Starting Off Again (Egyptian Arabic Alphabet Primer)

Well, yesterday I began with doing the things I have to do to get back to Egypt.  At the same time Corey was sending off her applications to Cornell and a couple of other schools.  So we will see which way things ultimately go, but for now I am learning Arabic.  I feel like such a kid.  At least I have my younger children to learn with me.  The reason I feel like such a kid is because I have to learn the ABCs all over again.  I mean, here I am, just about at 40, learning the Arabic ABCs.  To make matters even funnier, I have this youtube link that I watch with the kids with some children saying them, sort of like Sesame Street. I got it from this blog where this guy presents plenty of learning resources.  I will share them below, just in case any of you might want to learn Arabic with me, while I am learning.

Anyway, here is the video:

Like I said, at least the younger ones are really getting into it, especially CJ and Jacob.  Asari too though.  One kind of funny thing is that Jacob doesn't know all of his English ABCs, but he is learning these, so it is kind of funny.  I am sure he will do fine though.  I was asking them what one of the letters was and he knew it.  If I can do this every day for a few weeks, we will have a good start.

Some things to consider about the Arabic ABCs.  The reason I am learning them is because they use a completely different script to write.  In addition, they write from right to left.  So, if you really want to know how to get around, it is wise to learn the written language.  Another fact, the letters have four different ways they can be written, depending on the position they are in, within a word.  First letter, last letter, middle position or alone.  Arabic only has three vowels, the first letter - alif, and the last two (I haven't gotten to them yet).

The way we are doing this is learning about seven a day, while we learn them we learn the symbol and the name.  I am going to get the kids writing them more too.  In addition, I have to start incorporating a few simple words.  So if you are going to learn along, learn the first seven letters today.  Alif, beh, teh, theh, geem, hah and kah.  They will be listed on a chart below us.  I am going to list all my learning resources so I can use this blog to chart my progress.  Kind of there and back again to Egypt.

So this blog is the first resource, I am going to copy a bit verbatim from him, just in case his blog goes down, we will have it.  However, I have to give him proper respect.  His thing is learning through music, which I think is an excellent idea.  I will be living on his site for a while, I suggest you do the same.  One other thing to note about Arabic and language in general (although I typically struggle learning them) , language is regional.  So don't be put off if a sound of a letter in one source is slightly different than from another.  For example, in Egypt, up in Cairo, they pronounce the J sound more in words, in Luxor it is more the G sound.  You will get corrected too, but at least you are understood.  But it is all part of the experience.

http://egyptianarabiccourse.blogspot.com/2008/03/egyptian-arabic-alphabet.html

ا - alif, as in "Ah" آه which means "ow," like an expression of pain or frustration

ب - ba, as in "Bahebbak" بحبك which means "I love you"

ت - ta, as in "Tani" تاني which means "another" or "again"

ث - ta or sa, as in "Sawani" ثواني which means "seconds" from the same word as "tani." While this letter in Standard Arabic is a "tha," it has merged with the letters "ta" and "siin" now. For old and common words "ta" is more common, and from new, borrowed, or reborrowed wor.ds "sa" is more likely.

ج - giim, as in "Gameel" جميل which means "beautiful." In Egypt, it is usually pronounced as a "ga" as opposed to the Standard Arabic "ja."

ح - Ha (7a), as in "Habibi" حبيبي which means "my darling." This sound does not exist in English, but it is like a regular Ha in English only "harsher." A friend has described it to me as a "phone sex 'h'"

خ - xa (5a or kha), as in "Khudni" خدني which means "take me." This sound is like kinda the ch in Bach from german, the french 'r' in "quatre" or to an English speaker probably sounds like they are about to spit

د - daal, as in "Dunya" دنيا which can mean "the world," "the prevailing environment" or "everyone."

ذ - daal or zaal, as in "Dayeb" ذائب which means "melting" often in love. Like "tha," "dhaal" loses its standard Arabic pronunciation, becoming a "da" sound for old and common words and a "za" sound for newer, borrowed, or reborrowed words from Standard Arabic.

