Moulat lwani

Those who know me a little more, know that I love the old pictures of Morocco, those who today are known as vintage. The images are so rich in details of our culture.

Today's photo shows the owner (female) of the kitchen utensils. Lmoulat lwani .
Observing the picture, we can find:

Lmahras: The mortar, used to grind spices and henna.
sh-shiniya: The tray, where the tea pot and the glasses are carried.
Lberrad: The tea pot
S-sukriya: The sugar container
Lkisan: The glasses.
Lhookah or shisha : The smoking pipe
Zzarbiya: The Carpet
Lmkhedda: The pillow
Ssella: The basket


As something curious, many years ago , maybe twenty. through the streets of the neighborhood passed lmoul lwani , a man on his bicycle carrying a box , sometimes a banyo  with kitchen utensils. when he arrives, the women leave their homes and sought in that banyo what they needed, if they can, they pay ,but when this was not possible, was carried out a trade for another utensil.
Something unthinkable these days. Dont you think?

L Bladat - The countries

Shno smit lblad dialk?- What's the name of your country?

1. Lmaghreb- Morocco
2. Ljazair- Algeria
3. Tunes- Tunisia
4. Libya - Libya
5. Misr - Egypt
6. Filistin-Palestine
7. Loubnan- Lebanon
8. Surya-Syria
9. Turkya-Turkey
10. Yunan- Greece
11. Ukranya- Ukraine
12. Italya-Italy
13. Fransa-France
14. Isbanya- Spain
15. Bortogal- Portugal
16. Almanya- Germany
17. Nnegliz-England
18. Swisra- Switzerland
19. Holanda-Holland
20. Beljika- Belgium
21. Norwej- Norway
22. Suid- Sweden
23. Danmark- Denmark

.... To be continue.....

Ana min Agadir, ana Maghribiya , mnin ntuma? - I am from Agadir, I am Moroccan, Where are you from?

L 3aila maghribiya

pdf download here
Explanation of a family tree with an example.

Verb To Fall : Tah

As Salamu 3alaikoum, mrhaba bikoum to my blog, after almost a month of vacation in Morocco , back home we continue with the lessons of Moroccan Arabic, after many publications about the grammar of Darija, now in Shaa Allah publications will be dedicated to the vocabulary, verbal forms and complete sentences for daily use.
We begin with the verbal forms of the verb To fall

PRESENT FORM PAST FORM FUTURE FORM

Ana Kantteh                                  Ana Teht                                     Ana Nteh
Nta Katteh                                     Nta Tehti                                     Nta Atteh
Nti Katteh                                      Nti Tehti                                     Nti  Atteh
Huwa Kiteh                                   Huwa Tah                                   Huwa Iteh
Hiya Katteh                                   Hiya Tahat                                  Hiya Atteh
Hna Kantihu                                  Hna Tihna                                   Hna Ntihu
Ntuma Kattihu                               Ntuma Tihtu                               Ntuma Attihu
Huma Kitihu                                  Huma Tahu                                 Huma Itihu


Sentences:    Tah l kas dial qahwa. (He fell the glass of coffee)
                     3andak Atteh  ( Be careful, you'll fall)
                     Lma  katteh  min ssqaf  ( Water falls from the roof )

The reflexive pronoun

As salamu 3alaikoum . Kolchi labbas?


The subject of today is  the reflexive particle "ras"  which is too the sustantive "head",
But in moroccan arabic this pronoun has the form ras + possesion sufix , 
You will see it  clearly in the following sentences.


She looked in the mirror - Katchouf rasha fi lmraya.
He washed with cold water - Kighazl raso bi lma bard.
He told himself - Qal m3a raso
Take care of yourself - Thalla fi rasik

Some of the verbs we use with  this particle are:

Qal - To speak
Dbar - To hurt
3awen - To help
Dar -To do
Thalla - To look after
Ghsel - To wash


In shaa Allah, soon I shall begin to publish the verbal  forms of the verbs most used in Moroccan Arabic.

I'll be a bit absent this summer, since my kids are at home and soon we will travel to Morocco in Shaa Allah.  During this time you can leave me your questions, or tell me in a comment in my  social networks about which topic you would like that I  speak.

Ramadan Moubarak 3ala jami3 lmuslimin.

Bslama 3alaikoum.

Moroccan Craft : Zellij (vocabulary)

As Salamu 3laikoum,

As you can see, today is a double publication,
I found this picture on the Internet, and I would like to show with it something about what  I speak  a few days ago, referring to learning vocabulary. and the importance of focusing on the root of   the words.

  

Zellij - Mosaic

Zellija -  A Mosaic

Zlayj- Mosaics

Zellej - decorate with mosaics (Verb)

Mzellej - decorated with mosaics (adjective)

Mzellja - decorated with mosaics feminine

Zlayji - Artisan who create the  mosaics

And if you want to know more about this beautiful craft work, here is the  link.
zellijgallery.com


Allah Ybarek fikoum

Adverbs of Place (I)

As Salamu a3laikoum , msah lkhair.

