Dars 2 · pre-A1
Leish mne2oul *Ben* badal *pen* — w *ferry* badal *very*
Fi shi byseer b tammak bala ma tentebeh. L /p/ w l /v/ ma fiyon bl 3arabe, fa lsenak byerja3 3a a2rab sawt byla2ee. L P byfout 3a B ('pen' bysir 'Ben', 'cheap' bysir 'cheeb'), w l V byfout 3a F ('very' bysir 'ferry', 'seven' bysir 'seffen'). W l TH? L libnene battalo, fa 'think' bytla3 'tink' aw 'sink', w 'this' bytla3 'dis' aw 'zis'.
Leish? Enta ma 3andak hal aswat b lghtak l oula, fa l 3a2l byestabdel yalli bya3rfo. Bass l 7all sahel — kello b wad3iyet l temm:
- P: sakkir shaftak w fajjer shwayet hawa — pen, mesh Ben.
- V: 3add snenak l fo2aniyye 3a shaftak l ta7taniyye w tannen (buzz it) — very, mesh ferry.
- TH: talle3 tarf lsenak bein snenak — think bala sawt, this b sawt.
W deer belak 3a l short i: khallia 2asira w mertekhye — ship, mesh sheep l madde, la ykoun l ma3na ye2la3!
Examples:
- This is a pen.
- Thank you very much.
- I think seven is enough.
Say it with me: p-en... v-ery... th-ink. Marra tenye, b sawt 3ali, w khalli l 3alam yfakkro enno 3am te7ki ma3 7alak.
Jomal men hal dars
- pen / Ben — P is not B — l P ma fi bil 3arabe: sakkir shaftak w fajjir shwayyet hawa L /p/ ma fi bil 3arabe, so your mouth defaults to B and every 'pen' becomes a 'Ben', every 'cheap' a 'cheeb'. Sakkir shaftak w fajjir shwayyet hawa — pop the lips with a puff of air. Without that puff, P and B sound identical.
- very / ferry — V is not F — l V: snenak l fo2aniyye 3a shaftak l ta7taniyye There's no /v/ in Arabic either, so you'll reach for F and 'very' becomes 'ferry', 'seven' becomes 'seffen'. 3add snenak l fo2aniyye 3a shaftak l ta7taniyye w tannen (buzz it) — it's F with the voice turned on.
- think / this — the two TH — lsenak bein snenak: sawt jdid, marra na3em marra ktir Lebanese dropped both TH sounds, so the tongue stays behind the teeth and you get 'tink/sink' and 'dis/zis'. Talle3 tarf lsenak bein snenak: blow softly for 'think', buzz for 'this' — same tongue place, one quiet, one voiced.
- ship / sheep — short i vs long ee — i 2asira w sari3a, mesh ee tawile Arabic ma 3endo the short lax 'i' of 'ship', so you'll stretch it into 'ee' and say 'sheep'. Keep it 2asira w marikha (short and relaxed) — otherwise 'ship' becomes 'sheep' and a few words turn embarrassing.
- the, a — the mumbled schwa — sawt mahmoos khafif, "uh", mesh mfakhkham Bil 3arabe every vowel gets full value, so you'll say a hard 'zee' and 'ay'. English is lazy here — swallow it to a soft 'thuh' and 'uh'. Ma tfakhkhma; khalliya mahmoose w khafife.