Signing up for the first year in Arabic
The university admissions office, the first day of registration in Arabic. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «مرحبا, أريد التسجيل في الجامعة.» — Hello, I want to enroll in the university; «تفضل. ما الكلية التي تريدها؟» — Of course. Which faculty do you want? The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: the university admissions office, the first day of registration. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- مرحبا, أريد التسجيل في الجامعة.мархаба, уриду ат-тасджииль фи аль-джамииʿа.Hello, I want to enroll in the university.
- تفضل. ما الكلية التي تريدها؟тафаддаль. ма аль-куллийят алляти туриидуха؟Of course. Which faculty do you want?
- كلية الهندسة. أنا أحب الرياضيات.кульлийят аль-хандаса. ана ухибб ар-рийаадийят.Engineering. I love mathematics.
- جيد. نحتاج شهادة المدرسة ووثيقة الهوية.джейид. нахтааджу шахаадат аль-мадраса ва-васиикат аль-хувийя.Good. We need your school diploma and an ID.
- لديّ كل الوثائق. وعندي أيضا شهادة اللغة.лядийя куль аль-васааʾик. ва-ʿиндий айдан шахаадат аль-луга.I have all the documents. And I also have a language certificate.
- ممتاز. السكن الجامعي قرب الكلية.мумтаз. ас-суккан аль-джамииʿий курб аль-куллийя.Great. The dormitory is next to the faculty.
Lines one by one
| Arabic | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| مرحبا, أريد التسجيل في الجامعة. | мархаба, уриду ат-тасджииль фи аль-джамииʿа. | Hello, I want to enroll in the university. |
| تفضل. ما الكلية التي تريدها؟ | тафаддаль. ма аль-куллийят алляти туриидуха؟ | Of course. Which faculty do you want? |
| كلية الهندسة. أنا أحب الرياضيات. | кульлийят аль-хандаса. ана ухибб ар-рийаадийят. | Engineering. I love mathematics. |
| جيد. نحتاج شهادة المدرسة ووثيقة الهوية. | джейид. нахтааджу шахаадат аль-мадраса ва-васиикат аль-хувийя. | Good. We need your school diploma and an ID. |
| لديّ كل الوثائق. وعندي أيضا شهادة اللغة. | лядийя куль аль-васааʾик. ва-ʿиндий айдан шахаадат аль-луга. | I have all the documents. And I also have a language certificate. |
| ممتاز. السكن الجامعي قرب الكلية. | мумтаз. ас-суккан аль-джамииʿий курб аль-куллийя. | Great. The dormitory is next to the faculty. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Arabic in this situation?
“مرحبا, أريد التسجيل في الجامعة.” (мархаба, уриду ат-тасджииль фи аль-джамииʿа.) — Hello, I want to enroll in the university. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.