To indicate where something is located, we use the proverbs of place.
In Moroccan Arabic we ask where something is with the interrogative particle Fin Kayn or Fin Kayna with a femenine noun or Fin kaynin in plural.

Fin kayn lmesh? - Where is the cat?

Some of the proverbs we can use are:

Fi - In, Inside: Lmesh fi lsanduq - The cat is in the box
Qdam - In front : Lmesh qdam lsanduq - The cat is in front of the box
Mora - Behind: Lmesh mora lsanduq - The cat is behind the box
Teht min - Under : Lmesh teht min lsanduq - The cat is under the box
3la lisar dyal- To the left of: Lmesh 3la lisar dyal sandoq- The cat is to the left of the box
3la limin dyal- To the right of : Lmesh 3la limin dyal sandoq - The cat is to the right of the box
Bin- Between : Lmesh bin lsnadaq- The cat is between the boxes.


Now try to memorize and start using these adverbs and in shaa Allah , in few days I will post more.


Thala fi rassek (Take care)

Quizlet study sets of Learn Darija with Maryam

As Salamu a3laikoum , marhba bikoum fi lblog dyali ( welcome to my blog)

Something I like about the new technologies is the possibility of obtaining education wherever you are.
A few days ago one of my students told me about how he used Quizlet to learn English . Well, researching I found it a very interesting tool for the educational purpose.
So I make a profile , in which I will be creating sets of study of what I'm publishing in the blog. You can log in in the website or download the app.

In this tool you can memorize with the flashcards , and test your knowledge with the Test or games .

For the moment I leave the link to my profile here , that you may start practicing.

Bslama a3laikoum

Possible pronunciation and spelling errors that can turn the meaning of our sentences (I) UPDATED !!!

As salamu  a3laikoum w marhba bikoum

When we teach the Arabic language, we pay close attention to the pronunciation of those phonemes that may be more difficult for non-Arabic speakers. Those phonemes exclusive to the Arabic language.

So I created this image , where we can see examples of words that are often wrongly pronounced, and  clearly you can see  how the meaning of the phrase can change ,then in shaa Allah pay more attention when you pronounce it  next time.
At the same time we can add  new vocabulary.





Bslama !!!

Do you know lgerraba?

As Salamu a3laikoum w marhba bikoum fi lblog diali.

Yesterday speaking with my husband ,planning a future travel to Marrakech in shaa Allah. Imagining how fun it could be for the children, I remembered "lma dyal lgerrab" ( water from the water carrier). Have you tried?

Today this character is part of our tourism, and is very probable that you will find  him in any tourist area in Morocco.
His typical costume lasts over time, big multicolored  hat , many polished vessels around the neck and a lamp  or goat skin that contains the water.

Today most of lgerraba live trom tourism and no from the sale of water. But if you imagine for a moment, morocco several decades ago, when people did not have easy access to water, in that long summer days where temperatures pass 40 degrees, the glimpse in the distance of that hat must  be tremendously relieving.

And with this publication where I show a little more of the culture of my country, we learn a new word:
Gerrab  (Masc. sing)
Gerraba (Masc. Pl)

Bslama A3laikoum.

Moroccan Proverb drawn by Jihad Eliassa

As Salamu a3laikoum,
My publication today is unexpected and unprepared, but I just discovered this Moroccan illustrator, Jihad Eliassa and as I love his work, I decided to share it on the blog and use it for our task , which is to learn Moroccan Arabic.

Proverb " Fhad lberd drab l7did mahaddo skhun".
Traduccion : In this cold, hit the iron while it is still hot.
Meaning: Do not be lazy in a situation. To solve a situation is better to do it as soon as possible.
As  the iron that can be modeled  when is heated and becomes hard when it cools. .

But what I liked more of the picture it is the funny comparison  with that character, with a frozen mandible, eating a hot plate of lentils (source of iron) Cultural note: I dont think there is a moroccan man who doesnt like la3ds..

If you like this illustration  you can see more on his  Facebook page . Sure you like it.

Tsba7 3la khair. Beslama  a3laikoum.

Lkhiyyat dyal djellabat

As Salamu a3laikoum, w marhba bikoum , sbah al khair, kedayrin?

Today I found a very old beautiful picture, in it you can see the famous Moroccan tailor of djellabat (pl, of djellaba) the photo is located in the city of Fez.

I thought it was interesting to share it and with it create a new label where I will publish interesting photos where we can see a bit of the culture and history of Morocco and at the same time learn vocabulary. 

Masculine : Khiyyat

Femenine: Khiyyata

Masculine pl : Khiyyateen

Femenine pl. Khiyyataat

In the Moroccan market (so9) often have areas for the sale of handicrafts, areas for natural medicine, another area for selling clothes. The area where you will find tailors it is also called "Khiyyateen"

The Adjective in Moroccan Arabic

 As Salamu a3laikoum
For todays lesson , I start by saying that  learning Moroccan Arabic, we must forget the rules regarding adjective in the English grammar, where the adjective does not vary depending on the gender and number.

