Learing Egyptain Arabic in Egypt

I have lived in Egypt for 4 months and my plan is to be here for 2 years. Upon day one of my arrival I knew I needed to learn the language as quickly as possible. I had purchased Rosetta Stone Arabic Lessons and quickly realized Egyptians had no idea what I was saying.. Rosetta Stone teaches MSA Arabic and I needed Egyptian Colloquial Arabic.

I began my search for a school, teacher or books that would give me a quick survival skills so I could at least order food and count money.

I started my studies at AUC in Cairo with a 8 week survival skill course taught by Khalid Saiid. Within 1 day I was able to speak enough Arabic to get a taxi and tell him how to get me home. I was amazed at how easy I picked up the language.

I must confess my teacher is amazing. He is patient with me and realized I was a visual learner by the 2nd class.

Now I speak good broken arabic/english in only 4 months. I understand most of what is spoken, even in songs.

Learning a new lanuage especially one as difficuilt as arabic makes one shy to speak the words for fear of sounding stupid. Khalid has stressed time and time again.. Speak everyday and loudly. People will be happy to correct you. Guess what he is correct.

If you are on vacation or plan to stay for a while I highly recommend him as a teacher. You can contact him via facebook.

Thanks Khalid see you soon inshallah