

📅 Days and schedules

📅 Asking about days

The lesson introduces key question patterns:

• "النهاردة إيه من فضلك؟" = "What day is today, please?"
• "كم (كام) يوم بتروحي الجامعة؟" = "How many days do you go to the university?"
• "أيام إيه؟" = "Which days?"

These questions form the backbone of schedule-related conversations.

🗓️ Days of the week

The dialogue presents several day names in Egyptian Arabic:

• االتنين (Monday)
• التالت (Tuesday)
• األربع (Wednesday)
• الخميس (Thursday)
• الجمعة (Friday)
• السبت (Saturday)
• الحد (Sunday)

Example from dialogue: "االتنين، واألربع والجمعة" = "Monday, Wednesday, and Friday" (the days someone goes to university)

🎓 University attendance pattern

In the sample conversation, Zeina answers that she goes to university "تالتة" (three days): Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

This shows how to express both the number of days and specify which ones.

🌍 Directions and geography

🧭 Directional vocabulary

The lesson includes compass directions:

• شمالي (northern)
• جنوبي (southern)
• شرق/شرء (east)
• غرب (west)
• Combinations like "جنوب شرق" (southeast) and "شمال غرب" (northwest)

🗺️ Yemen historical context

The dialogue between Arwa and Mohamed discusses Yemen's geography:

"كان فيه يمن شمالي ويمن جنوبي لكن النهاردة في يمن واحد" = "There was a North Yemen and a South Yemen, but today there is one Yemen"

This teaches how to discuss historical geographical divisions using directional adjectives.

Example: "جنوب شرق اليمن الشمالي" = "southeast of North Yemen" (describing where South Yemen was located)

🏫 Cultural notes about schedules

🕌 Weekend differences

The lesson highlights important cultural distinctions:

• "مافيش مدرسة يوم الجمعة في مصر" = "There is no school on Friday in Egypt"
• "يوم الحد مش أجازة في مصر" = "Sunday is not a holiday in Egypt"

Don't confuse: The weekend in Egypt differs from Western countries—Friday is a day off (associated with mosque attendance: "روحت الجامع يوم الجمعة"), but Sunday is a regular workday.

📆 Time expressions

Additional phrases for talking about days:

• "أول أمبارح كان إيه؟" = "What was the day before yesterday?"
• "بعد بكرة الخميس" = "The day after tomorrow is Thursday"
• "النهاردة الحد يا راجل" = "Today is Sunday, man"

These show how to reference days relative to today.

🔢 Numbers in context

🔢 Counting days and items

The lesson reinforces number usage:

• "تالتة" = three (days)
• "عندي عشر كتب" = "I have ten books"

Numbers are presented in natural conversational contexts rather than in isolation, helping learners see how quantities are expressed when discussing schedules and possessions.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson teaches Egyptian Arabic through dialogues and exercises about biographical information, numbers, time periods, and basic calculations.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Biographical narrative structure: introducing oneself with name, profession, origin city, and migration history using past and present tense.
• Large numbers and calculations: counting pages, words, and performing multiplication to calculate costs (e.g., 10 pages × 250 words = 2,500 words).
• Time expressions with numbers: stating durations (one week, one month, ten hours) and quantities (fifty states, thirty-two books).
• Common confusion: distinguishing between كم/كام (how many) for questions vs. stating exact numbers in answers.

📖 Biographical narrative patterns

👤 Self-introduction structure

The excerpt presents a model self-introduction by Nabil Hassan:

• Name and current role: "My name is Nabil Hassan. I am an Arabic professor in New York City in New York State."
• Origin: "I am from the city of Alexandria in Egypt. Alexandria is a big city."
• Past profession: "In Egypt, I was an English professor."

🗓️ Migration history

The narrative includes specific temporal and spatial details:

• Year of arrival: "I came to America in the year 1978, twelve years ago."
• Route: "I came from the city of Cairo, the capital of Egypt, to Austin, the capital of the state of Texas, in the month of August."

Example: A speaker describes their journey from one capital city to another capital city, specifying the month and year.

🔢 Numbers and calculations

🧮 Practical arithmetic dialogue

The excerpt shows a calculation conversation between Ibrahim and Nada:

• Ibrahim asks: "Give me the calculator, how many pages?"
• Nada answers: "Ten."
• Ibrahim asks: "And how many words per page?"
• Nada answers: "About two hundred and fifty (250)."
• Ibrahim calculates: "Ten times two hundred and fifty... two thousand five hundred (2,500) words, twelve pounds and fifty piasters (12.5)."

💰 Currency and pricing

The dialogue demonstrates:

• Multiplication for word count totals
• Converting quantity into price (جنية pounds and قرش/أرش piasters)
• Using the calculator as a practical tool reference

⏱️ Time periods and quantities

📅 Duration expressions

The excerpt lists common time phrases:

• أسبوع واحد (one week)
• شهر واحد بس (only one month)
• عشر ساعات بالعربية (ten hours in Arabic)

🔢 Counting objects and places

Examples of quantity statements:

• "In America, fifty (50) states."
• "In my office, thirty-two (32) books."
• "I visited sixteen (16) cities before I came here."
• "The classroom is big; it has approximately forty students."

Don't confuse: The word بس (only) emphasizes limitation, while تقريبا (approximately) indicates an estimate rather than an exact count.

🗣️ Question-answer patterns

❓ Using كم/كام (how many)

The excerpt demonstrates the question word for quantities:

• كم صفحة؟ (How many pages?)
• كم كلمة في الصفحة؟ (How many words per page?)

📊 Numerical responses

Question type	Example answer	Structure
Exact count	عشرة (ten)	Cardinal number alone
Approximate	حوالي ميتين وخمسين (about 250)	حوالي + number
With unit	اتناشر جنية وخمسين قرش (12.5 pounds)	Number + currency unit

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson teaches how to describe weather, seasons, and climate patterns in different locations using Arabic vocabulary and conversational phrases.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Core vocabulary: weather terms (cold, hot, snow, rain), seasons (winter, summer, spring, fall), and time expressions.
• Geographic descriptions: how to talk about climate in different cities and states (Ithaca, New York, Florida, California, Egypt).
• Conversational patterns: asking about and describing weather conditions using question-answer formats.
• Common confusion: distinguishing between temporary weather ("الجو" - the weather today) vs. general climate patterns (weather across seasons).
• Practical application: real dialogues show how to complain about weather, compare climates, and discuss seasonal variations.

🌦️ Weather and season vocabulary

❄️ Weather conditions

The excerpt introduces key weather terms:

• بارد (cold) - used for winter weather
• حر (hot) - used for summer weather
• تلج / ثلج (snow) - precipitation in cold months
• مطر (rain) - precipitation in other seasons
• كويس (nice/good) - pleasant weather

📅 The four seasons

Arabic	English	Typical weather in examples
الشتا	Winter	Cold, snow (November–April in Ithaca)
الصيف	Summer	Hot
الربيع	Spring	Rain, moderate temperatures
الخريف	Fall	Rain, moderate temperatures

⏰ Duration expressions

• طول الوقت - all the time
• طويل - long (describing winter duration)
• من... لـ... - from... to... (time spans)

🗺️ Climate descriptions by location

🏙️ Ithaca, New York

إثيكا مدينة صغيرة في غرب والية نيويورك: Ithaca is a small city in western New York state.

Key facts from the excerpt:

• Population: approximately 45,000 people
• Includes 17,000 students at Cornell University
• Winter is long: from November to April
• Lots of snow in winter
• Lots of rain in spring, summer, and fall
• Cold in winter, hot in summer

🌴 Florida vs. California

The excerpt contrasts two climates:

• Florida: nice weather in winter; hot in summer, spring, and fall
• California: nice weather in all four seasons (summer, winter, spring, and fall)

Don't confuse: The excerpt uses لكن (but/however) to show California has consistently good weather, unlike other locations.

🏜️ Egypt (from dialogue)

• Cold in winter, hot in summer
• No snow in most of Egypt - only in Saint Catherine (سانت كاترين)
• Snow occurs specifically in December and January months in that mountain region

💬 Conversational patterns

😤 Complaining about weather

Hassan's complaint demonstrates typical expressions:

"إيه الجو دا؟ برد وتلج ومطر طول الوقت!": "What is this weather? Cold and snow and rain all the time!"

• Uses دا (this) to point at current conditions
• طول الوقت emphasizes continuous bad weather
• Mona's response "دي إثيكا يا حبيبي مش كاليفورنا" (This is Ithaca, dear, not California) shows how to contrast locations

❓ Asking about weather

Standard question patterns from the dialogues:

• "إيه أخبار الجو في...؟" - What's the weather news in...?
• "في تلج في الشتا؟" - Is there snow in winter?
• "والجو في... كويس؟" - And is the weather in... nice?

