Danielle, a reader of this blog, asks for the following Arabic tattoo translation: Hi Max, […] i’m hopeing you can translate the following: “have strength and live this life” this would be mental strength, and to live… have experiances rather than to just exist. I really do hope you can help me and I thank … Continue reading →

Arabic tattoo design for “lion-hearted girl” as requested by Vicky: hello, you wouldnt happen to know what ‘lion hearted girl’ would look like in arabic? thank you! The best translation of this concept is probably بنت ذات قلب الأسد (pronounced bint dhaat qalb ul-asad). This translates literally as ” [a] … Continue reading →

Vanessa asks for the following Arabic tattoo design: CAN U TRANSLATE GUARDIAN ANGEL IN ARABIC FOR ME PLEASE?! Sure I can. My first intuition was to translate it as “ملك حارس” (malak Haaris). However, it seems that the alternative spelling “ملاك حارس” (malaak Haaris) is more common. This is partly … Continue reading →

This is the second part of an introduction to Egyptian Arabic. See Part I here. A substantial part of learning an Arabic dialect is to learn a number of key words that are specific to that dialect. In this article I’ll show you some of the most important Egyptian phrases … Continue reading →

I have translated both strength and courage before, but not in combination with “wisdom”. This is the combination requested by a reader: Hi! You seem like someone who know what they are talking about. I am thinking about getting a tat that says strength, courage, and wisdom. I want it … Continue reading →

The Free Arabic  Resources section of my website is now open and already has some useful content that you can apply today to speak better Arabic. There are sections on Arabic grammar, Arabic dialects, Arabic proverbs, Arabic phrases and Arabic Words. Be sure to check back frequently, because I’ll add … Continue reading →

Today a Portuguese speaker asked me for a tattoo translation: Bom dia Max, gostaria de fazer uma tatuagem escrito Perseverar, Perseverança. Poderias me enviar pra eu poder fazer? A tatuagem da Angelina Jolie? o que significa? como escrevo? Obrigada, Nana I don’t speak any Portuguese, but from my knowledge of Spanish … Continue reading →

Since releasing the Arabic alphabet course “The Magic Key To The Arabic Alphabet” 10 days ago I have received many questions from the readers of this blog. I thought it might be useful if I shared my replies to the most common questions here for the benefit of everyone. Q: … Continue reading →

Update: Check out my new article on Arabic name translations. Today I received a request for an Arabic tattoo via email from Lizzie: Hello there I was on your website and was wondering if you could possibly translate something for me. I’d like the name ‘Lily’ in Arabic as a … Continue reading →

From today on you’ll be able to download my free report on Arabic words that you already “know” from English. These are words such as “cave”, “television”, “kebab” and “tomatoes” – in Arabic: “kahf”, “taleefizyoon”, “kabaab” and “TamaaTim”. These are an easy 200 Arabic words that you can add to … Continue reading →

Another translation request. This time it’s for an interesting aphorism. I was wondering if you might be willing to translate the phrase “Nothing is true; everything is permissible.” The saying has always fascinated me as it seems contradictory and at one turn seems to promote lawlessness but to my mind goes … Continue reading →

Today a reader sent me this request for a quick translation: I came across your website Arabic Genie and I am wondering if you can help me. Could you please tell me what “7almana feek ams!” means in english?? I assume that this is a transcription of the Arabic حَلَمْنا … Continue reading →

Another round of Arabic tattoo translations: I was just looking on your website and wondered if you could possibly translate these words for me. I have wanted an Arabic tattoo for some time now, but I have been so busy, and also trying to find the correct translation has been … Continue reading →

Further to my recent blog post about the Arabic short vowels, I want to give you a little trick that you can use to remember the sounds and shapes of all the short vowels. For each of the harakaat there is a mnemonic, or memory aid, that helps you remember … Continue reading →

When chatting online Arabs often use the Latin letters to write in Arabic instead of the Arabic alphabet. And, because certain sounds in the Arabic alphabet don’t have a counterpart in Western languages, there are a number of symbols used to represent these special sounds. So don’t be surprised to … Continue reading →