Umm al-Dunya

Arabic textbook with online audio and visual materials for students of Modern Standard Arabic who are embarking upon the study of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic

Directed to learners of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic who have previously studied Modern Standard Arabic, this is the first textbook to handle the different levels and the variety of contexts of Egyptian Colloquial: both the everyday and the educated forms. It is also the first to introduce the language through multimedia, addressing recent and compelling topics of interest to learners of both language and culture, and focusing on pronunciation as a skill.

Each of the ten lessons is structured around a video series, Abdalla’s Journey, which covers a range of topics in the everyday language, and video interviews with scholars discussing the same topics in the educated variety. Vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation in both language levels are the focus of drills and exercises, and the phonetic and syntactic differences between the two forms are highlighted.