Levantine Arabic is not a written language, so you may sometimes feel lost when learning it. In MSA you can read all sorts of materials, even adapted to your level, but what about the dialect? You’ll need to be more creative if you want to learn a dialect.
Levantine Arabic is a spoken language, so casual internet communication (comments, social media, etc.) will most often occur in it, rather than MSA. Therefore, we believe that dialects are best learned through the use of authentic materials. Also, this is a much more enjoyable way to learn, as we can adjust it to our preferences and interests.
Learning Levantine Arabic with memes
Our post today will feature authentic memes from Pinterest, from which you can learn new vocabulary, practice reading, and practice forming sentences. In addition to the English translation, each meme includes an Arabic words list. It is more suitable for beginner/intermediate learners since we chose memes with relatively simple sentences.
Don’t worry if you’re an advanced student – more material to learn Levantine Arabic dialect is on the way!
Find other materials for learning the Levantine Arabic here: category- Levantine dialect.
Memes in Levantine Arabic
*Some of the memes could as well be in other dialects.
Verb to study/ to understand in Levantine Arabic
English translation:
Me: Thank God, I studied and I understood, I need to focus and not stress on the exam. The name: …
Vocabulary:
verb to study (he studied) – دَرَس [daras]
to understand (he understood) – فِهِم [fihim]
exam/ test – اِمْتِحَان , plural: اِمْتِحانات [imtiHaan/ pl: imtiHaanaat]
to focus (he focused) – رَكَّز [rakkaz]
to become stressed (he got stressed) – تْوَتَّر [twattar]
Verb to find
Translation:
When I find someone with the same silliness as mine
Vocabulary:
to find (he found) – لَقى [laqa]
same – نَفْس [nafs]
silliness/ foolishness – سَخافة [sakhaafa]
How to say under control in Arabic
Translation:
Don’t worry, the situation is under control
Vocabulary:
ما عليك [ma 3alayk] – a phrase often used to say don’t worry/ forget about it
situation- وَضِع / plural: أَوضَاع [waDi3/ pl: awDaa3]
control – سَيْطَرة [sayTara]
Verb to lie/ to say
Translation:
Me when I say the truth / Me when I lie
Vocabulary:
to say (he said) – قال [qaal]
truth – حَقيقة [Haqeeqa]
to lie (he lied) – كَذَّب [kadhdhab/ kazzab]
Verb to see/ to hear
Translation:
When you see a video you are in and hear your voice.
Vocabulary:
to see (he saw) – شاف [shaaf]
to hear (he heard) – سِمِع [simi3]
voice/ sound – صوت [Soot], pl: أصْوات [aSwaat]
To take pictures in Levantine Arabic
Translation:
When you take a picture of yourself / when someone takes a picture of you.
Vocabulary:
to take a picture (he took a picture) – صَوَّر [Sawwar]
*نَفس [nafs] – with a suffix pronoun attached means oneself. For example: نَفْسي – myself, نَفْسَك – yourself, نَفْسها – herself
How to say I forgot in Levantine Arabic
Translation:
Sir (teacher), I forgot my homework in home. The teacher:
Vocabulary:
teacher (m) – أُسْتَاذ [ustaadh]
teacher (f) – أُسْتَاذة [ustaadha]
to forget (he forgot) – نِسِي [nisi]
homework – واجِب [waajib]
house – بيت [beyt]
How to say dream in Levantine dialect?
Translation:
When you are going out to follow your dreams
Vocabulary:
to go out (he went out) – طِلِع [tili3]
implementation, carrying out – تَحْقيق [taHqeeq]
dream – حِلِم / plural: أَحْلام [Hilim/ pl: aHlaam]
Verb to buy in Levantine Arabic
Translation:
When you buy a cat and it turns out to be more silly than you are
Vocabulary:
to buy (he bought) – اشْتَرَى [ishtara]
cat – قِطّة [qiTTa] / pl: قِطَط [qiTaT]
to come out/ to turn out – طِلِع [tili3]
trivial/ silly – تافِه [taafeh]
Full vocabulary list- verbs
دَرَس [daras] – to study
فِهِم [fihim] – to understand
رَكَّز [rakkaz] – to focus
تْوَتَّر [twattar] – to become stressed
اشْتَرَى [ishtara] – to buy
لَقى [laqa] – to find
قال [qaal] – to say
صَوَّر [Sawwar] – to take a picture
طِلِع [tili3] – to come out/ to turn out/ to go out
نِسِي [nisi] – to forget
كَذَّب [kadhdhab/ kazzab] – to lie
شاف [shaaf] – to see
سِمِع [simi3]- to hear
Full vocabulary list- nouns
silliness/ foolishness – سَخافة [sakhaafa]
exam/ test – اِمْتِحَان , plural: اِمْتِحانات [imtiHaan/ pl: imtiHaanaat]
situation- وَضِع / plural: أَوضَاع [waDi3/ pl: awDaa3]
control – سَيْطَرة [sayTara]
voice/ sound – صوت [Soot], pl: أصْوات [aSwaat]
truth – حَقيقة [Haqeeqa]
teacher – أُسْتَاذ [ustaadh]
homework – واجِب [waajib]
house – بيت [beyt]
implementation, carrying out – تَحْقيق [taHqeeq]
dream – حِلِم / plural: أَحْلام [Hilim/ pl: aHlaam]
cat – قِطّة [qiTTa] / pl: قِطَط [qiTaT]
Learning with memes in Arabic is a part of language immersion. if you are interested in other ways to immerse yourself in Arabic check our detailed post about Arabic immersion ideas and free resources.
See also our post with 35 popular Arabic proverbs in Levantine Arabic.