Learn Arabic as it is really spoken. Listen to and read Egyptian Colloquial Arabic.

Hamza (age 7) tells us about a recent family trip to Hurghada (on the Red Sea coast of Egypt).

رحت الغردقه. كنت فرحان خالص. بس كنت لازق في مكنه. معرفش ليه كنت لازق. كانت بتضحك. كل يوم في البحر في البحر. بفضل اعوم اعوم مع صاحبي محمود. كنا بنلعب مع بعض كل يوم. ماشي؟ وبعد كده، كنا بنسبح. وكان فيه لعبة شطرنج كبيره. كان فيه اجنبيين. انا صاحبت واحد اجنبي اسمه روما. وبعد كده انا فضلت …ارمي سهوم كده. حاجات كده انا برميها. نيشان. بعد كده فضلنا نلعب مع بعضنا ونمرح. وكان تلات ايام بس. بس كانوا فرحانيني*. والبوفيه حلو خالص. وكمان كان كان… كان فيه مكنه بتنزل لبن بالشكولاته. انا كنت باخد ايام وايام لأ. بعد كده كنت انا ومحمود بنلعب مع بعضنا دايما. كل يوم نروح البحر ونلعب شطرنج مع بعضنا. ونعوم ونلاقي اسماك. انا شفت اسماك ومحمود لقى سمكه ميته. ومش شاف اسماك عايشه. انا شفت اسماك عايشه. بعد كده انا كنت فرحان جدا جدا جدا. وكانت تحفه. الغردقه كان طريقها طويل بس انا مش زهقت. كنت بلعب مع محمود دايما. مش بزعل ابدا ابدا ابدا.

* He means مفرحينني.

I went to Hurghada. I was very happy. But I was attached to a machine [he’ll explain this later on]. I don’t know why, but it was funny. Everyday in the sea. I keep swimming with my friend Mahmoud. We played together everyday. Right? And we swam. There was a big chess game. There were foreigners. I became friends with a boy called Roma. Also I threw arrows… those things I was throwing. Ah… darts! Then we played and had fun. We stayed three days only. But it made me so happy. The buffet was so good. Also, there was a machine which gives milk with chocolate [This is the machine that he mentioned in the beginning of the story). Sometimes I had some, and sometimes not. [But his mother tells me that the truth is he was attached to it; he actually nearly drank 10 hot chocolates a day.] And… Mahmoud and I played together all the time. Every day we went to the sea and played chess together. We swam and found fish. I saw fish, and Mahmoud found a dead fish. He didn’t see any live fish. I saw live fish. And… I was very very happy. It was fantastic. The trip to Hurghada is long, but I wasn’t bored. I played with Mahmoud all the time. I was not, not, not sad at all.

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