An argument about the news in Arabic
The living room, evening, two people at the TV in Arabic. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «شغل التلفاز من فضلك. آخر الأخبار الآن.» — Turn on the TV, please. The news feed is on now; «كل الأخبار إشاعات, لا حقيقة.» — All the news is rumors, no truth at all.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: the living room, evening, two people at the TV. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- شغل التلفاز من فضلك. آخر الأخبار الآن.шаггыль ат-тильфааз мин фадлик. аахир аль-ахбаар аль-аан.Turn on the TV, please. The news feed is on now.
- كل الأخبار إشاعات, لا حقيقة.куль аль-ахбаар ишааиʿа, ля хакиика.All the news is rumors, no truth at all.
- بالعكس, هذا المذيع يتحقق من المعلومة.биль-ʿакс, хаза аль-музииʿ йятахаккак мин аль-маʿлюума.On the contrary, this presenter checks the information.
- برأيي يبالغ في كل خبر.би-раʾйий йюбяалиг фи куль хабар.In my opinion he exaggerates in every news item.
- من الممكن. لكن التقرير من المطار ممتاز.мин аль-мумкин. лякинн ат-такриир мин аль-матаар мумтаз.Possibly. But the report from the airport is excellent.
- حسنا. في النهاية لا يهم. بالمناسبة, أين جهاز التحكم؟хасанан. фи ан-нихяая ля йяхимм. биль-мунаасяба, айна джихааз ат-тахаккум؟Fine. In the end it does not matter. By the way, where is the remote?
Lines one by one
| Arabic | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| شغل التلفاز من فضلك. آخر الأخبار الآن. | шаггыль ат-тильфааз мин фадлик. аахир аль-ахбаар аль-аан. | Turn on the TV, please. The news feed is on now. |
| كل الأخبار إشاعات, لا حقيقة. | куль аль-ахбаар ишааиʿа, ля хакиика. | All the news is rumors, no truth at all. |
| بالعكس, هذا المذيع يتحقق من المعلومة. | биль-ʿакс, хаза аль-музииʿ йятахаккак мин аль-маʿлюума. | On the contrary, this presenter checks the information. |
| برأيي يبالغ في كل خبر. | би-раʾйий йюбяалиг фи куль хабар. | In my opinion he exaggerates in every news item. |
| من الممكن. لكن التقرير من المطار ممتاز. | мин аль-мумкин. лякинн ат-такриир мин аль-матаар мумтаз. | Possibly. But the report from the airport is excellent. |
| حسنا. في النهاية لا يهم. بالمناسبة, أين جهاز التحكم؟ | хасанан. фи ан-нихяая ля йяхимм. биль-мунаасяба, айна джихааз ат-тахаккум؟ | Fine. In the end it does not matter. By the way, where is the remote? |
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?
“شغل التلفاز من فضلك. آخر الأخبار الآن.” (шаггыль ат-тильфааз мин фадлик. аахир аль-ахбаар аль-аан.) — Turn on the TV, please. The news feed is on now. 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.