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Learning Darijaالدارجة

The course

A hundred lessons in five levels. Open a level to see its lessons, or start from the first one.

A1 Lessons 1 to 18Eighteen lessons, in order. From greetings to a train timetable. Every rule is explained from English, and every exercise uses only what you have already seen.
  1. 01Greeting without a verbArriving, “How are you?”, Introductions, LeavingA1
  2. 02The l that disappearsThe home, Rooms, Getting in and up, Furniture, What the rent includesA1
  3. 03Every noun is he or shePeople, Mr and Mrs, The people near you, Jobs, in pairs, The building and the streetA1
  4. 04The house the whiteColors, Size and age, Good, nice, and what it costs, Hot and cold, Two things to wearA1
  5. 05This glass, that tableOn the table, Drinks and the rest, Getting servedA1
  6. 06Asking without “do”Asking nicely, Thanks, and the answer, Yes, no, okay, The question wordA1
  7. 07Where is the stationIn town, Getting there, The answerA1
  8. 08Counting at the stallOne to five, Six to ten, At the stall, A little, a lotA1
  9. 09Having without a verbParents and grandparents, Brothers, sisters, children, Husband and wife, HavingA1
  10. 10The bag of mineWhat you carry, What you wear, Whose, Lost and foundA1
  11. 11Two ways to say noLiking, Wanting and refusing, Passing judgement, Things to have an opinion onA1
  12. 12Six small words for whereGetting around, Places, Near and farA1
  13. 13What there is on your streetThe street, Shops and services, Exactly where, How much there isA1
  14. 14Two plurals, chosen by who is in the roomTrades, Women at work, Work, How many, how goodA1
  15. 15Mouse, mice; tbsil, tbaselOn the table, In the tajine, In the kitchenA1
  16. 16The verb that starts with whoGetting going, The working day, Evening, WhenA1
  17. 17Five and twenty dirhamsMoney, The price, Paying, AgeA1
  18. 18Quarter to sixThe week, Calendar words, At the stationA1

All of A1 · The A1 book

A2 Lessons 19 to 40Twenty-two lessons, in order. From going, running and buying to the eight o'clock news: past and future, want, must and can, and the first texts in prose.
  1. 19Going, running, buyingMoving, By what, The street, How and whereA2
  2. 20Say, see, bringThe hollow verbs, Conversation, What gets said, In which languageA2
  3. 21A consonant you holdFeeling, How you are, Inside, More double verbsA2
  4. 22What happened yesterdayWhen, What happened, Who, To tell itA2
  5. 23Went, said, broughtVerbs of the day, Meals, Places and paper, To sum upA2
  6. 24When I was littlePeople, What we did, The countryside, WhenA2
  7. 25Going to goWeather, What it's like, When, PlansA2
  8. 26Knead it, don't open itIngredients, What to do, What with, Care and timeA2
  9. 27Wash them, dry themThe head, The body, Hygiene, VerbsA2
  10. 28Send it to meGiving and getting, What, To whom, WhenA2
  11. 29I want you to comeWanting, What to do, For whom, LinkingA2
  12. 30I have to take the rubbish outThe building, The residents, Must and may, ChoresA2
  13. 31I can swim, but I can't todayCan and know, Skills, What with, Signing upA2
  14. 32Bigger than FezMore and less, Price, age, weather, The city, To compareA2
  15. 33My head hurts meBeing ill, Symptoms, Doctor and pharmacy, To say itA2
  16. 34A kilo of the potatoesMeasures, Containers, The larder, Offers and amountsA2
  17. 35Turn onto the rightMoving (imperative), Which way, Landmarks, Getting lostA2
  18. 36The house I lived in itSomeone, Old professions, A life, Travel and fameA2
  19. 37Sitting, standing, asleepPositions, On the move, States, The caféA2
  20. 38Before I go outOrdering, With a verb after, The wedding, Verbs of the dayA2
  21. 39Because it rained, because of the rainJoining, What happened, Papers and reasons, ApologisingA2
  22. 40The eight o'clock newsThe news, The city, What happened, WhenA2

All of A2 · The A2 book

B1 Lessons 41 to 64Twenty-four lessons. Derived verb forms, if-clauses, reported speech, complaints and phone calls. From lesson 41, exercises are written without vowel marks.
  1. 41Double it to make it happenMaking someone do, Doing hard or thoroughly, The phone, State of the deviceB1
  2. 42Haggling with someoneWith someone (Form III), The deal, What it's like, Set phrasesB1
  3. 43A t- for “each other”Form V: oneself, Form VI: each other, Football, The resultB1
  4. 44It broke by itselfIt just happened (tt-), What, No one to blame, How it ended upB1
  5. 45Was opened, they openedNews verbs, Institutions, Headline Fusha, How the street says itB1
  6. 46Sleeping is importantForm I actions, Form II actions (taf3il), Health, To judgeB1
  7. 47The Green Gate is closedState left (passive), Who does it (active), The city, From the classical textB1
  8. 48If you came, we'll goConditions, Papers, Counter verbs, State of the paperB1
  9. 49If you had comeIf only, What might have been, The tale, Verbs of the taleB1
  10. 50He told me he is tiredReporting, Verbs of saying, The news, According toB1
  11. 51So as not to be lateWhat for, Argan, The work, Where and whoB1
  12. 52Don't say “beans” till they're in the measureUntil, Waiting, Proverb words, And moreB1
  13. 53Still beating copperStill, no longer, The craft, Craft verbs, Hand and machineB1
  14. 54Fez became the capitalChanging, History, Making history, How and whenB1
  15. 55I dreamt by youWith 3la, With f, With b, With m3a, With mn, No prepositionB1
  16. 56The job I applied forThe company, Applying, Work verbs, Rights, What kindB1
  17. 57Certificate of residenceThe papers, Where, What's done, Housing, The formB1
  18. 58I've been waiting an hourThe journey, What goes wrong, Complaining, Luggage and counter, Complaint phrasesB1
  19. 59Leave it till tomorrowThe appointment, Changing it, On the phone, With khelli, Set phrasesB1
  20. 60I think, maybeGiving a view, Agreeing and not, The debate, The city, DecidingB1
  21. 61Asking without imposingAsking, Thanking, Good wishes, Addressing people, OfferingB1
  22. 62Sharja, bloka, konektaThe phone, Borrowed verbs, The car, Two kinds of plural, At homeB1
  23. 63Spanish in the northNationwide, Also from Spanish, Mainly in the north, History, The northB1
  24. 64Six days without waterWater, What happens, Who, What they say, News connectorsB1