ر - ra, as in "Rooh" روح which means "soul." It is trilled like the Spanish r.

ز - zay, as in "Zaman" زمن which means "time" as in the 4th dimension

س - sin, as in "Sawa" سوا which means "together"

ش - shiin, as in "Shuf" شوف which means "see," "look," or "look at"

ص - Saad, as in "Sabr" صبر which means "patience." The Saad is like an English s but with more rounding of the lips to produce a deeper hiss.

ض - Daad, as in "Da3" ضاع which means "lost" or "wasted." Daad is like the English d in the same relationship as Saad is to s.

ط - Ta (6a), as in "Tayr" طير which means "bird." Ta is in the same relationship with the English T as Daad is with d

ظ - Da or Za, as in "Zalim" ظالم which means "unjust" or "oppressive." This sound is DHa in Standard Arabic, but either becomes a "Za" sound or a "Da" sound in Egyptian.

ع - Ayn (3ayn), as in "3ayni" عيني which means "my eye" (a very common term of endearment in Arabic). 3ayn has no equivalent in English and I don't know how to describe it. Just read and listen for it. For those who know linguistics, its the voiced version of ح

غ - ghayn, as in "Ghali" غالي which means "precious." It's like a ga sound only it's like you're gargling water.

ف - fa, as in "Farah" فرح which means "joy" or "happiness"

ق - qaff (9aff, 2aff), as in "Qalbi" قلبي which means "my heart." Originally this sound is like an English k only deeper in the throat, as if you were choking, but in Egypt it is usually pronounced as a glottal stop like the sound in between Uh and Oh in Uh-Oh. So "Qalbi" becomes "Albi."

ك - kaff (Chaff), as in "Keef" كيف which means "how" east of Egypt.

ل - laam, as in "Leel" ليل which means "night"

م - miim, as in "Majnun" مجنون which means "mad" or "crazy"

ن - nuun, as in "Nar" نار which means "fire"

ه - ha, as in "Hawa" هوى which is one of the many words for love "hawa"

و - waaw, as in "Waheshtini" وحشتيني which is how you tell a girl "I miss you"

ي - ya, as in "Ya habibi" يا حبيبي which means "oh my darling." To address someone like "oh" or "hey" in English, you say "ya" before the name or title you are calling them.


http://www.egyptiancastle.com/main/culture/language/alphabet.htm


Another source with a nice blackboard.  If you click on his blackboard you get the sounds of the letters, he uses real player, but it is cool.   Remember, start on the top right and move to the left (ie Alif is the line that looks like 1).  The board looks cheesy but is as useful as hell.  You have to go to his site, linked above to use the sounds.  I only copied the image so you could see it first.


I am going to make another post later today about the other thing I learned yesterday.  Until then, take it easy and PEACE.

What's Going On

Hmm, Let’s see... To get started, I should make note that we left Luxor, Egypt, as of the Spring, so we have been back stateside since late spring. Back in the ABQ - Albuquerque. We moved back for a number of reasons, at least temporarily. School (ie - College) for the oldest, who is about to take the SAT and ACT, only a little bit late in the year, a few minor health issues of my own, which I think I was way too paranoid about, and last and least in this case, a little, but still a little homesickness. Once we got back, I was able to pull out the wax, play a bit of music and hang out with the little homies below. They grabbed their Nubian kufis and showed me a few of the new dance steps the young folks are doing nowadays - pretty far out stuff.

The fellas listening to some tunes.

Anyway, I found a journal program for the old Macbook and plan on using it more regularly, working on the blog with it. Feel free to read along, although it will be more internal about personal observations and objectives for life. At least until I get back down the road and/or get out more. It is wintertime here in Albuquerque. It is nothing compared to Chicago or the Midwest, but we see the snow on the mountains from town, and we know. Plus it does get cold at night, all the more reason to grab a blanket and some good music, maybe a good bottle of wine, or whatever.

