Hello, Quick question about the use of the letter "B" at beginning of the verb in Levantine dialects. Do you use it when asking a question or not? If it's possible to do both, what's the difference exactly? I feel like I've heard both but in different contexts and I'm not sure when to use the "b" and when to skip it. If you could answer with a few examples that'd be great examples : do you speak Arabic ? بتحكي عربي ؟ or تحكي عربي ؟ In a cafe when you invite someone to have a drink would you say شو بتشرب ؟ or شو تشرب ؟ Cheers

شو يعني (ميّل) بالعامية او بشكل عام اذا نفس الكلمة موجودة بالفصحى ؟ اهلا يا جماعة انا بلشت اشاهد مسلسل فلسطيني / اردني اسمو وطن ع وتر و لاقيتو مضحك كتير بس في كلمات ولا عبارات الي ما فهمتها منيح مثلا في كم حلقة بيقولوا اشي زي ميل يا ابو احمد تعال عنا ممكن تساعدوني شكرا

بودكاست بالعامية ؟ مرحبا يا جماعة

تعرفو اي بودكاست كويس بالعامية الشامية؟
لاقيت  بودكاستات بالفصحى او بلغات تانية كمان
بس ما لاقيت كتير منهم بلهجات شامية

بدي اسمع بودكاست الي بيحكو فيه عن اي موضوع اجتماعي 
في عندكم نصيحة؟

شكرا

Do you know any good software to type in Arabic on a Mac Hello, I was wondering if some of you knew some free computer programs that would support the transition from Latin alphabet to the Arabic one and the other way round without issues? I'm on a mac and until now all the programs I've used have some issues, even though they support Arabic and you can still write in that language. I haven't had to write long documents until know but I can imagine it has to be really annoying to see the program suddenly move to the right when pressing the left arrow or the opposite or adding a word at the beginning of a sentence when you're actually trying to put it at the end because it doesn't properly support the transition between alphabets from right to left and alphabets from left to right. I will have to write many documents in Arabic from next year, so I guess it would be useful to have a program that can run smoothly for Arabic typing. Thanks, Tomás

شو معنى كلمة "كتار" بالعامية؟ اهلا يا جماعة I was wondering about the meaning of "ktar" in Levantine Arabic. I've heard people use it quite often (especially Lebanese and Syrians, I don't know if it's also the case in Palestine and Jordan). I can more or less guess the meaning in context, but I thought it would be good to ask here to be sure. I had the impression it was either a shortened colloquial form of "akthar" (اكثر) or an alternative (or plural) form for ktir (كثير) Can you help me with that? Cheers.

Radio stations in Levantine Arabic

Hi, 

This kind of question might have been asked already but I haven't seen it so I'm posting it anyway. 

I wanted to find radio stations (or specific radio programmes if you know some) in which presenters and participants would speak mainly in Levantine Arabic (any of those dialects Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Jordanian or even Iraqi). 

When I listen to Arabic radio stations they generally talk in MSA (apart from some interviewees who would speak in their own dialects), especially if those stations are meant to be pan-Arab.    

As I don't have much time to devote to watching series or films, listening to the radio while doing something else is a good alternative.  

If you know some that would much appreciated.

Cheers, Tom 

What should be the plural form when speaking of people in Levantine dialects? مرحبا يا جماعة Recently I've heard people talking in a way that doesn't match MSA or CA rules in terms of grammar. I learned that the rule of agreement was to use the plural for people and the 3rd person feminine when referring the objects or any non-human beings and that the same rule would apply for both the adjectives and the verbs (with the exception of a verb appearing before the plural subject, which would be singular and change to feminine for objects). I've heard people, when talking in their own dialect/accent, using the plural for adjectives and verbs when referring to objects and others using the 3rd person (feminine singular) when talking about people. Those are a few examples: لكل الشباب اللي تنسى… الباصات راحو ع لمدينة الناس ما بتعرف انو… Is there a kind of rule or pattern that can be used? Does it change from region to region? Can I use them randomly or do people generally stick to the same "principle" even if it does not match MSA rules? Cheers

Do feminine and masculine forms of the same words exist? مرحبا مؤخرا سمعت وقرأت نفس الكلمات بشكلين مختلفين هل يمكن هذه الكلمات موجودة بالعربية الفصحى بهذين الشكلين؟ ما هو الشكل المناسب بالفصحى؟ هل احسن ان استخدم واحد من الشكلين في بعض اللهجات؟ اي لهجات؟ مقال - مقالة ‪(‬essay ‪)‬ رمل ـ رملة ‪(‬sand‪)‬ جبن ـ جبنة ‪(‬cheese‪)‬ ابتسام ـ ابتسامة ‪(‬smile‪)‬ اعتقد ان سمعت اكثر أمثلة من تلك و لكنني الآن لا اتذكرها شكرا لكم

How to phrase a sentence including "After/Before" followed by a verb in MSA? مرحبا I would like to know how to use a proper structure in MSA/Classical Arabic for the translation of "before I go…before going…" or "after going…" I learned to use this kind of sentences in colloquial Levantine Arabic as follows: قبل ما اروح عالمدينة before I go to the city بعد ما تاكل After you eat… Would that structure be correct in MSA or is it specific to the dialects? Is this structure more appropriate? قبل ان….. بعد ان….. If both structures do exist could you specify the differences? شكرا جزيلا يا جماعة