In this 3rd episode on Sayyed Darwish, let's look at one of his most famous songs, قوم يا مصري, once again written by بديع خيري - a "patriotic" song with a difference. In it, Egypt talks to the Egyptians ahead of the 1919 revolution, reminding them of past glories, and reprimading them for what they have done to it in recent times. The version we'll listen to excerpts from today is sung by Mohammed Mohsen (pictured). As usual, all verses are explained in English. As you may know...

As I said in the only just published Episode 25 (on the life of Egyptian composer and singer Sayyed Darwish), I have now launched Bilmasri on YouTube, and I think this episode in particular is worth watching on there. That's not to say you should abandon the podcast!! But because this episode is about extracts of Sayyed Darwish songs, having the songs, the lyrics and the explanations all in one place in the video clip is particularly convenient, in my opinon. In this episode, I play...

Sayyed Darwish 1892-1923 - his Biography With this episode, I'm very excited to be launching Bilmasri on YouTube! As I explain in the podcast, how and where you use Bilmasri is up to you (of course :)). Some may find it works best for them to listen to the podcast on the go, or to listen to it while reading the text in the blogpost, but others may find it more convenient to watch the YouTube clip where the text appears on the screen. Anyway, as you see, I've worked on...

In this third episode dedicated to regional Egyptian accents, I chat with Moustafa Maghraby from the southern Egyptian city of Qena. Qena lies just to the north of Luxor, and as Moustafa explains, both accents are very similar (although the north of Qena bears more resemblance to the city of Sohag). Thank you Moustafa for the informative chat! As with previous chats on regional accents, I have to note that the conversation is conducted between two native speakers in their...

Today's episode is another collaboration, and this time I was delighted to team up with Hector Fahmy, a fellow "Masri" enthusiast who runs the العالم بالمصري Facebook page, which aims to bring the world to the Egyptian reader (so you could say, the reverse of the direction Bilmasri operates in!) by translating a variety of content -texts, music etc.- into Masri. Hector is in the process of translating a number of literary works as well, and he has already published a Masri version of Le Petit...

In this second episode dedicated to regional Egyptian accents, I chat with Taha Seweidy from the northeastern Egyptian city/ governorate of Domyat (Damietta), who is currently working as a doctor in Brighton. Taha, who also has his own book review podcast كتاب في الخمسينة talks us through the various features of the Domyati accent, while giving us a good idea of when and where you are most likely to encounter such features. Thanks to Taha for the pleasant and informative...

Today’s reading is from the first few pages of المولودة Al-Mawluda (the newborn) by Nadia Kamel, which was published in 2018 and written entirely in Egyptian ‘aammiya. In this biography-memoir-novel, Nadia Kamel tells the story of her mother in her own words: Naela was born Mary Elia Rozenthal to a Jewish Turkish-Ukranian father and a Christian Italian mother. She eventually converted to Islam and changed her name to Naela when she met and married Nadia’s father, Saad Kamel. The story...

In this first of hopefully a series of episodes, I wanted to introduce you (and myself!!) to a number of regional Egyptian dialects. Because - let's face it - Bilmasri isn't really bilmasri if it stays as Cairo-centric as I am! And so I'm teaming up with Egyptians from across the country to talk about their dialects/ accents, and how their sounds, words and structures differ from the Cairene. But at all times we want to emphasise that the similarities remain much greater than the...

Earlier today, we lost one of Egypt's foremost feminist writers and political activists, Dr Nawal El Saadawi (born 1931). A uniquely courageous woman who inspired so many, women as well as men, to stand up against their oppressors. Her outspokenness landed her in prison under Sadat's regime, and this is where in 1981 she wrote "مذكراتي في سجن النساء" (Memoirs from the women's prison - link is to the translation by Marilyn Booth). And in today's episode, I read extracts in masri from...

2nd reading from Khaled Al-Khamissi's "Taxi" Today we revisit Al-Khamissi's delightful compilation of conversations with Cairo taxi drivers, the 'aamiya/ fusha book "Taxi" from 2006 (I had previously read a chapter from it back in June). This episode is slightly different from past ones, in that the reading was very kindly contributed by Amani Hassan*, senior Arabic lecturer at New York University. Her recording features a male voice in the role of the taxi driver, which works...

We're getting political! Yikes :) Today's reading is from excerpts of a "Raseef22" article commemorating ten years since the Egyptian revolution overthrew then-president Hosni Mubarak. Former participants, and family members of people who lost their lives in the protests, answer the question: What would you do if we went ten years back in time? Not much grammar today, but a focus on some of the text's vocab that deals with people's feelings, their state of mind and their...

Language focus: Imperative & command words Hello dear Bilmasri followers, it’s good to be back after a long break! For the first podcast in the new year, and for a bit of fun and silliness, I decided to read the year’s horoscopes in Egyptian Arabic. But because there’s a serious side to everything we do here  I picked a horoscope that is heavy on advice, and so contains a lot of imperative verbs, as well as command words that urge you to do, or not to do, certain things. And we have so...