In Moroccan Arabic we found four forms:

- Singular Masculine: The adjective
- Singular Femenine: We add the end"-a" to the masculine singular
- Plurar Masculine:  There are two different ways

1. with the end "-een" , If the adjective contains a  letter  ي    in the end, the plurar is formed in this way. (its the most used form)
2. changing the letter ي "ee" for   أ  "aa" If the adjective contains a letter  ي in the middle , the plural is formed like this. This form of plurar  have no gender. 

This rules are used to form the masculine plural, its used to indicate a group of males, and a mix group of males and females.

- Plural Femenine: We add to the adjective the end "aat" , remember that sometimes  the femenine plural , can appear as the second form of  plural masculine . 

Below I will explain it with examples:

  Singular masculine : Mzewej  (Married refering to male)

  Singular Femenine: Mzewej-a  (Married refering to female)

  Plural Masculine o  mix :  Mzewj-een (Married refering to a masculine group or mix group)

  Plural  Femenine : Mzewj-aat  (Married refering to  female group)

Singular masculine : Kbir ( Big  refering to  male)

Singular femenine: Kbir-a ( to female noun)

Plurar (masculine and femenine): Kbar 

And after the explanation, you think you could tell me  the different forms of these adjectives?

Matfi -Off

Zwin - Beauty

Hajj- Pilgrim

Meskin- Poor

Mahruq - Burned

Ghali- Expensive

Qrib- Close

Bnin- Delicious

You can leave it in a comment or send them to me in the social networks , you can also contact me if you have any doubt and in shaa Allah, you will get a review from me. 

Until the next lesson.  bslama a3laikoum.

Vocabulary "The family"

As Salamu a3laikoum w sbah al khair.

I share with you a small pdf document I created to memorize the names designated to family members , I leave the link to download, if you think you are missing any family relationship in the list, leave a comment and I will add it.

shokran bzaf
Bslama Alaikoum.

Download Here

A great discovery, 160 words in Morocan Arabic

As Salamuy a3laikoum w marhba bikoum. Kidayrin ?
Sadly my computer turn off yesterday, so will take a few days to publish again.
Fortunately, I found something very interesting and that I hope will serve as apology for the delay of my next post. Its a vídeo with 160 words in Moroccan Arabic with audio and transliteration.
Try to memorize some of the words, start by the vocabulary you will use frecuently , that will make it more easy as you can use it in your conversations.

Shokran bzaff , bslama a3laykoum.

Learn with Images: The Colours "Alwan"

As Salamu a3laikoum w marhba bikoum, 

Today I leave here on the blog a small video with images to learn the colors in Moroccan Arabic. and in Shaa Allah, in a few days, I'll post some games to practice with the colors. I hope you like it. 

Bslama A3laikoum.

Moroccan Body Language: "7chuma"

As Salamu a3laikum wa mar7ab bikum, After a few days dissapeared for a cold, I am back, with a new post, with which I start a new section called "Moroccan Body Language"

Did you know that the gesture to affirm and denied with the head in India is the  contrary to the rest of the world? Interesting .
 I think  Moroccans have a lots of gestures we use to communicate without the need of  words. And just like you learn a language, also you must know the gestures that are part of our culture, and their meanings as many of them are also made in other countries, but they are used at different times.

Today , the gesture  is used to show  the feeling of "Shame"  in Darija "7chuma" regarding an act,  consisting of slicing the index finger across the cheek. Sometimes especially women, tend to modify this gesture using the whole hand, as if they wanted to tear their cheek while they said 7chuuuuuma.

Have you seen this gesture before?

Exercises with pronouns

As Salamu a3laikum w marhab bikum, wishing you notice your progress in the moroccan darija, I leave the first set of exercises (pronouns), you can download the document Here, fill it in and send it to me or wait a few days and check the correct answers in the blog.
Happy weekend  ,
Bslama A3laikum . 

Proverb 1 :"Ma3a man shoufik, Ma3a man Shubahtik "

In this section I'll begin to translate traditional Moroccan proverbs, so that in addition to know it as part of Moroccan culture, you can begin to acquire vocabulary.
Our first proverb, "Ma3a man shoufik, Ma3a man Shubahtik "
The first thing we do is an analysis of the meaning of words.

-Ma3a: With
-Man: Who, Whom
- Shoufik: Shouf (to see) + ik (to you): I see you
-Shubahtik: Shuhbat (To compare)+ ik(to you): I compare you

Ma3a man shoufik, Ma3a man Shubahtik: With whom I sew you, with whom I compare you.

Try to memorize the words used today, and then use them with your moroccan family or friends, and remember that if you have any questions you can contact me through the contact form on the right column, or through my social networks.

Bslama .