✅ Answering with qualifiers

The excerpt shows how to give nuanced answers:

• "أيوا في شرق كاليفورنيا لكن مش في سان فرانسيسكو" - Yes, in eastern California but not in San Francisco
• "بارد شوية" - a little cold (using شوية to soften descriptions)
• "مش حر ومش بارد" - neither hot nor cold (describing moderate weather)

📍 Geographic and temporal specificity

🧭 Location markers

The excerpt teaches precision:

• في غرب - in the west (of a state)
• في شرق - in the east
• Specific place names: نيويورك، فلوريدا، كاليفورنا، سان فرانسيسكو، سانت كاترين

📆 Month names

Months mentioned in Arabic:

• نوفمبر (November)
• أبريل (April)
• ديسمبر (December)
• يناير (January)

Example: Winter in Ithaca is defined as "from November to April" - a six-month period, which Hassan complains is still cold and snowy even in April.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson presents Arabic dialogues and vocabulary about housing, transportation, locations, and giving directions in everyday conversational contexts.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Housing vocabulary: rooms (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living room, dining room), apartment types (furnished vs. rental), and describing home layouts.
• Transportation and travel: modes of transport (plane, car, bus, taxi) and expressing travel duration.
• Giving and understanding directions: describing locations using landmarks, distances, and directional terms (left, right, straight).
• Comparative descriptions: expressing size comparisons between cities and describing relative distances.
• Common confusion: the excerpt uses both Modern Standard Arabic and dialectal forms (shown in parentheses), e.g., شقة/شأة, كام/كم.

🏠 Housing descriptions and vocabulary

🏠 Apartment layout (Lesson 7.1)

The excerpt describes Ahmed's small apartment:

• One bedroom (أوضة نوم واحدة)
• One bathroom (حمام واحد)
• Small kitchen (مطبخ صغير)
• Small living room (أوضة جلوس صغيرة)
• No dining room (ما فيهاش أوضة أكل)

Key housing terms: شقة (apartment), أوضة (room), نوم (sleep/bedroom), حمام (bathroom), مطبخ (kitchen), جلوس (sitting/living room), أكل (eating/dining room).

🔑 Rental apartment dialogue (Lesson 7.3)

Hassan and Mohamed discuss apartment requirements:

• Furnished vs. rental (مفروشة وال إيجار)
• Number of bedrooms: three (تالتة/ثالثة أوضة نوم)
• Number of bathrooms: one is enough (حمام واحد كفاية)
• Dining room preference: no, just kitchen (مطبخ بس)
• Hassan will call tomorrow with available options

Example: When searching for housing, specify the number of rooms, bathroom count, and whether you need furnished or unfurnished.

🚗 Transportation and travel times

✈️ Travel modes and duration (Lesson 7.2)

The excerpt describes a trip to New York:

• Took a taxi to the airport (أخدت تاكسي للمطار)
• Plane took 40 minutes (الطيارة أخدت أربعين دقيقة)
• Car takes 5 hours (العربية بتاخد خمس ساعات)
• Bus takes 7 hours (الأوتوبيس بياخد سبع ساعات)

Transport mode	Duration
Plane (طيارة)	40 minutes
Car (عربية)	5 hours
Bus (أوتوبيس)	7 hours

Don't confuse: the excerpt uses أخد/بياخد to mean "takes (time)" not just "takes (an object)."

🗺️ Directions and locations

🧭 Giving directions (Lesson 7.4)

Sara gives Akram directions to her house:

• The house is close (بيتنا قريب)
• Walk along this street about 500 meters (أمشي مع الشارع دا حوالي خمسمية متر)
• Until you reach Baghdad Street (لغاية ماتيجي لشارع بغداد)
• Their house is the first house on the right (بيتنا أول بيت على اليمين)

Direction vocabulary: قريب (close), أمشي (walk), شارع (street), حوالي (approximately), متر (meter), لغاية (until), اليمين (the right).

Example: To give directions, use landmarks (street names), approximate distances, and left/right orientation.

🏙️ City comparisons (Lesson 7.5)

Hamza and Nermin discuss San Francisco:

• Location: in California (في والية كاليفورنيا)
• Is it big? Yes, big (أيوا كبيرة)
• Is it the biggest city in California? No, not the biggest (مش أكبر مدينة)
• Los Angeles is bigger (لوس أنجلوس أكبر)
• Is it far from Los Angeles? Yes, far (أيوا، بعيدة)

Don't confuse: كبيرة (big) vs. أكبر (bigger/biggest) – the excerpt demonstrates comparative forms.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson teaches how to discuss family structure, housing locations, occupations, and time expressions through dialogues about where people live, how many siblings they have, and what their family members do for work.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Family and housing vocabulary: asking about houses, family size, siblings, and where people live.
• Time expressions: phrases for "when" (إمتى), "about/approximately" (حوالي، تقريبا), and durations (e.g., "after five months").
• Counting family members: using Arabic numbers with family terms (brothers, sisters, children).
• Occupation vocabulary: terms for jobs like doctor, engineer, teacher, secretary, and homemaker.
• Common confusion: distinguishing between "doctor" as physician (طبيب) vs. academic doctor/professor (دكتور) in different contexts.

🏠 Housing and location

🏠 Asking about houses and residence

The excerpt introduces questions about where someone's house is and where their family lives:

• "فين بيتكم؟" = "Where is your house?"
• "وعيلتك ساكنة فين؟" = "And where does your family live?"

🗺️ Multiple residences

Example from Lesson 8.1: A character has two houses—one in New York and one in Florida. The family is currently living in Florida.

• The dialogue shows how to express having more than one residence: "عندنا بيتين : واحد في نيويورك وواحد في فلوريدا" = "We have two houses: one in New York and one in Florida."

⏰ Time expressions for movement

The excerpt teaches asking when people went somewhere and when they will return:

• "إمتى راحوا لفلوريدا؟" = "When did they go to Florida?"
• Answer: "من حوالي شهر" = "About a month ago"
• "وإمتى هيرجعوا لنيويورك؟" = "And when will they return to New York?"
• Answer: "بعد خمس شهور تقريبا" = "After about five months"

حوالي and تقريبا: both mean "approximately" or "about" when discussing time or quantity.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family size and siblings

👶 Counting siblings

Lesson 8.2 focuses on asking how many brothers and sisters someone has:

• "كم ) كام ( أخ وأخت عندك؟" = "How many brothers and sisters do you have?"
• One character answers: "أخ واحد بس" = "Only one brother"
• Another describes a large family: "عندي ست أخوات : تالتة ) ثالثة ( بنات وتلت ) ثالث ( والد" = "I have six siblings: three girls and three boys"

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Describing large families

Lesson 8.3 introduces a character named Saeed from Cairo who describes his family:

• He has a father, mother, two brothers, and three sisters—eight people total ("كلنا تمنية")
• The excerpt shows how to list family members systematically

Lesson 8.4 continues with extended family:

• A sister who is a professor has three sons and a small daughter
• The sons are 12, 14, and 15 years old; the daughter is 6 years old
• Near the sister's house lives a large Syrian family with seven sons and five daughters

🔢 Age expressions

The excerpt demonstrates how to state ages:

• "عمرهم اتناشر سنة" = "They are 12 years old"
• "البنت عمرها ست سنين" = "The girl is 6 years old"

💼 Occupations and work

💼 Common job titles

Lesson 8.5 introduces vocabulary for asking and stating occupations:

Arabic term	Meaning	Context from excerpt
دكتور	Doctor (academic/professor)	Father is a physics doctor and university professor
طبيب	Doctor (physician)	Works in a hospital
مهندسة	Engineer (female)	Mother's occupation
مدرسة	Teacher (female)	Mother in Lesson 8.3
سكرتير	Secretary	Father works as secretary in an office
ربة بيت / ربة منزل	Homemaker	Mother who doesn't work outside home
أستاذ / أستاذة	Professor	Sister and her husband
طالب	Student	Brother's status

🏥 Doctor vs. physician distinction

Don't confuse: The dialogue explicitly clarifies this common confusion:

• Character asks: "بيشتغل في مستشفى إيه؟" = "Which hospital does he work in?"
• Answer: "أل، هو مش طبيب . هو دكتور فيزيا و أستاذ في الجامعة" = "No, he's not a physician. He's a physics doctor and university professor."

This shows that دكتور can mean an academic doctor/professor, while طبيب specifically means a medical doctor.

💬 Asking about occupations

The standard question patterns:

• "أبوك بيشتغل إيه؟" = "What does your father do?" (literally: "Your father works what?")
• "أمك بتشتغل إيه؟" = "What does your mother do?"

The excerpt shows how to ask about multiple family members' occupations in sequence.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Lesson Nine teaches everyday Egyptian Arabic conversations about housing, food shopping, meals, and telling time through dialogues between characters discussing apartments, market prices, and daily routines.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Housing vocabulary: describing apartments (شقة), rooms (أوضة), kitchens (مطبخ), and student dormitories (بيت الطلبة / سكن الطلبة).
• Food and shopping: asking prices (بكم / بكام), buying produce and meat at markets, and negotiating quantities in kilos.
• Meal vocabulary: breakfast (فطار), lunch (غدا), and dinner (عشا) with specific foods like eggs (بيض), fish (سمك), and rice (رز).
• Telling time: expressing clock time with "الساعة" and fractions like "ونص" (and a half) and "إال ربع" (minus a quarter).
• Common confusion: "دلوقتي" means "now/currently" and appears in both time expressions and price contexts to indicate present-day prices versus past prices.

🏠 Housing and living situations

🏠 Apartment and dormitory vocabulary

The lesson introduces key housing terms through Nadia's complaint about student housing:

بيت الطلبة / سكن الطلبة: student dormitory
الشقة (الشأة): apartment
الأوضة: room
المطبخ: kitchen
أوضة أكل: dining room

• Nadia complains that the dormitory room is small (صغيرة) and the cafeteria food is not good (مش كويس).
• Yasser offers for her to live with his sister in an apartment that is big (كبيرة) with good food.