Language focus: Conditional ("if") sentences In today's podcast I read from an article found on BBC Arabic (link below), on a young Egyptian woman who decided to post videos on her Facebook page of herself dancing in her bedroom - videos that got her millions of views and many compliments, to her own total surprise. In the article Yasmen explains how she was initially very hesitant to post the videos. For one thing, her posts came at a time when young women were arrested in Egypt for their...

Today’s podcast is about Bayram Al-Tunisi, one of the most celebrated Egyptian poets of the “azjal” or “azgal”, the colloquial poetry. Born to Tunisian parents in Alexandria in 1893 and only acquiring Egyptian citizenship in the 1950s, he was nonetheless extremely Egyptian at heart, as his poems will testify. But more to his biography in the article below, which I read slowly in its مصري version in the podcast. I then read two of his poems, عتاب (العامل المصري) (Rebuke or The Egyptian...

Reading from Khaled Al-Khamissi's "Taxi" (2006) I make up for a whole month's absence with a superlong 20-minute episode... This time I read a chapter of Khaled Al-Khamissi's 2006 bestseller "Taxi" تاكسي - حواديت المشاوير.. a compilation of conversations which the author had with Cairo taxi drivers, reflecting their daily experiences, frustrations, hopes and political views. In the chapter I read out, the driver expresses his disappointment by the meager protests taking place on that...

Language focus: Present participle, اسم الفاعل In today's (long-ish) episode, I read the first few Egyptianised* paragraphs from the novel أنا حرة by the popular Egyptian novelist Ihsan Abdul Quddus. The novel is of course written in فصحى, although dialogues are all in مصري.  After that, I talk you through the expression عمري ما/ عمره ما etc, meaning "I / he etc. never ...." and how to construct it. I then explain the different uses of the present participle (اسم الفاعل) in Egyptian...

Language focus: the dual, ألمثنّى Today's podcast episode is dedicated to the "Planet of the East", كوكب الشرق as she is known by those who adored her - the Egyptian singer Umm Kulthoum (1898-1975). Listen to a piece about her life, after which I will talk about a few expressions, such as على قد حاله، مِن كُتر and شوية شوية, and I'll say something about the use of the dual المثنى in Egyptian Arabic (a very brief overview of that is at the bottom of this...

Today’s episode borrows a text from the Egyptian edition of Wikipedia – ويكيبيديا مصري. The extract I picked was the “About” page which explains why ويكيبيديا مصري exists, and lists all the points made by the proponents and opponents of its existence. Some very interesting points, and it’s a thorny subject on which there are as many points of view as there are literate Egyptians! I go into some expressions that appear in the text, such as بتاع, شوية, "لا هتقدم ولا هتأخر" and others. I...

Today's longer than usual podcast (sorry in advance if too long! :) ) is dedicated to Ramadan, specifically the Ramadan childhood memories of some Egyptian writers. I precede each short excerpt/ quote with a quick summary of this memory, as well as the cultural Ramadan-specific aspect that features in it - I get a bit chatty but i hope you find that bit useful! After each excerpt I make brief comments on one or more aspects of the language they use, focusing this time on small particles and...

In today’s episode, and on the occasion of the “Shamm el-Nessim” day being celebrated in Egypt today, I am reading excerpts from two different texts. The first is a brief factual text about this unique non-religious celebration, its ancient Egyptian origins, and how all Egyptians celebrate it by going out to open green spaces, eating salted fish, spring onions and coloured eggs. The second text is an excerpt from a short story by the Egyptian writer Edwar El-Kharrat. The section in...

In today's podcast I read the Egyptian Arabic verison of Queen Elizabeth's most recent coronavirus address to the British people. As I could not find the full فصحى version of the speech, I have simply translated the English original straight into مصري - so this time the table below shows English vs Egyptian (as opposed to the usual فصحى vs مصري). I'm also giving you a break from grammar this time, so after the reading I just pick a couple of words and expressions used in the...

Language focus: Negation In today’s podcast episode, and for the first time, I have not “Egyptianised” a text that originally existed in fuS-Ha. Instead, I’m reading a passage from a short novel for young people that was originally written and published in Egyptian ‘amiyya, and subsequently “translated” into فصحى and published again (so now both are available in bookshops). The novel is called برة الدايرة (Outside of the Circle), by Rania Hussein Amin (full disclosure: she's my...

Language focus: Numbers/ numerals Today's text is on a topic we just can't seem to get away from, so might as well know how to talk about it بالمصري! The language focus is numerals and how they differ from those in فصحى Listen and see if you can pick out the words meaning "cough" and "sneeze". They'll both actually sound like I am coughing and sneezing in your ears . But don't worry, it's not infectious! Text بالفصحى and بالمصري below, and underneath that, a full...