NJriverchick

I will be in Morocco in April for two weeks and want to memorize a few basic phrases so that I can be polite and not come across like an ugly american.

I am getting conflicting information on whether I should go with French or Arabic. Any thoughts on that?

thank you kindly on any suggestions.

P_M

Where in Morocco are you going? If I recall correctly, Marakkesh is mostly Arabic speaking while in Fez I heard more French.

jgg

I am interested in this answer as well. We will be in Marakkesh, Fez and the desert. I guess I will pull out my French DVD's. I have purchased a Moroccan Arabic Phrasebook from Lonely Planet.

jennhawk

We were in Morocco in November. Our guide taught us how to say basic things, like "Hello," "Thank you," etc. in Arabic. This worked well for us in Fez, Marrakech, and most other places. We learned some Berber phrases for our time in the desert and mountains.

My husband slipped into French quite a bit in the cities and always seemed to be understood, but that wasn't the case in the desert and mountains.

So-either Arabic or French should serve you well in the cities. If you are venturing outside of them, grab a book with Berber in it.

jenmaroc

The only reason Moroccans some speak French is that Morocco was virtually colonised by the French. After five years living here, I find its much better (i.e. better received) to speak Arabic - as opposed to the language of the uninvited overlords of the past.

Femi

Jenmaroc- Weren't the Arabs also univited overlords? I ask this simply for clarification.

NJriverchick

Thank you all for you answers. I will be doing a loop from Casa to Fez to the desert to Marakkesh and then back to Casa.

I guess I should concentrate on Arabic phrases. I am also fluent in German so I am hoping that might help in a pinch.

any other thoughts on this?

jenmaroc

Femi,
Yes, they were, but no one alive remembers those days, whereas the French occupation ended within the lifetime of the elder generation.

kahwahlib

Went with my family recently. Found that they truly appreciated our efforts to make small talk in Moroccan Arabic, but in cities - we were handicapped by not being able to speak French. I was pleased I tried with the MA; the only trouble is that they are so frendly and want to have a conversation and I never reached a level that enabled me to do that so I lapsed into bad Spanish! Advice - crash course in French and basic phrases with sincere smiles.

sunshine007

Is it a strictly city vs. country division with the language? In Tunisia, the divisions were class related in the City.

Kavey

In Marrakech last week I spoke French with everyone - hotel staff, restaurant staff, taxi drivers, souk stall holders... everyone. Being able to speak fairly fluently (though still with lots of little errors) meant I had some wonderfully friendly chats with many people - about their music tastes, about food, about what this or that little alley of the souk used to be like, about what some of the items on sale might be used for... wonderful. Never any pressure to buy - friendly "no thanks" were always smilingly accepted.

I asked one or two people I met whether they minded the fact that French is still one of the official language and whether I was being rude by leaping into it rathe than trying Arabic and they consistently said that as far as they were concerned French was now one of their mother tongues (regardless of their feelings on history, colonialism etc) and that they appreciated my efforts to use it rather than my native English.

lerasp

i think in many countries country/city divisions are almost along the same lines as class divisions...
haven't been to tunisia but i know a lot of tunisians in US (if such a thing is possible!) and they all fluidlyl siwthc between arabic and frenchw ith each other. i never got a sense there are any bad feelings towards French language.

Femi

Jenmaroc-Thanks for the explanation.

jenmaroc

I never intended to imply that there is ill will towards the French language (though I have heard shopkeepers make disparaging comments about French tourists "think they own the place" and things of that nature).

However, what I DID say is that you will be better received if you speak Arabic. Any American high-schooler might speak a smattering of French...but if you speak in the local dialect, you are demonstrating that you have made a real effort to communicate with your hosts.

And I also agree that country/city divides are more or mess the same as class divides. Country folk do not speak French, in fact, 80% of rural women do not even read or write Arabic.
People in cities who speak French have (by definition) the money to continue on to high school. Several of our neighbors' children have recently left school to start working in the tanneries and other crafts to help support the family- they are 10 years old.

Tourists will most likely be dealing with people who do speak French, it is a basic requirement to get a job in the industry. But do not be fooled - there are millions who do not speak it. None of the women I work with speak French, the plumbers I use, the electrician, the carpenter, the weaver I like - none of these people speaks French.

elina

I was recently in Marrakesh. I used Arabic in thankyous and greetings and apologies and so on. Otherwise French.

NJriverchick

Thank you for all your replies and insight.

It looks like I will be better off learning a few key phrases in BOTH arabic and french. It will never be enough to have a conversation but rather to come across like a respectful visitor.

I do own a very handy french phrase book (believe it or not, it is a US Military french-english phrase book from WWII. Complete with phrases such as "Take me to your leader" and "Where are the bombadiers&quot

Can anyone recommend a good book for Moroccan Arabic?

jenmaroc

Lonely Planet produces the best Moroccan Arabic phrasebook I have ever encountered. Its a small pocket-size book, should be available from most large bookstores - or try Amazon.

Crisshowe

Keep in mind , in Morocco they speak Moroccan Arabic which different then classical and modern arabic, French is the most useful European language. Most of the people you'll encounter will also speak Spanish and English to some degree. So, it would be a good idea to be able to read very basic French. Signage in Morocco is almost all Arabic and French, as well as railway timetables, menus, etc.

NJriverchick

My husband and I have found a solution. He is studying Moroccan Arabic & I am concentrating on French.

Fortunately a friend just shippped us a package of tapes, CDs and books for both. We are all set.

Merci to all for your help.

Clifton

A question to add please:

I've got no background in either Arabic or French. Frankly, French is a language where over the years, I still can't make out the sounds no matter how hard I try. So instead I've been listening to Arabic tapes, but they aren't Moroccan Arabic. All I could find audio-wise was pretty much just the standard Arabic. Is the standard Arabic so different from the Moroccan version that we're wasting our time?