🍽️ Eating at home vs. restaurants

The dialogues contrast two eating patterns:

• في البيت: at home (requires having a kitchen)
• في المطعم: at a restaurant/cafeteria

Example: Ahmed asks rhetorically "why would I eat at a restaurant when I have a big kitchen and a dining room?" while Nadia has no kitchen and eats at the university restaurant every day.

🛒 Shopping at the market

💰 Asking about prices

The key phrase for asking prices:

بكم / بكام: How much? (for what price?)

The response pattern uses:

الكيلو ب...: The kilo is/costs...

• Prices are given per kilo for produce and meat.
• The dialogue shows both old prices and current prices marked with "دلوقتي" (now/currently).

🍎 Produce shopping dialogue

Iman shops for fruits and vegetables:

Item	Arabic	Price mentioned
Apples	التفاح	Half a pound (بنص جنية) / 20 pounds currently
Bananas	الموز	Quarter pound (بربع جنية) / 25 pounds currently
Tomatoes	طماطم	Available, she buys 2 kilos

🥩 Meat shopping dialogue

Iman visits a butcher:

• Available meats: lamb (لحمة خروف), beef (لحمة بقر), and fish (سمك).
• Lamb price: 3 pounds per kilo (old) / 400 pounds currently.
• Negotiation: Iman says "كتير يا راجل!" (That's a lot, man!) and offers 2.5 pounds.
• She ends up buying 1.5 kilos.

Don't confuse: The dramatic price differences (e.g., 3 pounds vs. 400 pounds) reflect inflation over time, shown by the contrast between past prices and "دلوقتي" (current) prices.

🍽️ Meals and food vocabulary

🌅 Three daily meals

The lesson distinguishes three meals with specific verb forms:

Meal	Arabic	Verb (past)	Verb (future)
Breakfast	فطار	فطرت	-
Lunch	غدا	إتغديت	-
Dinner	عشا	-	هتتعشا

🥘 Specific foods mentioned

Sarah asks Ahmed what he ate:

• Breakfast: eggs (بيض), orange juice (عصير برتقان / برتقال), and tea (شاي)
• Lunch: falafel sandwich (سندويتش طعمية) and tea
• Dinner (future): fish (سمك) and red rice (رز أحمر)

Example: The pattern "أكلت... وشربت..." (I ate... and drank...) structures meal descriptions.

⏰ Telling time

🕐 Time expressions with الساعة

الساعة: the hour/o'clock

Basic pattern: "الساعة" + number

Mohamed asks when lunch is, and Mona answers:

• Lunch time: الساعة اتناشر (اثنا عشر) ونص = 12:30
• Current time: الساعة دلوقتي اتناشر (اثنا عشر) إال ربع = 12 minus a quarter = 11:45

⏱️ Time fractions

• ونص: and a half (adds 30 minutes)
• إال ربع: minus a quarter (subtracts 15 minutes)

Don't confuse: "دلوقتي" (now) appears in time expressions to mean "right now" but also appears in shopping contexts to mean "currently/these days" for prices.

⌚ Asking about time

• الساعة كم / كام؟: What time? (for scheduled events)
• معاكي ساعة؟: Do you have a watch? (literally: "with you a watch?")

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson teaches vocabulary and sentence patterns for describing clothing, colors, geographic locations, and shopping experiences in Egyptian Arabic.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Clothing descriptions: how to say what someone is wearing using البس/البسة (wearing) with items like فستان (dress), قميص (shirt), بنطلون (pants).
• Color vocabulary: colors like أحمر (red), أسود (black), أبيض (white), أخضر (green), أزرق (blue), بني (brown).
• Geographic directions: using شرق (east), غرب (west), شمال (north), جنوب (south) to describe locations of countries and cities relative to seas and each other.
• Shopping and prices: describing past shopping trips with روحت (I went), اشتريت (I bought), and stating prices with ب (for/at).
• Question patterns: asking about colors (لون...إيه?), times (الساعة كم?), and confirming information in conversational contexts.

👕 Clothing and colors

👕 Describing what people wear

The lesson introduces the pattern:

• البس (masculine: he is wearing) / البسة (feminine: she is wearing)
• Example from transcript: "البنت البسة فستان، والولد البس قميص وبنطلون" (The girl is wearing a dress, and the boy is wearing a shirt and pants).

Key clothing items:

• فستان = dress
• قميص (also written أميص in colloquial) = shirt
• بنطلون = pants
• جزمة = shoes
• جاكيت = jacket
• بنطلون جينز = jeans

🎨 Color vocabulary

Colors are used as adjectives following the noun:

• أحمر = red
• أسود = black
• أبيض = white
• أخضر = green
• أزرق (also أزرء in colloquial) = blue
• بني = brown

Example: "فستان البنت أحمر وبنطلون الولد أسود وقميصه أبيض" (The girl's dress is red, the boy's pants are black, and his shirt is white).

🔍 Asking about colors

Pattern: لون + [item] + إيه؟ (What color is...?)

• "لون بنطلونه إيه؟" (What color are his pants?)
• "لونها إيه؟" (What color is it?)

🗺️ Geographic locations and directions

🧭 Direction words

Four cardinal directions are used to describe relative positions:

• شرق (also شرء in colloquial) = east
• غرب = west
• شمال = north
• جنوب = south

🌊 Geographic examples

The lesson uses seas and countries to practice directions:

• "السعودية شرق البحر الأحمر" (Saudi Arabia is east of the Red Sea)
• "تركيا جنوب البحر الأسود" (Turkey is south of the Black Sea)
• "مصر شمال السودان وغرب البحر الأحمر" (Egypt is north of Sudan and west of the Red Sea)
• "مدينة جدة في غرب السعودية على البحر الأحمر" (The city of Jeddah is in western Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea)

Seas mentioned:

• البحر الأحمر = the Red Sea
• البحر الأسود = the Black Sea
• البحر الأبيض المتوسط = the Mediterranean Sea (literally "the white middle sea")

📏 Size comparisons

Pattern: [A] كبير و [B] صغير (A is big and B is small)

• "البحر الأبيض المتوسط كبير والبحر الأحمر صغير" (The Mediterranean Sea is big and the Red Sea is small)

🛍️ Shopping and prices

🛒 Past tense shopping narrative

The lesson includes a shopping story using past tense verbs:

• روحت = I went
• اشتريت = I bought

Example: "أمبارح روحت للسوق واشتريت قميص وبنطلون وجزمة لابني كريم" (Yesterday I went to the market and bought a shirt, pants, and shoes for my son Karim).

💰 Stating prices

Pattern: [item] + كان + ب + [price] (the item was for [price])

• "القميص كان بخمسين جنية" (The shirt was for fifty pounds)
• "البنطلون بسبعين جنية" (The pants for seventy pounds)
• "الجزمة بسبعين جنية كمان" (The shoes for seventy pounds also)

The phrase "أرحمنا يا رب" (Have mercy on us, O Lord) expresses that the prices are high.

💵 Currency

جنية = pound (Egyptian currency)

💬 Conversational patterns

⏰ Time questions

• الساعة كم؟ (also كام) = What time is it?
• Answers: "الساعة ستة" (6 o'clock) or "ستة ونص" (6:30, literally "six and half")

👀 Seeing and confirmation

• شوفتي...وال لأ؟ = Did you see...or not?
• أيوا شفتها = Yes, I saw it
• كان البس جاكيت؟ = Was he wearing a jacket?
• لأ = No

🚪 Entry questions

• دخل البيت الساعة كم؟ = At what time did he enter the house?

Don't confuse: شوفتي (you saw, feminine) vs شفتها (I saw it) – the pronouns change the meaning.

📝 General review questions

📋 Review topics covered

The lesson ends with a comprehensive review section covering:

• Personal introductions (name, origin, city, state)
• Time and calendar (days, months, current time)
• Weather and seasons
• Housing (rooms, bathrooms, kitchen)
• Transportation methods
• Family (siblings, ages, occupations)
• Food preferences (meat, vegetarian, dairy, fish)
• Clothing descriptions

These review questions integrate vocabulary from previous lessons with the new clothing and color vocabulary from Lesson Ten.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson teaches conversational Arabic through dialogues about personal background, family, and location, focusing on question-and-answer patterns for introducing oneself and describing one's city and family structure.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Dialogue 11.1: Asking and answering questions about where someone is from, which U.S. state, city size, and distance from major cities.
• Dialogue 11.2: Introducing oneself with name, age, field of study, family members' names and ages, and parents' occupations.
• Key vocabulary: Terms for family members (أخ/أخت = brother/sister, أبويا/أمي = my father/my mother), numbers, and location phrases (بعيدة عن = far from).
• Common confusion: Distinguishing between formal address (حضرتك = "you" polite) and informal (أنت/أنتي), and understanding dual vs. plural forms for siblings.
• Practical use: Building conversational fluency for self-introduction and asking about someone's background in Egyptian Arabic.

💬 Conversation about origin and location

🗺️ Asking where someone is from

The dialogue in Lesson 11.1 demonstrates a conversation between Nada and Ahmed:

• Nada asks: "حضرتك رايح للقاهرة؟" (Are you going to Cairo?)
• She confirms: "أنت من أمريكا طبعا؟" (You're from America, of course?)
• Then drills down: "من فين في أمريكا؟" (Where in America?) → "مدينة إثيكا في أي والية؟" (Ithaca is in which state?)