So we are sitting in our living room, a block from the nile when I ask the oldest, Corey, about her future.  She said she wanted to go to school at UNM, the University of New Mexico, and start as soon as possible. Now, back stateside, it seems that isn’t as much the case. She is exploring the options of attending school at the American University in Cairo and even our Western Governors University, so if either of those pan out, we may see Egypt again real soon, or at least later in the summer. Either which way I am planning on returning to Egypt sometime between June and August, maybe late May, if we are lucky, after the AP testing is done this year for her. She also applied or is planning to apply to UNM, Ann Arbor, Notre Dame, and Harvard. She is a year ahead grade wise, so we will see how the chips fall and if it doesn’t work out maybe she will get another chance next year.

It is my birthday today. Making 39 is another step towards 40, which isn’t a really big deal, but will surely be a time for reflection. I always loved making jokes about people’s age, but now inching up to 40 its kind of more serious a subject. Earlier, I was thinking about the things I have done and not done, things that I wanted to do with my life so far. More on that later. What I am going to do now though is get the clock rolling on my return trip to Egypt, assuming that the school situation works out that way. Of course if the oldest ends up on the East Coast, or at Notre Dame we will have to work something else out. Meanwhile I am going to plan for life split between Cairo, Luxor and Aswan, starting as close to Summer 2011 as possible.  Below is Leah's portrait of me, apparently, that was on a nice slender day, obviously trying to get on my good side - although I don't think my eyes are that big!

Leah's Portrait of Me

From Egypt and Back Again:

I need to start a budget and savings. Right now I have bills, bills, bills. However, I think I can manage to pay them down and budget for a trip for seven if I find good deals on tickets and save save save. I am going to estimate a cost of about $680 USD per person to get to Egypt and another $1400 to get to the East coast for all of us. So the price to get to Egypt will be about $6100. Not to mention rent, and transport in Egypt which I will budget at another $2600. So from now to June - August I will need to save about $8700 USD, if I am going to make this trip a reality for all. This time I plan on selling my car, which will be paid in full, so I wont have a car note or insurance, storing a bare minimum of household goods and staying abroad for 2-3 years. In addition, it would be nice to be able to spend a little time in Europe on the way there this time. I want to go to Southern Spain, look around, see some of the Moorish architecture and influence there, maybe check France out too. We will see.

Things I need to do between now and then:

• Study Arabic more, this time the script as well...
• Study ancient Egypt focusing on Dr. Ben, DeLubcz, Temple design and other esoteric sources
• Work on my eating habits, which have not been so good as of late. I plan on returning to a largely raw food, vegetarian based diet. I will keep the journal updated on this front as well.
• Saving for travel expenses.

In addition while I am in Albuquerque, I will be traveling in the area to significant sites and taking pictures and talking about the local area. While doing so I will also be talking about the travel plans and how they are coming more into focus.

Petroglyph in Albuqerque

When we were in Egypt before I learned a little Arabic, swaya. I knew how to ask for bare necessities, get around, bless Muhammed and his family, but I couldn’t get into conversations. That will take a few years in country, but at least working day by day I can get around a bit better and maybe even learn enough to go more into the country and off the beaten path. As I learn Egyptian Arabic I will share on the board, starting tomorrow.

Some Cool Things...

• Unlike the last time, I have a base to live in, Luxor, with friends - and my own flat.
• I know Cairo and the area I want to be my base there.
• We can arrange to travel with others this time, if any are interested, and there is enough time to save your money.
• I know the things I need to bring and what to leave behind this time.
• The city of Luxor should be completing their construction project real soon, which should make the temples much nicer and hopefully more accessible.
• I plan on spending some time on the Red Sea this time.

Well that about sums up this post. I will update my photos from Egypt, once I can find the remaining ones, and might even post a few more stories of the trip back. I actually got everything which I sent back home, nothing was missing, only a single piece was damaged. That made me very happy. So hats off to Abud, my man at the post office in Luxor. He should have finished his house right across the street, on the other side of Karnak Temple, by now, talk about a view. I have to catch up with him real soon. The next time, I am going to post about a local place called Tinkertown, it is one of my favorite places to hang out with the kids when in Albuquerque.

View of the Volcanoes

Me & Mom at the Petroglyphs

Mom & the fam at the Petroglyphs