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

Amr tells us about how he learned to drive… and his first accident!

كنت فى اعدادى لما جربت اسوق عربيه لاول مره. كان عندى حوالى اربعتاشر سنه، و ابويا قرر انه يعلمنى انا و اخويا، الاكبر منى بسنه، ازاى نسوق. انا فاكر اليوم ده كويس اوى. كنت خايف جداً و اخويا كان بيتعلم اسرع منى بكتير. اتعلمنا الاساسيات و جايه وقت التطبيق. كان الموضوع ماشى كويس معايا لما بابا كان بيقعد جنبى و انا بسوق، و كنت بتحرك كويس بالعربيه، الى حد ما. لحد ما فيه مره بابا قالى انى المفروض ابدأ اسوق لوحدى. اتفقنا انى امشى بالعربيه بالراحه جداً، و هو هيجرى جنبى عشان يدينى تعليمات لو احتاجتها. بس مكانش ده بالظبط اللى حصل! دورت العربيه و بدأت ادوس بنزين، و لما العربيه بدأت تتحرك اتوترت شويه و دست بنزين جامد. العربيه بدأت تسرع، بابا معرفش يلحقها و بدأ يزعق، و انا بدأت اترعب جداً! لحسن الحظ، افتكرت ادوس على الفرامل قبل ما اوصل لنهاية الشارع، اللى كان طوله حوالى مية متر، و العربيه وقفت اخيراً. طبعاً الموقف ده اثر عليا و فضلت مصدوم طول اليوم ده و بطلت اتدرب على السواقه لفتره. بس رجعت اتعلم تانى و اتحسنت جداً، بقيت حتى احسن من اخويا اللى كانت بدايته احسن منى بكتير. انا فاكر برضه انى مره عملت حادثه. بس كانت بسيطه الحمد لله. فقدت تركيزى و انا سايق و خبطت عربيه مركونه. لكن لحسن الحظ مكنتش ماشى بسرعه اوى و مكانش فيه اضرار كتير. صاحب العربيه كان غضبان جداً فى البدايه لكنه طلع راجل كويس. ابويا اتفق معاه انه هيصلحله العربيه و المشكله اتحلت بشكل ودى. استمريت فى التدريب و ادائى بدأ يعلى جداً لحد ما بقيت سواق محترف. و بقيت بخرج مع اصحابى كتير بالعربيه و باستخدمها فى معظم مشاويرى. و طبعاً ابويا و امى استغلوا الموضوع كمان، و بدأوا يبعتونى كتير عشان اشترى حاجات من بره. الموضوع كان بيبقى مزعج جداً فى بعض الاوقات، بس انا كنت بحب السواقه، و الحقيقه مكانش عندى خيار تانى! و زى ما راجل حكيم قال مره: مع القوه الكبيره بتيجى مسؤوليات كبيره!

I was in preparatory school when I tried to drive a car for the first time. I was around 14 years old, and my father decided to teach me and my brother, who is one year older than me, how to drive. I remember that day very well. I was very scared and my brother was learning much quicker than me. We learned the basics and it was time to practice. It was going well for me when my dad was sitting next to me while I was driving, and I was moving well with the car, kinda. Until one time, my dad told me that I should start driving alone. We agreed that I go very slowly with the car, and he would run beside me to keep giving me the instructions if I needed them. But that was not exactly what happened! I started the car, and began to step down on the gas. When the car started to move, I got a bit nervous and I hit the gas harder. The car started to speed up, Dad couldn’t keep up with it and started to shout, and I really started to panic! Luckily, I remembered to hit the brakes before I got to the end of the street, which was around 100 meters long, and the car finally stopped. Of course, that situation affected me and I remained in shock all that day, and I stopped practicing driving for a while. But I went back to practicing again, and I really improved. I even became better than my brother, who had had a much better start than I did. I also remember that I had an accident once. But it was a minor one, thank God. I lost my concentration while driving and hit a parked car. But luckily I wasn’t going too fast and there wasn’t much damage. The owner of the car was very angry at first, but he turned out to be a nice guy. My father agreed with him that he would fix the car for him, and the problem was settled in a friendly manner. I kept practicing and my performance started to get really high until I became a pro at driving. I started to go out with my friends by car a lot, and used it for most of my errands. And of course, my father and my mother took advantage of it too, and they started to send me a lot to buy things outside. That was really annoying sometimes. But I liked driving, and I actually had no other choice! And as a wise man once said, “With great power comes great responsibility!

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