....I learn eet from a boook. First steps in Darija.

Anyone who's watched Fawlty Towers will remember Manuel's response to guests who comment on his command of language: "I speeking eengleesh very well." We've been learning our Moroccan Arabic - Darija - from a boook too, with all of Manuel's difficulties, although unless you hear the words spoken correctly, you never know how silly you sound. The Lonely Planet "Moroccan Arabic" contains a number of inaccuracies although using it will probably get you understood most of the time, so it's a good starting point. We were very aware that we were probably falling into the trap of teaching ourselves the wrong things and, despite YouTube and the 'net, we needed some proper tuition.
This week we were lucky enough to have an introduction to a local lady who's a Moroccan native and who was prepared to give us some time to demonstrate the bad habits we'd picked up and then do some corrective surgery. To Aicha's credit, she didn't laugh too much at our efforts and gave us a huge amount of help. We can now confidently argue over the price of a chicken or ask directions to the veggie market, as well as making a reasonable stab at the niceties of being sociable.
We know, from last year's experience, that French will be understood in most of the places we go but we found that once we got into more remote areas, the local French speaker had to be summoned before conversation could continue. Hopefully now we'll be better prepared and with luck not get seen off too much in the souk. Some hope!
So, we've ripped out the notes from our Survival Guide and are working on replacements. I've made a CD of useful phrases to play in the car, as I know that constant repetition works for me. By the time we actually get to use our Darija ( and I now know it's a long soft "J" as in theFrench "jamais") it'll be like reciting poetry. The problem will come when we get a reply that we don't understand. My secret weapon is " Takellum beshwiya, affak. Arwed, anna markan haddarsh l'arbeeya".....

"Say that slowly please. Say it again, I don't speak Arabic". A bit of a cop-out, I know, but at least it'll give me a breathing space to think of a better reply.

Now that the weather's got a bit warmer we can do some more work on Daphne. Lots to do.....