Word for the Travel Wise (08/01/06)

I don’t know what the for sure stats are on the most traveled African countries, but Egypt has to be pretty high on the list. Almost any and everyone I know that mentions traveling to the continent usually bring up Egypt, Kenya, or South Africa. I’m hoping to head to Africa in the very near future, but until some more money trickles in I’ll be dreaming and studying up on the various langs heard around the lands.

Today’s word is an Arabic word used in Egypt:

filoos – money

My Language Exchange is an excellent site in making friends across the globe while zoning in on the areas that give you the most trouble in your language of choice. While most services are free, contacting other members does cost a very small fee. Other learning tools for free standard Arabic online include this Learn Arabic site which has some remarkable lessons. The audio sounds a bit off for me, but they’ve got both the Naskh script (easy to read when learning the alphabet) and the Latin spelling of the letter. Babel Arabic is another good source. Planet Edu has an online listing of Arabic schools all over the Middle East, Africa and the U.S. Lastly, for purchase and a quick pocket guide there’s the Lonely Planet Egyptian Arabic Phrasebook.

Past Arabic words: wafin, akhdar, taeadol, shwiya, la bas