Key pattern: Start broad (country) → narrow to state → narrow to city.

📏 Describing distance and size

Ahmed provides specific details:

• Distance: "حوالي أربع أو خمس ساعات بالعربية" (about four or five hours by car)
• Size: "صغيرة، فيها حوالي تالتين ألف بس" (small, it has only about thirty thousand [people])
• Nada reacts: "يا دي صغيرة أوي" (Oh, that's very small!)

Don't confuse: "بعيدة عن" (far from) describes distance; "كبيرة/صغيرة" (big/small) describes size. Both are needed to paint a full picture of a city.

Example: A city can be small in population but far from another city, or large but close.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Introducing family and personal background

🎓 Self-introduction structure

Sherif's monologue in Lesson 11.2 follows a clear pattern:

1. Name: "اسمي شريف" (My name is Sherif)
2. Status: "أنا طالب مصري في جامعة كورنيل" (I am an Egyptian student at Cornell University)
3. Field: "أنا بدرس هندسة" (I study engineering)
4. Age: "عمري تمنية وعشرين سنة" (I am 28 years old)

Why this order matters: It moves from identity → current role → specifics, mirroring natural conversation flow.

👪 Describing family members

Sherif lists his family systematically:

• Parents' location: "أسرتي... ساكنين في مدينة الأسكندرية" (My family lives in Alexandria)
• Siblings count: "عندي أخين وأختين" (I have two brothers and two sisters)
• Names: "األخين اسمهم : أيمن وعبد هللا، واألختين : مريم وسعاد"
• Parents' names and ages: Father Ali Hamdi (65), Mother Nadia Yousry (51)
• Occupations: Father has a restaurant; mother is "ست بيت" (housewife)

Family term	Arabic	Example from text
My father	أبويا	أبويا اسمه علي حمدي
My mother	أمي	أمي اسمها نادية يسري
Two brothers	أخين	عندي أخين
Two sisters	أختين	وأختين

🔢 Counting family members

عندي أخ/أخت = "I have a brother/sister" (possession construction)

• The excerpt uses dual forms: أخين (two brothers), أختين (two sisters)
• This is distinct from plural, which would be used for three or more.

Don't confuse: "كم أخ وأخت عندك؟" asks "How many brothers and sisters do you have?"—it's asking for a count, not names.

📚 Vocabulary and expressions

🏙️ Location and quantity terms

• حوالي = about, approximately (used for estimates: "حوالي تالتين ألف" = about 30,000)
• بس = only, just (minimizer: "أخت واحدة بس" = only one sister)
• طبعا = of course, naturally (assumption marker)
• يعني = that is, I mean (clarification/filler word)

🎯 Polite vs. informal address

The dialogue shows register variation:

• حضرتك (polite "you") used when Nada first addresses Ahmed
• أنت/أنتي (informal "you") used after initial politeness or among peers

Example: "حضرتك رايح للقاهرة؟" (polite opening) vs. "أنت من أمريكا طبعا؟" (more casual follow-up)

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Lesson Twelve presents two dialogues in Egyptian colloquial Arabic: one introducing two people and discussing family size, and another describing an older sister's family life in Alexandria.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Dialogue 12.1: Dan and Nahed meet, exchange names, and discuss Dan's student status at Cornell University and their respective family sizes.
• Dialogue 12.2: A narrator describes their older sister Maryam (age 31), who lives in Alexandria with her husband and three children.
• Key vocabulary: Introductions (اسمي / "my name is"), family terms (أخ / أخت / "brother/sister"), numbers for counting siblings and ages.
• Common confusion: The lesson uses Egyptian colloquial forms (e.g., كام for "how many," أهلك for "your family") rather than Modern Standard Arabic.

👥 Meeting and introductions

👤 Exchanging names and pleasantries

The dialogue opens with Dan introducing himself and asking Nahed's name:

• دان: "اسمي دان، واسم حضرتك إيه؟" ("My name is Dan, and what is your name?")
• ناهد: "اسمي ناهد" ("My name is Nahed")
• The polite greeting تشرفنا ("pleased to meet you") is exchanged.

🎓 Discussing occupation and university

Nahed asks Dan what he does:

• Dan responds that he is a student (طالب) at Cornell University (جامعة كورنيل) in Ithaca.
• Nahed asks how many students are at the university; Dan answers approximately seventeen thousand (حوالي سبعتاشر ألف طالب).

Example: The dialogue models a typical first meeting where people ask about work/study and basic facts about institutions.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family size and living arrangements

🏠 Dan's family

• Dan's parents (أبويا وأمي) live in Ithaca, but his sister (أختي) lives in California.
• Dan has only one sister (عندي أخت واحدة بس).

👪 Nahed's large family

• Nahed has eight siblings (عندي تمن أخوات): three boys (تلت أوالد) and five girls (خمس بنات).
• The contrast between Dan's small family (one sibling) and Nahed's large family (eight siblings) is highlighted in the dialogue.

Don't confuse: أخ/أخت (singular "brother/sister") with أخوات (plural "siblings" or "sisters" depending on context).

👩‍👧‍👦 Sister Maryam's family life

🏘️ Living situation in Alexandria

The narrator describes their older sister Maryam (أختي الكبيرة):

• She is 31 years old (عمرها واحد وتالتين سنة).
• She lives in Alexandria (ساكنة في أسكندرية) with her husband (جوزها) and children (ووالدها).
• They live in an apartment (شقة) about a 15-minute walk (حوالي ربع ساعة مشي) from the narrator's parents' house.

📚 Education and marriage timeline

• Maryam studied in school for nine years (درست في المدرسة تسع سنين).
• She got married at age 22 (اتجوزت لما كان عمرها اتنين وعشرين سنة).

👶 Maryam's children

Child	Age
Lina (لينا)	6 years (ست سنوات)
Layli (ليلي)	4 years (أربع سنين)
Ashraf (أشرف)	2 years (سنتين)

💼 Occupations

• Maryam is a housewife (ست بيت).
• Her husband is an Arabic teacher (مدرس عربي).

Example: The passage illustrates a traditional family structure where the wife manages the home and the husband works as a teacher.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson presents two dialogues that teach how to provide personal information in Egyptian Arabic—one at a registration desk and one describing a family member's work and life abroad.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Registration vocabulary: how to answer questions about name (father's, mother's, family name), age, address, and profession in formal settings.
• Family and work description: how to talk about a sibling's education, profession, location, and spouse's work.
• Common confusion: the word "address" (عنوان) can mean home address in one's home country or current local address; the dialogue clarifies which is needed.
• Geographic and professional details: how to describe cities, their location (e.g., west, on the Red Sea), and whether they are capitals.

📝 Registration dialogue (Lesson 13.1)

📝 Personal information questions

The dialogue between سارة (Sara) and دانيل (Daniel) shows a formal registration exchange.

Questions asked in order:

• Name (اسمك)
• Father's name (اسم األب)
• Mother's name (اسم األم)
• Family name (اسم العيلة)
• Age (العمر)
• Address (العنوان)
• Profession (المهنة)

🏠 Address clarification

• Daniel initially gives his American address: "400 Tony State Street."
• Sara corrects him: "No, not your address in America, your address here in Egypt."
• Daniel then provides his local address: "Hotel Al-Hurriya, God willing."
• Don't confuse: in registration contexts, "address" usually means where you are staying locally, not your permanent home address abroad.

💼 Profession explanation

المهنة (al-mihna): profession or occupation.

• Daniel asks: "What does 'profession' mean?"
• Sara explains with examples: "Are you a student, teacher, engineer, pilot?"
• Daniel answers: "Student!"
• Example: this shows how to clarify unfamiliar vocabulary by listing concrete examples.

👨‍👩‍👧 Family member profile (Lesson 13.2)

👨‍🏫 Brother Ayman's background

The narrator describes her brother Ayman (أيمن), age 25, who is married with one daughter.

Education and career path:

• Studied at Cairo University for four years.
• Obtained a bachelor's degree in English language.
• Worked in Cairo for one year.
• Then traveled to Saudi Arabia.

🌍 Current work and location

• Ayman's job: English language teacher at a boys' school in Jeddah.
• Wife's job: history teacher at a girls' school in Jeddah.
• Both are teachers (مدرس / مدرسة), showing gender agreement in profession terms.

🗺️ Geographic description of Jeddah

Feature	Description
Location	Western Saudi Arabia, on the Red Sea
Size	A large city
Capital status	Not the capital of Saudi Arabia

• The excerpt emphasizes: "It is a large city but not the capital of Saudi Arabia."
• This teaches how to describe a city's importance while clarifying what it is not.

🔤 Vocabulary patterns

🔤 Formal vs. colloquial terms

• كام / كم: "how many" (colloquial كام is shown in parentheses after formal كم)
• دلوقتي / دلوأتي: "now" (spelling variations shown)
• The lesson presents both forms to help learners recognize formal written Arabic alongside spoken Egyptian dialect.

