My arabic classes are really interesting these days, the school (Kalimat in Mohandissen; would definitely recommend it) adopts an interactive way of teaching and the focus is on communication, not just learning grammar and vocabulary. Learning a new language is like getting an insider’s view of the community you are staying in.
For example, while learning the arabic word for “friends’, I got an interesting insight into the Egyptian cultural values-having friends of the opposite sex is not widely “accepted” here, except among people who are educated and have been exposed to “western” culture. So if my teacher were to introduce his female students to his conservative wife, he would refer to us more formally as “asdiqai”. He would use the more casual term “ashabi” while introducing a group consisting of both male and female students. As for your live-in boyfriend, you simply refer to him as “goozi” (husband) and avoid any disapproval and raised eyebrows-live-in relationships are a taboo in the Egyptian community.
Very similar to the Indian culture where you definitely don’t flaunt your “boyfriend” or "girlfriend" and you make it “public” only if marriage is definitely on the cards. And live-in relationships are something that you can get away with only in the anonymity of big cities. Elsewhere, everything you do becomes everyone’s business, right from how much you earn to why you are pushing 25 and still unmarried!
Here in Cairo, don’t be surprised, if the person you just met asks you how much you are making every month or while taking a ride in a taxi, the cabbie asks you whether you are married and undeterred even goes on to ask whether you have children. I now have the perfect answer in Arabic-“DI HAGA SHAKHSIYYA”-“It is a personal thing”
P.S: the Arabic words have been written minus the dashes and dots that have to be used while writing the transliteration.
For example, while learning the arabic word for “friends’, I got an interesting insight into the Egyptian cultural values-having friends of the opposite sex is not widely “accepted” here, except among people who are educated and have been exposed to “western” culture. So if my teacher were to introduce his female students to his conservative wife, he would refer to us more formally as “asdiqai”. He would use the more casual term “ashabi” while introducing a group consisting of both male and female students. As for your live-in boyfriend, you simply refer to him as “goozi” (husband) and avoid any disapproval and raised eyebrows-live-in relationships are a taboo in the Egyptian community.
Very similar to the Indian culture where you definitely don’t flaunt your “boyfriend” or "girlfriend" and you make it “public” only if marriage is definitely on the cards. And live-in relationships are something that you can get away with only in the anonymity of big cities. Elsewhere, everything you do becomes everyone’s business, right from how much you earn to why you are pushing 25 and still unmarried!
Here in Cairo, don’t be surprised, if the person you just met asks you how much you are making every month or while taking a ride in a taxi, the cabbie asks you whether you are married and undeterred even goes on to ask whether you have children. I now have the perfect answer in Arabic-“DI HAGA SHAKHSIYYA”-“It is a personal thing”
P.S: the Arabic words have been written minus the dashes and dots that have to be used while writing the transliteration.
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