From today's Metrolife section, the main article slams expats for not learning at least some Arabic. Great, I'm all for it. But for God's sake check your facts before you start shooting your mouth off.
Here's part of what they have to say:
When in Dubai, do you speak the lingo?
The UAE is a nation that attracts many expatriates, from a huge variety of countries. But cultural melting pot it might be, centre of linguistic ability it ain’t - well not for many ‘foreign’ residents. Some expats have been here for years and still haven’t mastered simple everyday greetings like ‘hello’ in Arabic.
It goes on to say:
The questions were:
Question1. What is ‘hello’ in Arabic? (Salam alakom).
Question 2. What is ‘goodbye’ in Arabic? (Ma salama).
Question 3. What is ‘thank you’ in Arabic? (Shukran).
A "simple everday greeting like hello" is Salam alakom (sic) according to
7(-1)Days. Since when ?
Eddie Andrade gave the correct answer, marhaba of course, but received a red cross for being wrong.
Come on come on come on! Checking is simple, stop making fools of yourselves.
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2 comments:
My arabic vocabulary is miserable, but I have to say that Salam Alakom DOES seem to be the most common "greeting" around here. It may not MEAN "hello" but it seems to be used in similar circumstances, so perhaps that's why there's the confusion.
It is the most common greeting, but it means of course 'peace be upon you'. Quite different from 'hello' - and in an article bemoaning the lack of Arabic knowledge amongst expats the writers shouldn't be confused about the meaning of basic Arabic words.
Or at the very least, they should check their facts.
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