🔤 Family and numbers

• The lesson reinforces counting and family terms through natural dialogue.
• Example: "I have eight siblings: three boys and five girls" (تلت أوالد وخمس بنات).
• Numbers are used with time (walking distance), ages, and quantities throughout both dialogues.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson presents conversational Arabic dialogues about taking a taxi and traveling by plane, focusing on greetings, asking directions, discussing origins, and narrating a journey.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Taxi conversation structure: hailing a taxi, stating destination, exchanging pleasantries about origin and language learning.
• Discussing location details: distinguishing between a city and a state (e.g., Ithaca city vs. New York state).
• Travel narrative vocabulary: describing a multi-leg flight journey with times and locations.
• Common confusion: "من فين" (from where) can refer to both city and country/state—context determines which level of detail to provide.
• Polite expressions: welcoming phrases like "أهلا وسهلا" and compliments on language ability appear in natural conversation.

🚕 Taxi dialogue scenario

🚕 Hailing and stating destination

The dialogue opens with Daniel calling for a taxi:

• "تاكسي! تاكسي!" (Taxi! Taxi!)
• Driver asks: "على فين؟" (Where to?) or "رايح فين؟" (Where are you going?)
• Passenger states destination: "مصر الجديدة" (Heliopolis) and specifically "فندق الحرية" (Al-Hurriya Hotel).

🗣️ Small talk about origin

The driver initiates conversation:

• "األخ من أمريكا؟" (You're from America?)
• "من فين في أمريكا؟" (From where in America?)
• Daniel clarifies: "من نيويورك" but then specifies "أنا مش من مدينة نيويورك. أنا من مدينة إثيكا في والية نيويورك" (I'm not from New York City. I'm from the city of Ithaca in New York State).

Don't confuse: New York the state vs. New York the city—the dialogue explicitly teaches this distinction.

🎓 Language learning exchange

• Driver compliments: "أنت بتتكلم عربي كويس!" (You speak Arabic well!)
• Asks: "فين أتعلمت عربي؟" (Where did you learn Arabic?)
• Daniel responds: "في جامعة كورنيل" (At Cornell University).
• Driver asks about university size: "هي جامعة صغيرة ولا كبيرة؟" (Is it a small or large university?)
• Daniel: "مش كبيرة ومش صغيرة، فيها حوالي سبعتاشر ألف طالب" (Not big and not small, it has about seventeen thousand students).

✈️ Travel narrative

✈️ Journey structure

The second dialogue narrates a past journey from Egypt to America:

• "نفسي أحكي أنا جيت إزاي ألمريكا!" (I want to tell how I came to America!)
• "جيت من تلت سنين" (I came three years ago).
• "جيت بالطيارة طبعا!" (I came by plane, of course!)

🛫 Multi-leg flight details

The narrator describes each segment:

Segment	Route	Duration
Ground	Taxi from Alexandria to Cairo Airport	—
Flight 1	Cairo International Airport → Amsterdam Airport (Holland)	Part of ~16 hours total
Flight 2	Amsterdam Airport → Kennedy Airport (New York)	Part of ~16 hours total
Flight 3	Kennedy Airport → Ithaca Airport	About 1 hour

• Total Cairo to New York: "حوالي ستاشر ساعة" (about sixteen hours).
• New York to Ithaca: "حوالي ساعة" (about one hour).

🧳 Vocabulary for travel

Key terms introduced:

• "طيارة" (plane)
• "مطار" (airport)
• "مطار ... الدولي" (international airport)
• "طارت الطيارة" (the plane flew/took off)
• "أخدت" (took, as in "took a taxi" or "took [time]")

Example: "أخدت تاكسي من إسكندرية لمطار القاهرة" (I took a taxi from Alexandria to Cairo Airport).

🎯 Functional language patterns

🎯 Welcoming and courtesy

• "أهلا وسهلا بيك في مصر!" (Welcome to Egypt!)
• "أهلا!" (Hello/Welcome!)
• "أتفضل!" (Go ahead/Please [enter]!)

🎯 Asking about size and quantity

• "كم طالب فيها؟" or "كام طالب فيها؟" (How many students in it?)
• Pattern: "حوالي + number" (about/around + number) for approximations.

🎯 Negation and clarification

• "مش ... ومش ..." (not ... and not ...) for expressing middle ground.
• Example: "مش كبيرة ومش صغيرة" (not big and not small).
• "أنا مش من ..." (I'm not from ...) to correct assumptions.

Don't confuse: "مش" is the Egyptian Arabic negation particle; it precedes the word being negated.

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Note: The excerpt includes interactive H5P elements and vocabulary tables that are excluded from this text version but are available in the online source.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson presents two dialogues—one at a hotel check-in where a guest realizes he has lost his passport, and another recounting a traveler's arrival at an airport where his luggage was misrouted—to practice everyday Arabic vocabulary for travel situations and past-tense narration.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Hotel check-in vocabulary: reservation confirmation, room with bathroom, passport request, and leaving luggage at the front desk.
• Lost-item scenario: the guest discovers his passport is missing and must return to the airport to retrieve it.
• Travel narrative in past tense: describes a multi-leg flight journey, arrival time, exhaustion, and discovering lost luggage at the airport.
• Common confusion: distinguishing between present actions (checking in) and past narration (recounting what happened during travel).

🏨 Hotel check-in dialogue

🏨 Greeting and reservation

• The dialogue opens with morning greetings: "صباح الخير" (good morning) and "صباح النور" (response).
• The guest (دانيل / Daniel) states he reserved a room a week ago: "حجزت أوضة من أسبوع".
• The receptionist (نادية / Nadia) asks for his name and confirms the room has a bathroom: "أوضة بحمام طبعا؟".

🗣️ Small talk about Arabic

• Nadia compliments Daniel's Arabic: "أنت بتعرف عربي كويس".
• Daniel explains he learned Arabic at university in America: "في الجامعة، في أمريكا".
• This exchange models polite conversation and compliments in a service setting.

🆔 Passport request and problem

"جواز السفر لوسمحت" = "Passport, please."

• Nadia asks for Daniel's passport for registration.
• Daniel realizes he had it at the airport but cannot find it now: "كان معايا في المطار! ... فين راح جواز سفري؟".
• He asks if he can leave his suitcase at the hotel and return to the airport: "ممكن أخلي الشنطة هنا وروح للمطار؟".
• The receptionist agrees and instructs the porter (حسن) to take the suitcase to room 403: "خد شنطة الأستاذ لأوضة ربعمية وتلاتة".

Example: A traveler checks into a hotel, realizes an important document is missing, and arranges to leave luggage while retrieving it—common in real travel situations.

✈️ Arrival and lost luggage narrative

✈️ Flight arrival and exhaustion

• The narrator describes arriving at Ithaca airport in the afternoon after seventeen hours of flying: "الطيارة وصلت مطار إثيكا بعد الضهر وكنت تعبان أوي بعد سبعتاشر ساعة بالطيارة".
• This sets the scene for why the traveler was tired and distracted.

🧳 Discovering lost luggage

• At the airport, the narrator looked for his suitcase but could not find it: "دورت على شنطتي وما لقيتهاش".
• Airport staff told him the suitcase went to Chicago: "شنطتك راحت شيكاغو".
• The narrator asks why it went to Chicago; staff reply they don't know: "ما نعرفش؟".
• Don't confuse: the suitcase was misrouted by the airline, not lost by the passenger—this is a logistical error, not carelessness.

🏨 Leaving contact information and going to the hotel

• The narrator left his address at the airport and took a taxi to the hotel: "سبت عنواني في المطار، وأخدت تاكسي للفندق".
• The hotel was close to the university, about a ten-minute walk: "الفندق كان قريب من الجامعة حوالي عشر دقايق مشي".

Example: A traveler arrives exhausted, discovers luggage is missing due to airline error, leaves contact details, and proceeds to nearby accommodation—a realistic travel mishap scenario.

🗣️ Key vocabulary and expressions

🗣️ Polite requests and responses

Arabic	English	Context
لوسمحت	Please / if you permit	Polite request marker
أي خدمة؟	Any service? / How may I help?	Service greeting
أتفضل	Go ahead / here you are	Invitation or handing over
دقيقة من فضلك	One minute, please	Asking for patience

🗣️ Travel and location terms

• حجزت أوضة = I reserved a room
• جواز السفر = passport
• المطار = the airport
• الشنطة = the suitcase
• فين راح...؟ = Where did ... go?
• ما لقيتهاش = I didn't find it (colloquial negative past)

🗣️ Past-tense narration

• The second transcript uses past tense throughout to recount events: وصلت (arrived), كنت (I was), دورت (I looked), سبت (I left), أخدت (I took).
• This models how to tell a story about completed actions in colloquial Egyptian Arabic.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson presents two narrative dialogues—one about a taxi ride to the airport after losing a passport, and another recounting a difficult arrival experience involving lost luggage and a noisy hotel—to practice everyday conversational Arabic and past-tense storytelling.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Lesson 16.1 dialogue: A taxi conversation where the passenger (Daniel) explains he lost his passport at the airport and hopes to find it in lost-and-found.
• Lesson 16.2 narrative: A first-person account of arriving at a hotel, dealing with lost luggage sent to the wrong city, and retrieving it the next day.
• Common confusion: The dialogues use both present and past tenses; distinguishing "what is happening now" (dialogue 16.1) from "what happened before" (narrative 16.2) is key.
• Vocabulary focus: Travel situations (taxi, airport, hotel), emotions (upset, tired), and practical phrases (asking directions, reporting lost items).

