101 Arabic and Etiquette!

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=40655

u'll find mostly kuwaiti words there, a good start i think

i'll let others jump in and fill you in on the lingo/ customs, lest they feel im hoggin all the comments

by tonight/ tomorrow morning, i'll put in my 2 cents worth

Hello Em,

I don't know whether this could help you; But we have some Arabic Etiquette in the Saudi Arabia guide. May be you can have a look meanwhile.

Business & Personal Etiquette and Customs

Hope this helps!

hehe way to go Yud

Saudi is one thing, Kuwait is another.

for example, in saudi women have to wear abayas all the time when out in public (those black robes), whereas in kuwait, its a fashion mill.

in saudi, EVERYTHING is segregated into families/ bachelors; single women count as families. kuwait, few restaurants have it, and the cinema seatings, certain areas are reserved for families only.

in saudi, all restaurants/ business establishments close during prayer time (5 calls to prayer every day) for about an hour or so. No restaurants/ shops close during prayer time in kuwait.

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resourc … ofile.html

Em03750 you dont need to apologize,its a forum for discussion,and it gets boring without anything or anyone new. its nice to have new people on the forum.

ok, so arabic customs.

lets start with the first one off the bat that most expat ladies question: clothing.

like i said before, this is not saudi, women do not have to cover up completely.

i can be biased and say u must dress moderately, but i know i would be lying as u have merely to take a stroll at the avenues, or marina, or 360, to find the latest fashionitas donning some scandalous clothing. your best bet would be to take a stroll here, and emulate.

i have yet to see mini-skirts here, so that would be the only item i would place on a taboo list.

second, speaking arabic. what dialect are you going for? see, unlike India, arabic is pretty much the same all over the arab world, there are certain instances where the same words in different countries mean completely different things, like for example:

battel - in kuwaiti this means start, whereas in egyptian, it means stop!

aish - in kuwaiti, this means rice, in egyptian, it means bread.

aayet - in lebanese this means call out to someone (or yell to someone), where as in egyptian it means cry (literally, tears, not cry out).

kuwait boasts a population of 3million, 1million kuwaitis and 2million expats. the kuwaiti dialect, in my honest opinion, is kind of heavy and i feel it to be rough. if i would put forth a suggestion, i would say learn lebanese arabic, as they quite honsetly have the sweetest (and sexiest) accent in arabic.

for example:
shlonik (q80) how are u, literally translates to what is your color (non-racist tho).
in lebanon (or any of the Shami countries like syria, jordan etc) you would say keifik.
in egypt its ezayik.

seeing as how you will be interacting mainly with expats, arab expats as well, in shops etc. it would be better to know their lingo, i only see kuwaitis on the streets, and i dont interact with them on a daily basis. so, go for lebanese, maybe Moe29 can shed more light on the dialect.

this part of the world, as the thingie from saudi said, timing is not exact. meetings do not start precisely at 8 etc. theres always the morning pick-me-up and chit-chat or just running late.

ask questions and i'll answer, how about that, coz going over everythingi  know would take ages

not that i mind, mind you

Ok now I am more confused than before I started!!!

In terms of clothing I think I have decided that I will begin by wearing skirts below the knee, making sure my shoulders are covered (and always having a pashimina to hand!!) until I get a feel for it!!

I have honestly come to the conclusion that there is only so much research you can do. I think the rest you have to be there to experience!!

Em x

exactly Em, let me guess, the word translations were confusing yes? dont worry, half the people in kuwait can speak a form of pidgin arabic/ english hybrid, and almost everyone speaks english. so u need not fret the language barrier.

your choice of clothing is astute, well done.

legacy wrote:

ok, so arabic customs.

lets start with the first one off the bat that most expat ladies question: clothing.

like i said before, this is not saudi, women do not have to cover up completely.

i can be biased and say u must dress moderately, but i know i would be lying as u have merely to take a stroll at the avenues, or marina, or 360, to find the latest fashionitas donning some scandalous clothing. your best bet would be to take a stroll here, and emulate.

i have yet to see mini-skirts here, so that would be the only item i would place on a taboo list.

second, speaking arabic. what dialect are you going for? see, unlike India, arabic is pretty much the same all over the arab world, there are certain instances where the same words in different countries mean completely different things, like for example:

battel - in kuwaiti this means start, whereas in egyptian, it means stop!

aish - in kuwaiti, this means rice, in egyptian, it means bread.

aayet - in lebanese this means call out to someone (or yell to someone), where as in egyptian it means cry (literally, tears, not cry out).

kuwait boasts a population of 3million, 1million kuwaitis and 2million expats. the kuwaiti dialect, in my honest opinion, is kind of heavy and i feel it to be rough. if i would put forth a suggestion, i would say learn lebanese arabic, as they quite honsetly have the sweetest (and sexiest) accent in arabic.

for example:
shlonik (q80) how are u, literally translates to what is your color (non-racist tho).
in lebanon (or any of the Shami countries like syria, jordan etc) you would say keifik.
in egypt its ezayik.

seeing as how you will be interacting mainly with expats, arab expats as well, in shops etc. it would be better to know their lingo, i only see kuwaitis on the streets, and i dont interact with them on a daily basis. so, go for lebanese, maybe Moe29 can shed more light on the dialect.

this part of the world, as the thingie from saudi said, timing is not exact. meetings do not start precisely at 8 etc. theres always the morning pick-me-up and chit-chat or just running late.

ask questions and i'll answer, how about that, coz going over everythingi  know would take ages

not that i mind, mind you

Very informative reply, I did not know about such a difference exists between saudi and kuwait, now I know it. Keep it up!

I liked the idea of this new book “Speak Kuwaiti”, unlike any other book, this book has been compiled and designed to focus on the spoken Kuwaiti dialect in the easiest and most interactive way possible. I have many expatriate friends who often ask me “How can I speak Kuwaiti ?” or “How to say I'm hungry, tired, happy in Kuwait?” Well this book is the answer.

The price is 3.600 K.D and can be found at Virgin, That Al Salasil, and Jarir bookshop, Kuwait Bookshop.
Search on google for further information and online order.


Claire

Hi Em,

You might find this interesting and hopefully useful: visitabudhabi.ae/en/plan.your.visit/important.info/learn.arabic.aspx

What you'll find on that website isn't necessarily Kuwaiti Arabic but it's a similar dialect and it'll teach you the basics. 

In regards to clothing, I agree with legacy; I'm sure you've probably heard that you need to dress modestly while in Kuwait but when I first came, it seemed to me that people were free to wear whatever they want.

Hi Em,
With regards to clothing, it may help to clear your confusion if I say this; I figured I made a big mistake by taking so many long sleeves and long bottoms when I fist moved here.. I never wore them and had to go shopping.. No need to stress yourself. Pashimina is needed in the Malls though because they are freezing! But during Ramadan, I'd suggest to dress moderately coz its Muslim's Holy month. Hope you have a smooth transition and find more than what you expect.