Arabic Short Vowels – what you need to know about tashkeel and harakaat

Posted on: Saturday, September 12th, 2009 8 comments

Arabic vocalization or تشكيل (tashkeel) is used to indicate the short vowels (a, i, u) that are usually not written in Arabic. There are three short vowel sings or حركات (harakaat) and a few more additional signs to indicate the absence of a vowel, the prolongation of an alif and … Continue reading

Arabic Tattoos – Another Reader Request: never give up, unbreakable, strength and courage

Posted on: Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 189 comments

Today I received another request for a translation of a few English phrases into Arabic for the purpose of an Arabic tattoo: Hi Max, I have been reading your blog from australia and its fantastic, i really enjoy it. I noticed that you did a translation for one of your … Continue reading

Egyptian Arabic – A Quick Introduction

Posted on: Friday, August 28th, 2009 5 comments

Egyptian Arabic is spoken by around 76 million people and thus the most widely-spoken Arabic dialect. Given the fact that Egyptian TV and cinema are ubiquitous in the Middle East, it is also the most widely-understood dialect. Taken together, these two considerations add a lot of weight in favor of … Continue reading

BBC Correspondent Learns Arabic In Damascus – And Fails!

Posted on: Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 1 comments

There is an interesting article on the BBC News page detailing the experience of one of their correspondents in learning Arabic in Damascus. While I certainly applaud his efforts, I nevertheless have to remark on some inconsistencies in his article. In the article, the author writes: But however modest our … Continue reading

Arabic Tattoos – The Three Most Embarrassing Errors

Posted on: Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 104 comments

While Arabic tattoos can be aesthetically pleasing if the right calligraphy is used, there are a huge number of cases where neither the person getting the tattoo done nor the tattooist have the slightest idea of Arabic. The result is often disastrous: incorrect or ugly Arabic writing. I’ll show you … Continue reading

Arabic Tattoos – The Latest Celebrity Must-Have

Posted on: Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 322 comments

Arabic tattoos are definitively in fashion in the world of the rich and the famous. And I don’t mean temporary tattoos done with henna. This is perhaps surprising, because there are hardly any tattoos to be seen in the Arab World. In the West, however, tattoos have come a long … Continue reading