Moroccan Arabic: Shnoo the Hell is Going On H'naa? A Practical Guide to Learning Moroccan Darija - the Arabic Dialect of Morocco (2nd edition) (Educational Resources) - Softcover

Sakulich, Aaron; Roberson, George F

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0982440936 ISBN 13: 9780982440933

Publisher: Collaborative Media International, 2012

Synopsis

For everyone going to Morocco, any age + skill level: language students to casual visitors and everyone in between. Clear and easy pronunciation system, on-the-street utility and low price. All book sales go to support Moroccan-USA NGO for more community and education-based materials, activities and exchange. Produced by an all-volunteer bi-national team of experts - your chance to move beyond tourist phrasebooks and corporate textbooks.

Best of all, and unlike the others, everything is provided side-by-side in English, transliteration, and Arabic. And it uses a simple real-word transliteration system that is simply written the way things sound without the use of exotic linguistic symbols.

Finally a straight-forward and easy to use primer for learning Moroccan Arabic, now improved in this 2nd edition. It incorporates reader suggestions and features more details on the transliteration system, additional words, new word lists, and the text has been completely revised and re-edited.

Practical and witty, it's basically the equivalent of a VCR repair manual, just a bare-bones list of how to do the important things: here's the present tense, here's the future tense, etc, etc. In other words, it's a reference book with simple examples, none of the filler, and a few youthful surprises. It's just the kind of cheat-sheet everyone craves.

Useful to everyone with an interest in contemporary Morocco: travelers, tourists, backpackers, students, diplomats, business people, academics, artists, Peace Corp volunteers, Fulbright Scholars and student grantees, etc.

Moroccan Arabic was written by a dogged student of the language (and a natural teacher) and it was edited by a native speaker and equally wonderful teacher.

Praise for Moroccan Arabic from students, scholars and travelers on both side of the Atlantic:

"Fills a gaping hole in Moroccan Arabic instruction. Based on the first-hand immersion experiences of a native English-speaker who navigated Moroccan culture and language for a year... and as a researcher in Morocco myself, I found it handy." --Nabil Khan, Fulbright Student Grantee

"I love the sense of humor woven throughout - it's an enjoyable read. A great example of collaboration." --Edwin Bodensiek, Dir. of Outreach and Public Relation, CIES - Fulbright, Washington, DC

"A great resource. I wish had this book when I was traveling and researching in Morocco." --Dr Jennifer A Roberson, Professor of Islamic Art, Sonoma State University, California

"Written by a born teacher. This book enhances effective language instruction and builds a collection of everyday conversation resources for Anglo-American students and scholars." --Dr Khalid Amine, Université Abdelmalek Essaadi and President, ICPS - Tangier

Many people contributed to making this book a reality - and by agreement of all those involved, the proceeds from the sale of this book go to support the publishing program at the International Centre for Performance Studies (ICPS) - Tangier, Morocco.

Initial research for the book was conducted during a Fulbright graduate student grant. The ongoing project (encourage more people to learn Darija, provide improved study materials, and provide a funding stream for more Morocco-themed books) is sustained by the generosity of numerous all-volunteer partners - kindly lend your assistance by sending an email to collaborative.media@ymail.com

About this title

From the Publisher:

Many people contributed to making Moroccan Arabic a reality - and by agreement of all those involved, the proceeds from the sale of this book go to support the publishing program at the International Centre for Performance Studies (ICPS) - Tangier, Morocco.