🚖 Lesson 16.1: Taxi to the airport

🚖 The conversation setup

• Daniel hails a taxi and tells the driver he is going to the airport.
• The driver asks if Daniel is American and where he is from.

😟 Why Daniel is upset

• Daniel volunteers a lot of information about his hometown (Ithaca, New York), his university (Cornell, ~17,000 students), and his Arabic studies—unprompted.
• The driver asks: "Did I do something? Why are you upset?"
• Daniel apologizes and explains: he lost his passport at the airport.
• Example: Someone over-explaining when anxious or distracted—Daniel's long answer signals he is preoccupied.

🤲 The driver's response

• The driver reassures him: "God willing, you will find it in lost-and-found (الأمانات)."
• Daniel replies: "God willing (إنشاء الله)."

Don't confuse: The driver's question "Why are you upset?" shows that Daniel's tone or manner (not stated explicitly) conveyed distress, even though he answered the driver's questions.

🏨 Lesson 16.2: Arrival troubles

🛬 Arriving exhausted

• The narrator (Daniel) describes his plane landing in Ithaca in the afternoon after 17 hours of travel.
• He was very tired.

🧳 Lost luggage

• At the airport, he looked for his suitcase but did not find it.
• Airport staff told him: "Your suitcase went to Chicago."
• He asked why; they said: "We don't know."
• He left his address at the airport and took a taxi to the hotel.

🏨 The hotel experience

Aspect	Detail
Location	Close to the university, about 10 minutes' walk
Room	Small room with bathroom, $210/week, had a large TV
Problem	He did not sleep well because the hotel was on a nearby street with many cars (noisy)

📞 The next day

• He woke up early and called his family in Cairo; they were very happy.
• He did not tell them he lost his suitcase.
• He called the airport and asked about the suitcase; they said it was at the airport.
• He took a taxi to the airport (not far, cost only $10).

Don't confuse: "Lost" here means temporarily misplaced/misrouted, not permanently gone—the suitcase was recovered the next day.

🗣️ Language and storytelling patterns

🗣️ Past-tense narrative

• Lesson 16.2 is told entirely in the past tense, recounting events after arrival.
• Key verbs: arrived (وصلت), looked (دورت), did not find (ما لقيتهاش), left (سيبت), took (أخدت), woke up (صحيت), called (كلمت).

🎭 Dialogue vs. narrative

• Lesson 16.1 uses present-tense dialogue (happening now in the taxi).
• Lesson 16.2 uses past-tense storytelling (reflecting on what happened).
• Example: "I am going to the airport" (16.1) vs. "I took a taxi to the airport" (16.2).

🤲 Cultural phrases

• إنشاء الله (God willing): Used to express hope for a positive outcome.
• الحمدلله (Praise be to God): Used to express relief or gratitude (appears in Lesson 17, not 16, but related).
• These phrases are common in everyday Arabic conversation, especially when discussing uncertain or stressful situations.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson demonstrates how to report a lost passport at an airport and navigate the bureaucratic process of verifying identity when naming conventions differ between cultures.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Reporting a lost item: the dialogue shows the process of reporting a lost passport at an airport lost-and-found office.
• Personal identification details: the officer asks for full name, father's name, family name, mother's name, nationality, passport number, and date/place of issue.
• Common confusion: American naming conventions (first name, middle name, last name) vs. Egyptian/Arabic conventions (first name, father's name, grandfather's name, family name)—the middle name is not the father's name.
• Verification process: when discrepancies arise, the officer may need to contact the embassy to verify identity.
• Key vocabulary: phrases for asking someone to wait, checking records, and explaining naming systems.

📋 Reporting a lost passport

📋 What information is required

When reporting a lost passport, the officer asks for:

• Full name (first, middle if applicable, last)
• Father's name
• Family name
• Mother's name
• Nationality
• Passport number (if remembered)
• Date and place of issue

The excerpt shows the officer systematically collecting each piece of information to locate the passport in the lost-and-found system.

🕒 When it was lost

• The officer asks "أمتي ضيعته؟" (When did you lose it?)
• The character responds "النهاردة (أنهاردة)" (Today)
• This helps narrow down the search in the lost items database.

🌍 Cultural naming differences

🌍 American naming system

• Structure: First name + Middle name + Last name
• Example from the excerpt: Daniel Joseph Williams
  • Daniel = first name
  • Joseph = middle name
  • Williams = family/last name
• The middle name is not the father's name; it's an additional personal name.

🇪🇬 Egyptian/Arabic naming system

"هنا في مصر، مفيش اسم وسط : في االسم األول، واسم األب، واسم الجد واسم العيلة"
(Here in Egypt, there is no middle name: there is the first name, the father's name, the grandfather's name, and the family name)

• Structure: First name + Father's name + Grandfather's name + Family name
• No concept of a "middle name" as a separate personal identifier.

⚠️ The confusion

• The officer sees "Joseph" in the passport and assumes it is the father's name.
• The character had stated his father's name was "Henry."
• Don't confuse: In American passports, the middle name appears between first and last names but does not indicate the father's name.
• Resolution: The officer needs to contact the American embassy to clarify the naming convention.

🔍 Verification procedures

🔍 Checking the lost-and-found

• The officer says "خليني أشوف باسبورك في األمانات" (Let me check for your passport in the lost-and-found).
• The character is asked to sit and wait: "أتفضل أعد (قعد)" (Please sit/have a seat).

📞 Contacting the embassy

When discrepancies arise:

• The officer says "خليني أتكلم مع السفارة األمريكية" (Let me speak with the American embassy).
• The character suggests looking at the photo instead: "شوف الصورة" (Look at the photo).
• The officer insists on following procedure: "خليني أشوف شغلي" (Let me do my work).

Why this matters: Even when the passport is physically present and the photo matches, bureaucratic procedures require resolving naming discrepancies through official channels.

💬 Key phrases and expressions

💬 Asking someone to wait

Arabic	Meaning
دقيقة من فضلك	One minute please
أتفضل أعد (قعد)	Please sit/have a seat
استنى شوية (شويا)	Wait a little bit

💬 Checking and verifying

Arabic	Meaning
خليني أشوف	Let me see/check
خليني أتكلم مع	Let me speak with
مش فاكر	I don't remember
غير معروف	Unknown

💬 Expressing relief

• "الحمدلله جواز سفري رجعلي" (Thank God my passport came back to me)
• This phrase expresses gratitude when something lost is recovered.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson narrates a student's first encounter with a Syrian classmate named Mohamed, leading to a shared meal at a nearby restaurant and the exchange of contact information.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• The meeting: The narrator walks from the hotel to the university and meets Mohamed, a Syrian engineering student from Damascus who has been in America for three years.
• The restaurant visit: Mohamed invites the narrator to a nearby restaurant (about five minutes away) where they eat hamburgers, fries, and cold water.
• Housing search: During the meal, Mohamed asks where the narrator lives; the narrator mentions staying in a hotel and looking for an apartment.
• Contact exchange: The two exchange phone numbers before the narrator returns to the hotel.

🤝 Meeting Mohamed

🚶 The encounter

• The narrator walks from the hotel to the university one day.
• He meets a Syrian student named Mohamed.
• Mohamed introduces himself: he is from Damascus, the capital of Syria, and has been in America for three years.
• He is studying engineering at the university and is about twenty-five years old.

💬 Initial conversation

• Mohamed asks the narrator about his name, where he is from, and when he came to America.
• The narrator replies that he arrived about a week ago.
• Example: This is a typical introductory exchange between new acquaintances on a university campus.

🍔 Going to the restaurant

🍽️ The invitation

• Mohamed asks: "Are you hungry?"
• The narrator says yes.
• Mohamed suggests: "Let's go to the restaurant."

📍 The restaurant details

• The restaurant is not far—only about five minutes away.
• When they enter, there are many people inside.
• The narrator orders a hamburger sandwich, fries, and cold water.
• The narrator was very hungry.

🏠 Housing discussion and contact exchange

🏨 Living situation

• Mohamed asks where the narrator is living.
• The narrator explains he is staying in a hotel and is looking for an apartment.
• Don't confuse: The narrator is temporarily in a hotel, not permanently settled.

📞 Exchanging information

• Mohamed takes the narrator's phone number.
• The narrator takes Mohamed's phone number.
• After the meal, the narrator returns to the hotel.
• This sets up future communication and potential help with the housing search.

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Note: Lesson 18 consists of two short narrative dialogues (18.1 and 18.2) that together tell the story of a new friendship forming over a meal, with practical details about food, location, and living arrangements.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson illustrates a dialogue about retrieving a lost passport at an Egyptian airport and then finding a hotel room, highlighting cultural differences in naming conventions and practical vocabulary for lodging.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Passport retrieval scenario: Daniel recovers his lost passport from the lost-and-found at the airport but encounters confusion over naming conventions.
• Naming system differences: Egyptian naming uses first name, father's name, grandfather's name, and family name—no middle name—while American passports include a middle name that the Egyptian officer mistakes for the father's name.
• Common confusion: The middle name (الاسم الوسط) in American naming is not the same as the father's name (اسم الأب) in Egyptian/Arabic naming systems.
• Hotel check-in vocabulary: The lesson covers asking for room numbers, keys, and elevator directions.
• Apartment search: Daniel receives a phone call about finding a roommate and an apartment, introducing the concept of "roommate" (روم-ميت).

