Luxor4u

Found this rather excellent picture on FB taken by Berni 'the walker.
I was having a beer the other week in the Marsam Sheik Ali's Hotel in the back ground and one of the guys working up on the latest statue shouted at me came running down to say hello, besides seeing him farming his 2. 5 carat of land he is also a waiter at the Fayrouz, busy boys eh ?..

Iv'e got a rather good antique copy of Amen back in the UK..

35oC on the balcony today getting warmer….

My screen saver just threw this up, much better photo, that statue cost a few bob 15 years ago, believe you me..the sculptor dead for years' workshop was in Karnak a right rough old gaff but boy could he carve..

Speaking of carats, can you please remind me how many square metres in one?

Winged Isis wrote:Speaking of carats, can you please remind me how many square metres in one?

1 kirat = 175 sq. mtr.

24 kirat = 1 feddan

Shukran newcastle!

Winged Isis wrote:Shukran newcastle!

Afwan!

Who's the wee guy Who2?

All this arabic stuff is pissing me off!

Who is he?What does he mean?

Educate me please!Why is he so important to you?

All the "shukrans"and "afwans"mean nothing to me!

What's his importance?How does he influence your life?

That question is surely one that will give you chance to elucidate!So for sake of all us ignorant nurses on forum...pray tell!

Christine a.k.a. Scottishtourist wrote:All this arabic stuff is pissing me off!

All the "shukrans"and "afwans"mean nothing to me!

Are there no Arabic evening classes available in Glasgow? I can send you details of an online course if it would interest you.

Two useful words ST.

If you want to thank someone you say shukran, and they will reply afwan, meaning that your thanks are appreciated.

About the same as "Don't mention it" or "no trouble" a nice polite exchange.

Ana badres 3arabi delwa'ti 3ashan ana ba7awel afham elnas fe elshare3 kewayes

newcastle wrote:Ana badres 3arabi delwa'ti 3ashan ana ba7awel afham elnas fe elshare3 kewayes

ke?

S'very funny that the Egyptians I know who can read English ( and Arabic of course) can't deal with the script with 3s and 7s in. And frankly it makes no sense to me since I have learned what I know phonetically.

The man who taught me most was my driver, who never went to school and spoke very little English, but made me understand very well. Not enough for me to discuss a contract though

Brian Yare wrote:

Christine a.k.a. Scottishtourist wrote:All this arabic stuff is pissing me off!

All the "shukrans"and "afwans"mean nothing to me!

Are there no Arabic evening classes available in Glasgow? I can send you details of an online course if it would interest you.

It would interest me very much Brian.Thank you.

I DO know the meaning of "shukran and afwan"
Was just winding you up with that!

Also "bukra,insha'allah,aiwa,la,minfadlik,becam,etc.(sp!)

Sabah el kheir,ana min escotlanda,hallas,kul sana winta tayyib...again I have no idea of the spelling!Just kinda spelling them the way they sound to me!

Best word I ever learned was the one for "ashtray"..toffiya??
An English lady taught me that one!
It opened up whole new world to me.

Only thing I'm never sure of is whether I'm saying the words correctly or not!Am I being too formal?Is there more informal way of saying things that wouldn't cause offence?
Or would that in itself be considered "offensive?"

Some other phrases would be really useful and I thank you for your kind offer Brian.

Got "higher"French and Spanish at school.As well as "higher"English..and "O"grade Latin!
Unfortunately,I never anticipated visiting Egypt..and Arabic was not on curriculum when I attended high school.

If your offer is genuine,and you can PM me info..then it would be much appreciated.

Well I can read it ST Shukran gazilan Habbibetti.

Mad Dilys wrote:S'very funny that the Egyptians I know who can read English ( and Arabic of course) can't deal with the script with 3s and 7s in. And frankly it makes no sense to me since I have learned what I know phonetically.

The man who taught me most was my driver, who never went to school and spoke very little English, but made me understand very well. Not enough for me to discuss a contract though

I don't always remember the 3's & 7's....but it helps with the pronunciation.

It's also useful as I'm learning to write arabic script.

Most of my Egyptian friends use it on FB if they don't have an arabic keyboard...or even if they do (as few non-Egyptians can read arabic)

Mad Dilys wrote:Well I can read it ST Shukran gazilan Habbibetti.

Next time I come MD..I think I'll treat Hamada(the shoe-shine boy)to a MacDonalds!
His English is impeccable,polite,respectful,etc.

I really think he could teach me so much.
Maybe it will be counter-productive.He can teach me Arabic..and I can help him improve his English,lol!!

Sometimes,it's all about "attitude."
We can know the words..but just say them wrongly!

Like his little friend replying "whatever!!!"with attitude!!
Same as the "caleche"men replying "talk to the hand!!"

They maybe don't realise that their intonation is rude!They're just replying "parrot fashion."

newcastle wrote:Ana badres 3arabi delwa'ti 3ashan ana ba7awel afham elnas fe elshare3 kewayes

How do you "pronounce"the 3 and 7 newcastle..in Arabic?
Three and seven..are these the correct pronunciation for them incorporated in a word?

Or are the pronounced differently?

Um, young English boys in my youth and certainly some Egyptian ones when I was an adult liked to tease by using rude or inappropriate words when "helping" the foreigner.

Be careful, one of our early pilots who used to learn a list of Arabic words every day encouraged our crew by saying in effect "Hurry up you donkeys!"

I over heard someone nicely referring to me as Ajusa which as far as I can tell means old hag.

Mad Dilys wrote:Um, young English boys in my youth and certainly some Egyptian ones when I was an adult liked to tease by using rude or inappropriate words when "helping" the foreigner.

Be careful, one of our early pilots who used to learn a list of Arabic words every day encouraged our crew by saying in effect "Hurry up you donkeys!"

I over heard someone nicely referring to me as Ajusa which as far as I can tell means old hag.

Understand exactly where you're coming from MD.
Me and sis once did the normal "tourist"tour of West Bank.
It was organised by a "friend" and we had a minibus and guide thrown in for good measure.
Didn't cost us anything..all he asked was that we gave the guide "something"after the trip.

As we made our way back from tomb/temple of Hapshepsut..the guide uttered the words.."ya!!",then stopped!
Big sis pointed out to him that he was about to say "yalla!"and that it wouldn't be very polite or nice for the visitors!

Thankfully..he appreciated the humour..was taken aback..and concluded the tour in a far more "good-natured"manner.lol!

Good on yer ST you might get the pronunciation wrong but at least your trying, bet you know more Arabic than some who live here.
One Englishman I know who has believe it or not lived here a number of years complained to me that the "natives" don't speak Spanish because he spoke perfect Spanish.