Initial research for the book was conducted during a Fulbright graduate student grant. The ongoing project (encourage more people to learn Darija, provide improved study materials, and provide a funding stream for ICPS-Tangier) is sustained by the generosity of numerous all-volunteer partners - kindly lend your assistance by sending an email to collaborative.media@ymail.com

Moroccan Arabic covers the following topics:

Introduction and transliteration system

Nouns: independent pronouns; object pronouns; possessive pronouns; demonstrative pronouns

Adjectives: comparative; superlative; verbs from adjectives

The Nisba

Verbs: past and present tense - verb stem formation: regular, Type I irregular, Type II irregular, Type III irregular; Negating Verbs; Multiple Verb Use; The Imperative Tense; The Future Tense; The Past Progressive / Past Habitual Tense; The Past Perfect; The Present Perfect Progressive; The Future Perfect / Future Perfect Continuous; The Conditional Tense; The Passive Voice; The Causative Case; Verb Participles; Irregular Verbs - to be, to be present, to have, to have ever, to need, to please, to remain, to want

Question Words

Talking About Money

Telling Time

Conjunctions

Prepositions

Appendices: Word Lists by Subject - Food and related, At the Doctor's Office, Body Parts, Religious Terminology, Political Terminology, `Naughty' words, Environment / Places, The States, Jobs and Work, Colors and Shopping, Clothing, Family, Animals, Musical Instruments; 50 Verbs; Miscellaneous Adjectives; Conjunctions / Timing; Miscellaneous Idioms and Proverbs; Being Friendly; Religious Idioms

Praise for Moroccan Arabic from travelers, language students, scholars and Fulbrighters on both side of the Atlantic:

"Fills a gaping hole in Moroccan Arabic instruction. Based on the first-hand immersion experiences of a native English-speaker who navigated Moroccan culture and language for a year... and as a researcher in Morocco myself, I found it handy." --Nabil Khan, Fulbright Scholar to Morocco

"Written by a born teacher. This book enhances effective language instruction and builds a collection of everyday conversation resources for Anglo-American students and scholars." --Dr Khalid Amine, Professor, Université Abdelmalek Essaadi and President, International Centre for Performance Studies (ICPS) - Tangier

"A great resource. I wish had this book when I was traveling and researching in Morocco." --Dr Jennifer A Roberson, Professor of Islamic Art, Sonoma State University, California

"I am so excited about this book! Congrats to the writer, editors, and publisher. Mabrook!" --Sarah Dohrmann, Writer, Fulbright Scholar to Morocco

"A wonderful resource for learning this rich variation of Darija - this guide provides English speakers with the tools necessary to overcome the difficulties of learning Moroccan Arabic. Far from being an ordinary dry text-book, Shnoo the Hell Is Going on H'naa playfully combines the features of professional linguistics with lively real world sensibilities. Packed with conversational examples, extensive explanations and comprehensive glossaries, render this book a faithful companion on your travels to the other side of the Atlantic." --Rajae Khaloufi, Editor and Translator, Fahd School of Translation, Tangier, Morocco

From the Author:

Moroccan Arabic is a very, very variable language. The pronunciation of many words differs somewhat from city to city and region to region. Some of the words I used every day in Fes got me nowhere in Casablanca, and our editor (from Tangier) swears she's never even heard some of the words my friend from Rabat spelled out for me. Although some words vary from place to place, the grammar is constant. After the 1st edition of this book came out, several people complained that I didn't do enough to represent these variations.

To be blunt, trying to do that would be crazy.

Rather than try to address thousands of variations in accents and exact vocabulary, this book is put together to provide a foundation for starting out in Morocco. As you get settled in to your region, you can elaborate and tailor things to suit your situation. If you use a word from this book, and people don't understand, try another one. I make no pretenses that the book is all comprehensive, but it's the book I'd have wanted to learn from when I was getting started.

And sure, you could come to Morocco and get along all right in French, Spanish or English, but if you put some effort into learning and using Moroccan Arabic, your time in the land of couscous will be inestimably sweeter. Trust me. I went through learning the language and living there just like you are now.

Despite the valiant efforts of editors on three continents, there are probably some mistakes to be found here. If you find something, or have a suggestion, send us an email! A third edition will reflect your sense of volunteerism and collaboration.

About this edition

• Publisher: Collaborative Media International
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0982440936
• ISBN 13: 9780982440933
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 164
• Editor: Khaloufi Rajae