🛂 Passport recovery and naming confusion

🛂 The lost passport situation

• Daniel lost his passport and reports it to an officer named Mohamed at the airport.
• The passport is found in the lost-and-found box (صندوق الأمانات) at the airport.
• However, a problem arises that requires the officer to contact the American embassy.

🏷️ The naming system misunderstanding

Middle name (الاسم الوسط): In American naming, a name between the first name and family name; not equivalent to the father's name.

• Daniel states his father's name is Henry, but the passport shows "Joseph" after "Daniel."
• The officer assumes Joseph is the father's name, but Daniel explains it is his middle name.
• Egyptian naming structure (as Nadia explains in 19.1):
  • First name (الاسم الأول)
  • Father's name (اسم الأب)
  • Grandfather's name (اسم الجد)
  • Family name (اسم العيلة)
  • No middle name exists in this system (مفيش اسم وسط).

📋 Information collected

The officer asks for:

• Full name
• Father's name
• Family name
• Mother's name (Elizabeth)
• Nationality (American)
• Passport number (Daniel doesn't remember)
• Date and place of issue (7/6/1990, Washington D.C.)

Don't confuse: The middle name in Western naming ≠ father's name in Arabic naming; the officer's confusion stems from applying Egyptian naming logic to an American passport.

🏨 Hotel check-in

🏨 Getting the room key

• Nadia (the hotel receptionist) provides Daniel with his room information.
• Room number: 403 (ربعمية وتلاتة / four hundred and three).
• She hands him the key (المفتاح).

🚪 Directions to the room

• Daniel asks if there is an elevator (أصنصير).
• Nadia's directions:
  • Walk straight (أمشي دغري).
  • The elevator door is the second door on the right (تاني باب على اليمين).

Example: A guest unfamiliar with the hotel layout asks for clear directions; the receptionist provides step-by-step guidance using landmarks (door position).

📞 Apartment search and roommate

📞 Mohamed's phone call

• At 8:00 PM (الساعة تمنية بالليل), Mohamed calls Daniel.
• He asks if Daniel found an apartment yet; Daniel says no (ما لقيتش شقة).

🏠 Roommate concept

Roommate (روم-ميت): Someone who lives with you in the same apartment.

• Mohamed has a friend named Walid who is looking for a roommate.
• Daniel asks what "roommate" means (يعني إيه روم-ميت).
• Mohamed explains: someone to live with him in the apartment (واحد يسكن معاه في الشقة).

🔍 Next steps

• Mohamed asks if Daniel would like to live with Walid.
• Daniel agrees but says he must see the apartment first (لازم أشوف الشقة).

Practical note: The lesson introduces the borrowed English term "roommate" transliterated into Arabic, showing how modern housing vocabulary is adopted.

📝 Vocabulary patterns

📝 Key verbs and expressions

Arabic	Meaning	Context
ضيعت	I lost	Passport loss
لقيت / لقيته	I found / I found it	Recovery
افتكر	He thought/assumed	Officer's misunderstanding
دور على	Look for	Searching for something
استنى شوية	Wait a little	Asking for patience
لازم	Must/have to	Necessity

🗣️ Polite phrases

• لو سمحت (if you please) – used repeatedly when making requests
• اتفضل (go ahead/here you are) – offering or inviting
• مع السلامة (goodbye, lit. "with safety")
• عفوا (you're welcome)

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson teaches how to ask for directions, compare restaurants, order food and drinks, and navigate common situations involving availability and choices in Egyptian Arabic.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Asking for and giving directions: how to ask where something is, how to get there, and understand step-by-step walking instructions.
• Making comparisons: using comparative forms to ask which restaurant is closer, cheaper, or cleaner.
• Ordering food and drinks: asking what is available, requesting specific items, and handling situations when items are not available.
• Common confusion: distinguishing between "قريب" (close/near) and "أقرب" (closer/nearest) when comparing distances or qualities.
• Practical vocabulary: learning names of foods, drinks, desserts, and directional phrases used in everyday Egyptian contexts.

🗺️ Asking for and understanding directions

🗺️ How to ask where something is

• The excerpt shows Daniel asking the receptionist Nadia: "في مطعم قريب؟" (Is there a restaurant nearby?)
• Nadia responds by naming two restaurants: مطعم السلام and مطعم الشعب.
• This pattern is used to find out if a place exists nearby and get options.

🧭 Asking which is closer or better

• Daniel uses comparative questions:
  • "مين فيهم أقرب؟" (Which of them is closer?)
  • "مين فيهم أرخص؟" (Which of them is cheaper?)
• Nadia answers with comparatives:
  • "مطعم السلام" is closer.
  • "مطعم الشعب أرخص لكن مطعم السلام أنضف" (Restaurant Al-Sha'b is cheaper but Restaurant Al-Salam is cleaner).
• Don't confuse: "قريب" means "near/close," while "أقرب" means "closer" or "nearest" when comparing two or more options.

🚶 Step-by-step directions

Nadia gives Daniel walking directions:

1. Walk straight from here ("أمشي من هنا دغري").
2. Enter the first street on the right ("أدخل أول شارع يمين").
3. Walk about 100 meters ("أمشي حوالي ميت متر").
4. The restaurant will be on the left ("على الشمال").

Daniel repeats the directions to confirm understanding, showing a useful strategy for learners.

Example: When asking how to reach a place, listen for directional words like "دغري" (straight), "يمين" (right), "شمال" (left), and distance markers like "ميت متر" (100 meters) or "ميتين متر" (200 meters).

🍽️ Ordering food and drinks

🍽️ Asking what is available

• Sara (the server) asks Daniel: "تحب تشرب إيه؟" (What would you like to drink?)
• Daniel asks: "إيه المشروبات اللي عندك؟" (What drinks do you have?)
• Sara lists many options: tea, coffee, juice, water, Pepsi, Miranda, 7Up, and says "كل حاجة موجودة" (everything is available) and "كل اللي نفسك فيه" (everything you want).

☕ Requesting specific items

Daniel makes specific requests:

• "في مية سخنة؟" (Is there hot water?)
• "في فراخ بالخضار؟" (Is there chicken with vegetables?)
• "في فول؟" (Is there fava beans?)
• "في كابوتشينو؟" (Is there cappuccino?)
• "في بقلاوة؟" (Is there baklava?)

Pattern: "في + [item]?" is the standard way to ask if something is available.

❌ Handling unavailability

When items are not available, Sara responds:

• "لا، مفيش" (No, there isn't any) or "مفيش بطاطس" (there are no fries).
• She may offer alternatives, such as different types of fava beans or other desserts.
• Daniel adapts by choosing from what is available: "طيب إديني طعمية" (Okay, give me falafel).

Don't confuse: "موجود" (available/present) vs. "مفيش" (not available/there isn't any). These are opposites used to confirm or deny availability.

🍰 Food and drink vocabulary

🥤 Drinks (مشروبات)

The excerpt mentions:

• شاي (tea)
• قهوة (coffee)
• عصير (juice)
• مية (water)
• مية سخنة (hot water)
• بيبسي، ميراندا، سفن أب (soft drinks)
• كابوتشينو (cappuccino)

🍗 Main dishes (أكل)

Sara lists:

• فراخ مشوية (grilled chicken)
• خضار باللحمة (vegetables with meat)
• شيش كباب (kebab)
• سمك (fish)
• رز (rice)
• فول (fava beans) with different preparations: بالزيت (with oil), بالزبدة (with butter), بالطحينة (with tahini)
• طعمية (falafel)
• بطاطس (fries)

🍮 Desserts (حلو)

Sara offers:

• كنافة (kunafa)
• هريسة (harissa)
• لقمة القاضي (luqmat al-qadi)
• بقلاوة (baklava) – not available in this case

Daniel orders kunafa at the end.

🏨 Additional context from the lesson

🏨 Hotel interaction

In Lesson 20.1, Daniel asks for his room number and the elevator location:

• "رقم أوضتي لوسمحت؟" (My room number, please?)
• Nadia responds: "ربعمية وتلاتة" (403) and gives him the key.
• "في أصنصير؟" (Is there an elevator?)
• Nadia gives directions: "أمشي دغري! باب الأصنصير تاني باب على اليمين" (Walk straight! The elevator door is the second door on the right).

🔑 Naming conventions

The excerpt briefly mentions a cultural difference in naming:

• In Egypt, there is no "middle name" in the American sense.
• Egyptian names include: first name, father's name, grandfather's name, and family name.
• This caused confusion when Daniel's passport was checked by police, who thought the middle name was the father's name.

Don't confuse: Naming systems vary by culture; understanding this helps avoid misunderstandings in official contexts.

📊 Comparison patterns

Question pattern	Example from excerpt	Answer pattern
مين فيهم + comparative?	مين فيهم أقرب؟ (Which is closer?)	[Name] + comparative
[Item] + adjective?	الأكل فيه كويس؟ (Is the food good there?)	كويس ورخيص (Good and cheap)
في + [item]?	في مية سخنة؟ (Is there hot water?)	أيوا فيه / لا مفيش (Yes there is / No there isn't)

Why this matters: These patterns are essential for making choices, comparing options, and confirming availability in everyday situations like choosing restaurants, ordering food, or finding services.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The narrator finds an apartment with Walid after visiting it with Mohamed, and separately discusses travel options to visit his cousin in Chicago.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Finding housing: The narrator visits Walid's apartment, decides it is clean and affordable, and chooses to move in to escape hotel life and restaurant food.
• Apartment details: Two bedrooms, kitchen, living room, one bathroom; rent is four hundred dollars per month plus utilities (electricity and water).
• Travel planning: The narrator's cousin invites him to Chicago, but distance and cost make immediate travel difficult.
• Comparing transport modes: Car takes fifteen hours (but narrator has no car), plane takes two hours but costs three to four hundred dollars, bus is cheap but takes two to three days.
• Common confusion: Proximity vs. convenience—the apartment is far from the university, but the bus stop is nearby, making it workable.

