I am moving to Egypt soon and I was wondering if I could function in Egypt just knowing Standard modern Arabic untill I learn their dialect
Egypt - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
The Egyptian dialect is probably the closest to SMA! So you should be fine... you'll just have to learn Slang...
2 :
No, you wouldn't want people to think you sound weird. Better learn the dialect.
3 :
Egyptians are in generaly very helpful and you will soon pick up the dialect
4 :
The only thing that knowing MSA will come in handy for in Egypt is reading the newspaper or watching news on TV. You will find for general conversation it won't get you very far. Here is an article from USA today that talks about this: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2009-03-16-learning-arabic-egypt_N.htm
5 :
Man you will need to learn the dialect as soon as you go there because it is different than the standard in pronunciation and in a lot of vocabulary too. Usually the SMA is written in books and newspapers, but not spoken unless in formal speech or cartoons. I can imagine that it would be funny for Egyptians to hear someone talking in SMA (because as i told you it is like in cartoons) so don't get offended if they laugh!
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