All of B1 · The B1 book

B2 Lessons 65 to 84Twenty lessons. From here on the texts are real and unadapted, glossed in the margin: Standard Arabic beside Darija, fables, proverbs, regional speech.
  1. 65Between Darija and FushaTalking about language, Pairs: Fusha → Darija, History, Chefchaouen, RegisterB2
  2. 66Newspaper DarijaThe press, Newspaper phrasing, Action nouns, Reading, Local politicsB2
  3. 67Never, nobody, nothingFull negatives, Reinforcers, From the proverbs, Proverb verbs, ProverbsB2
  4. 68The sea behind youHighlighting, The speech, The strait, Where and how, The final comparisonB2
  5. 69The tortoise and the two ducksTime duals, Body pairs, Collective → one, The fable, The moralB2
  6. 70The vanquished imitate the victorElatives, Set phrases, The text, What gets copied, Discussing the textB2
  7. 71The sixth timeOrdinals, Fractions, Approximating, The census, TrendsB2
  8. 72Wlid, bnita, dwiraSmall and dear, Not much, The lullaby, The rain song, AffectionB2
  9. 73Roots and patternsz-r-3, sow, s-q-y, water, The river, Benefit and harm, Talking about wordsB2
  10. 74InshallahThe future in God's hands, Other formulas, From the proverbs, Proverb verbs, Explaining a proverbB2
  11. 75Leaving TangierThe thread of time, Going off and coming back, The journey, The farewell, Who's tellingB2
  12. 76True, but…Conceding, Pushing back, Reasoning and concluding, School, The debateB2
  13. 77How tea is madeUtensils, Ingredients, What you do, The order, The finishing touchB2
  14. 78I should have comeSpeculating, Regretting, Resigning oneself, Emigration, ForgivenessB2
  15. 79J7a and the braying donkeyIrony toolkit, Laughing and mocking, The tale, Clever and stupid, TagsB2
  16. 80Gal, 'al, qalWhere, Variants, Talking about speech, Understanding each other, The usual questionB2
  17. 81Sarut, the Amazigh keyFrom Amazigh, Plurals and derived forms, Amazigh languages, Where it shows, Talking about originsB2
  18. 82A 3omri, my lifeForms of address, Song, Genres, Screen, Where you hear itB2
  19. 833afak, 7ta, w9tAbbreviations, Social media, What you do, Letters and digits, Laughing in writingB2
  20. 84Prince of travellersA life, The journey, Ibn Battuta's world, The book, Name and fameB2

All of B2 · The B2 book

C1 Lessons 85 to 100Sixteen lessons and no more adaptation. Health, law and school, requests and refusals, malhun, and the unsettled question of how to write Darija.
  1. 85The monkey and the carpenterFour consonants, With t-, Form IX: colours, The fable, Poking your nose inC1
  2. 86Ibn Khaldun's sentenceNesting pieces, Ibn Khaldun's concepts, What happens to a people, Human nature, Discussing a theoryC1
  3. 87First of allConnectors, Water, Farming, Climate, The reportC1
  4. 88Complaining to the qadiComplaining, Refusing, The trial, The couple, The genreC1
  5. 89Formal “you”, in the pluralAddress, The meeting, Formal connectors, The Constitution, CitizensC1
  6. 90In A&ESymptoms, Conditions, The hospital, The pharmacy, What the doctor asksC1
  7. 91The right to remain silentRights and duties, The police, The court, Immigration, ValuesC1
  8. 92Parents' eveningAdvising and reassuring, How it's going, School, Social services, PrinciplesC1
  9. 93Your best priceHaggling, Closing the deal, Trade, The account, Worth more than the priceC1
  10. 94God rest his soulWishes with llah, Fixed formulas, Life and death, From the texts, Talking about the textsC1
  11. 95MalhunThe qasida, What the poet does, Poetic grammar, The craftsmen, SettingC1
  12. 96The halqaTelling, To the audience, The square, The tale, The stageC1
  13. 97Lost in translationNo equivalent, Body idioms, Translating, Grammar traps, The jobC1
  14. 98From Morocco to Egypt“Now” in four countries, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Talking about itC1
  15. 99Writing DarijaWriting, The norm, Pronouncing, Where it's writtenC1
  16. 100The travelling staffTravelling and stopping, Telling it, Court and map, Your roadC1

All of C1 · The C1 book