Word for the Travel Wise (05/29/06)

During one of my daily language drive-bys an instant message buddy in Morocco passed on this little pearl of wisdom. (Keep in mind the Arabic spoken in Morocco is not a widely recognizable dialect, so before you go spouting off at the mouth in Syria or Oman remember I told you my pal lives in Morocco and that this word would come in handy in Morocco. Not Saudi Arabia – capeesh?)

Today’s word is an Arabic word used in Morocco:

shwiya – a little bit

My Language Exchange is an excellent site in making friends across the globe while zoning in on the areas that give you the most trouble in your language of choice. While most services are free, contacting other members does cost a very small fee. Other learning tools for free standard Arabic online include this Learn Arabic site which has some remarkable lessons. The audio sounds a bit off for me, but they’ve got both the Naskh script (easy to read when learning the alphabet) and the Latin spelling of the letter. Babel Arabic is another good source. Planet Edu has an online listing of Arabic schools all over the Middle East, Africa and the U.S. Lastly, for purchase and a quick pocket guide there’s the Lonely Planet Moroccan Arabic Phrasebook.

Past Arabic words: wafin, akhdar, taeadol