A talk in the corridor
A text in Arabic at level B1. The translation sits next to it for checking, not for support: at this level the text is read whole, and an unknown word is usually guessed from the sentence. At the office a colleague came up to me and asked: do you have a minute? He said he was calling about the project, and…
Text
- في المكتب جاءني زميلي وسأل: هل عندك دقيقة؟ قال إنه يتصل بخصوص المشروع وبدأ يتكلم بسرعة، فما سمعت جيدا. سألته مرة أخرى، وطلبت أن يقول اسمه حرفا بحرف. حاول أن يقاطعني، وقلت له: ما أكملت حديثي. ثم عدنا إلى الموضوع ولخصنا كل شيء مهم في ثلاث نقاط. في النهاية طلبت وقتا للتفكير: أنا ما قرّرت بعد.фи аль-мактаб джааʿний замииль ва-сааля: халь ʿиндак дакиика? кааля иннаху йяттасиль би-хусуус аль-машрууʿ ва-бадаа йятакаллям би-сурʿа, фа-ма самиʿту джейидан. саʿальтуху марра ухра, ва-талабту ан йякууль исмуху харфан би-харф. хаваля ан йякаатыʿний, ва-культу ляху: ма акмальту хадисий. сумма ʿуднаа иля аль-мавдууʿ ва-ляххасна куль шай мухимм фи саляс нугаат. фи ан-нихяая талабту вактан лит-тафкир: ана ма каррарту баад.At the office a colleague came up to me and asked: do you have a minute? He said he was calling about the project, and began to speak so fast that I heard badly. I asked him again and asked him to spell the name. He tried to interrupt, and I told him: I have not finished. Then we returned to the topic and summed up everything important in three points. At the end I asked for time to think: I have not decided yet.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- How did the colleague begin?
- Why did the narrator hear badly?
- What did the narrator say when the colleague tried to interrupt?
- How did the talk end?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Arabic?
B1. That means: everyday topics are behind you, you know about three thousand words, and an unknown word is more often guessed from the sentence than looked up.
How to read a text in an unfamiliar language usefully?
First all the way through without peeking at the translation — just to catch the familiar words. Then with the translation. Then all the way through again: the second pass brings noticeably more, and that feeling matters more than any rule.