🏠 Finding and choosing the apartment

🏠 The apartment visit

• The next day at 9 a.m., the narrator walked to the university and met Mohamed and Walid at the university cafeteria.
• They sat for a while, drank coffee, then rode in Mohamed's car to Walid's apartment.
• The apartment had two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and one bathroom.

💰 Rent and location

• The apartment was far from the university, but the bus stop was close.
• It was clean and cheap.
• Rent: four hundred dollars per month, plus electricity and water.

✅ The decision

• The narrator was tired of the hotel and restaurant food.
• He decided to live with Walid.
• Don't confuse: "far from the university" does not mean impractical—the nearby bus stop makes commuting feasible.

✈️ Planning a trip to Chicago

👨‍⚕️ The cousin's invitation

• The narrator's cousin lives in Chicago and works as a doctor there.
• When the narrator arrived in Ithaca, he spoke with his cousin by phone.
• The cousin said, "You must come to our house in Chicago."
• The narrator agreed, saying he wanted to see his cousin because he had not seen him for five years.

🚗 Evaluating travel options

The narrator considers three modes of transport:

Mode	Duration	Cost / Issue
Car	About fifteen hours	Narrator does not have a car
Plane	About two hours	Expensive: about three to four hundred dollars
Bus	Two or three days	Cheap

• The narrator called his cousin again and told him, "I want to come to Chicago, but after a month or two, God willing."
• Don't confuse: the plane is fastest but most expensive; the bus is cheapest but slowest; the car would be middle-ground, but the narrator lacks one.

🧭 Distance and practicality

• Chicago is far from Ithaca.
• The narrator weighs time, cost, and availability.
• He postpones the visit rather than choosing an impractical or unaffordable option immediately.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This lesson presents a conversation about finding good food in Cairo, where one person recommends specific restaurants for kushari and sweets, explains how to get there by taxi, and discusses pricing.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Restaurant recommendation: Aisha recommends Goha restaurant for kushari (a traditional dish) in downtown Cairo on Emad El-Din Street.
• Transportation and cost: the restaurant is far and requires a taxi costing 3–4 Egyptian pounds.
• Dessert options: Goha offers only mahalabia or rice pudding; for Eastern sweets (kunafa, basbousa, baklava), Aisha recommends El-Abd in Soliman Pasha.
• Price description: the sweets are described as "معقولة" (reasonable)—neither expensive nor cheap, in the middle.
• Common confusion: "Eastern sweets" (حلويات شرقية) refers to specific traditional desserts like kunafa, basbousa, and baklava, not just any dessert.

🍽️ Restaurant recommendations

🍲 Goha restaurant for kushari

• Location: downtown Cairo (وسط البلد), on Emad El-Din Street (شارع عماد الدين).
• Specialty: Aisha describes it as "the best kushari in Cairo" (أحسن كشري في القاهرة).
• Dessert limitation: Goha only offers mahalabia (مهلبية) or rice pudding (رز بلبن).
• Example: Daniel asks if the kushari is good; Aisha replies "Excellent!" (ممتاز).

🍰 El-Abd for Eastern sweets

• Location: Soliman Pasha (سلمان باشا).
• Specialty: Eastern sweets (حلويات شرقية), which include kunafa (كنافة), basbousa (بسبوسة), and baklava (بقلاوة).
• Why separate recommendation: Goha does not serve these traditional sweets, so a second destination is needed.

🚕 Getting there and costs

🚖 Transportation

• The restaurant is far from the current location (بعيد من هنا).
• Aisha says Daniel must take a taxi (الزم تاخد تاكسي).
• Taxi fare: 3 or 4 Egyptian pounds (تالتة أو أربعة جنية).

💰 Pricing for sweets

Question	Answer	Meaning
Are the sweets expensive or cheap?	Neither expensive nor cheap	In the middle
Arabic term	معقولة	Reasonable

• Don't confuse: "معقولة" does not mean "cheap"; it means "moderate" or "fair"—the price is in between.

🗣️ Key vocabulary and expressions

🍴 Food and dining terms

• كشري (kushari): a traditional Egyptian dish (the excerpt does not define it further, but it is the main recommendation).
• حلويات شرقية (Eastern sweets): specific traditional desserts including kunafa, basbousa, and baklava.
• مهلبية (mahalabia): a type of dessert available at Goha.
• رز بلبن (rice pudding): another dessert option at Goha.

🎉 Closing expression

• بالهنا والشفا: a traditional Arabic phrase meaning "enjoy your meal" or "bon appétit" (literally "with pleasure and healing").
• Aisha says: "Eat and enjoy!" (كل وانبسط).

🧩 Conversation structure

🧩 Asking for recommendations

• Daniel asks where to find good food.
• Aisha provides specific restaurant names, locations, and specialties.
• Daniel follows up with practical questions: distance, cost, quality, and dessert options.

🧩 Clarifying unfamiliar terms

• Daniel asks: "What does 'Eastern sweets' mean?" (يعني إيه حلويات شرقية؟).
• Aisha lists examples: kunafa, basbousa, baklava.
• This shows how the conversation handles vocabulary gaps by providing concrete examples.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

This excerpt contains only metadata and lesson headers from an Arabic textbook (Lessons 20–22) without substantive instructional content, as all interactive elements and meaningful text have been excluded from this version.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What is present: lesson titles (Lessons 20, 21, 22), Arabic transcripts of dialogues, vocabulary tables (referenced but not shown), and notes that interactive H5P elements have been excluded.
• What is missing: all interactive exercises, vocabulary definitions, grammar explanations, and instructional commentary are excluded and viewable only online.
• Lesson 21 narrative: a first-person account of visiting a friend's apartment and considering travel options to Chicago.
• Lesson 22 dialogue: a conversation between عائشة (Aisha) and دانيل (Daniel) about where to eat koshary and buy sweets in Cairo.
• Common confusion: this excerpt is not a complete lesson—it is a stripped version with placeholders for online-only content.

📖 Lesson Twenty-One content

🏠 Apartment visit narrative

The transcript describes a student's experience:

• Met محمد (Muhammad) and وليد (Walid) at the university cafeteria at 9 a.m.
• Sat, drank coffee, then drove in Muhammad's car to Walid's apartment.
• The apartment had two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and one bathroom.
• It was far from the university but close to the bus stop.
• The apartment was clean and cheap: rent was 400 dollars per month plus electricity and water.
• The narrator was tired of the hotel and restaurant food and decided to live with Walid.

✈️ Travel planning to Chicago

The narrator discusses visiting a cousin in Chicago:

• The cousin is a doctor living in Chicago and invited the narrator to visit.
• The narrator hasn't seen the cousin in five years.
• Transportation options compared:

Mode	Duration	Cost/Notes
Car	~15 hours	Narrator doesn't have a car
Plane	~2 hours	Expensive: ~300–400 dollars
Bus	2–3 days	Cheap

• The narrator called the cousin again and said he would come in a month or two, إنشاء الله (God willing).

🍽️ Lesson Twenty-Two content

🥘 Restaurant recommendations dialogue

عائشة (Aisha) advises دانيل (Daniel) on where to eat in Cairo:

Koshary recommendation:

"If you want good food, you must eat koshary from مطعم جحى (Goha Restaurant)."

• Location: downtown Cairo, on عماد الدين (Emad El-Din) Street.
• Transportation: must take a taxi; fare is 3–4 Egyptian pounds.
• Quality: "Excellent! The best koshary in Cairo."
• Desserts at Goha: only مهلبية (mahalabia) or رز بلبن (rice pudding).

🍰 Sweets shop recommendation

For حلويات شرقية (Eastern/Oriental sweets):

• Shop: العبد (El-Abd) in سلمان باشا (Soliman Pasha).
• What are Eastern sweets?: كنافة (kunafa), بسبوسة (basbousa), بقلاوة (baklava).
• Price: معقولة (reasonable)—neither expensive nor cheap; "in the middle."

💬 Closing exchange

• Daniel says he will go to Goha and then to El-Abd.
• Aisha responds: "بالهنا والشفا! كل وانبسط" ("Bon appétit! Eat and enjoy").

🔧 Format and limitations

🔧 Excluded elements

Throughout the excerpt, repeated notices state:

"An interactive H5P element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: [URL]"

• These placeholders indicate exercises, audio, or interactive activities are not included.
• Vocabulary tables (e.g., [table id=71], [table id=72], [table id=73]) are referenced but not displayed in the excerpt.

🔧 What this means for learners

• The excerpt provides reading practice through narrative and dialogue transcripts.
• It does not provide definitions, grammar notes, pronunciation guides, or practice exercises.
• To access full lesson content, learners must visit the online version at the Northwestern Open Books platform.