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Learn Levantine Arabic with Livi

Olivia Furber
Learn Levantine Arabic with Livi
Latest episode

16 episodes

  • Learn Levantine Arabic with Livi

    Season Two, Episode Five: Adam and I chat about our hopes for the future.

    10/03/2025 | 26 mins.
    Hi listeners, I hope you are all well.
    Finally, Adam and I made a new episode.
    We are talking about the future and dreams we want to have realised. Adam also speaks briefly about his new podcast 'Easy Lisan' which you can find here.
    https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/easy-lisan/episodes/Going-to-the-Restaurant-in-Palestinian-Arabic-Episode-4-B1-Level-e2up5jd
    And below is the vocabulary that you will hear in the episode, enjoy!

    هذا كلو من خيريك - This is all because of your kindness

    مجازي - Metaphorical

    فضول - Curiosity

    التفاؤل - Optimism

    في حيرة من أمري - I’m confused

    حيرتني - You confused me

    منظمة غير ربحية - Non-profit organization

    أخفف عن الناس - I lighten people's burdens

    أنا بآمن فيك - I believe in you

    بالإحباط - Frustrated

    متشائمة - Pessimistic

    قصوة - Cruelty

    وحشية - Brutality

    يئس - Despair

    خيبة أمل - Disappointment

    اتقارن نفسك بيه - You compare yourself to him

    ببرر - He/She justifies

    ما بيدها شي - She can’t do anything / It is out of her hands

    قد ما يطول الليل شمس الحرية حتشرق - No matter how long the night is, the sun of freedom will rise
  • Learn Levantine Arabic with Livi

    Season Two, Episode Four: Talking to Adam about disability, being blind and studying international social work.

    28/02/2024 | 31 mins.
    Hi listeners, I hope you are all really well.

    Sorry that I took a while to record the next episode.

    Today I'll be speaking again with my friend Adam (also known as Ahmed) from Gaza about the reasons behind him choosing to study international social work.

    Very important to this conversation is the fact that Adam is blind and, as a result, has had to face a lot of significant challenges.

    However, he is using his lived experience as a disabled man to help others; through studying international social work.

    If you want to know more about his story you can check out his GoFundMe page linked at the bottom. Adam is raising money to pay his tuition fees and living expenses as he completes his studies in the Netherlands. The world needs more dedicated and compassionate social workers like Adam so if you are interested please check out his fundraiser.

    I suppose it's also important to say that in this episode there is a lot we don't discuss, including details of what Adam's family in Gaza are facing right now. We weren't consciously avoiding the topic, more that there sometimes aren't sufficient words to describe something.

    Big thank you to Adam for making the time to speak to me even in these terrible moments and still finding ways to laugh in spite of it all.

    You can follow my account on insta for updates @learnlevantinewithlivi

    Here is the vocabulary:

    ماشي الحال - It is so so

     لقب - Nickname

    بالتحديد - Specifically

    كفيف - Blind

    لاللي ما بيعرفوا - For those who do not know

    فقدت بصري - I lost my sight

    زي ما انتِ شايفة - As you can see

    دمار - Destruction

    ذوي احتياجات خاصة - People with special needs

    اتصاوبوا - They got injured

    عناصر منتجة في المجتمع 

    Productive members of society

    تأهيل- Rehabilitation

    أسأل مجرب ولا تسأل طبيب

    Ask someone who has  firsthand experience with a disease rather than a doctor.

    تخمين - Guessing

    سؤال عشوائي - Random question

    برج العقرب - Scorpio (Zodiac sign)

    شو بعرفك! - You never know!

    عقبات  - Obstacles

    التنهد - A sigh

    امكانية الوصول - Accessibility

    مش أحسن شي من ناحية

    It's not the best (usually when you are talking about something which is no better than the bare minimum)

    القوة العضلية - Physical strength

    رسوم الدراسة - Tuition fees

    مصاريف - Expenses

    أصرف على نفسي - To spend on myself

    يساريين - Leftists

    مهاجرين - Immigrants

    ودودين - Friendly

    البنية التحتية - Infrastructure

    صدمة ثقافية - Culture shock

    حرفيا - Literally

    على أرض الواقع - In reality

    حضنتها - I embraced her

    مزدحم - Crowded

    مقارنة ب - In comparison with

    مع احترامي الشديد - With all due respect

    https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ahmed-studeren-en-zijn-droom-waar-te-maken?utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&utm_content=undefined&utm_medium=chat&utm_source=whatsapp&utm_term=undefined
  • Learn Levantine Arabic with Livi

    Season Two, Episode Three: A conversation with Adam about psychology and mental health

    31/07/2023 | 27 mins.
    *Vocab below

    Hi everyone, I hope you're all really well.

    Today I'm going to be talking to Adam about a really important topic; psychology and mental health.

    We actually recorded this episode last year (apologies for the delay in publishing) just before Adam made a very long and difficult journey from Gaza to the Netherlands in order to start his studies at Han University.

    I'm mentioning this a) because Adam is a remarkable person b) he is currently running a GoFundMe to support his studies in International Social Work.

    Adam has been blind all of his adult life, but this has never stopped his determination, especially for helping others with disability. He is studying International Social Work in order to be able to develop a career in this field in order to have a positive impact.

    As he is in some financial difficulties at the moment he is fundraising to support his tuition fees and living expenses for the next few years.

    If you would like to read more about Adam (whose real name is Ahmed....Adam is a nickname) and check out a personal video from him, then you can check this link here https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ahmed-studeren-en-zijn-droom-waar-te-maken?utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&utm_content=undefined&utm_medium=chat&utm_source=whatsapp&utm_term=undefined

    Many thanks and enjoy the episode!

    Vocabulary:

    حواجز - Barriers

    بشكل سلس  Fluently/ smoothly

    فأر التجارب = Guinea pig / lab rat

    Logic / Logical - منطق / منطقي

    جرحتني  - it hurt me / it scarred me 

    بضلني ساكت- I remain silent / I keep silent

    طبيب نفسي - psychiatrist 

    صدقًا- honestly

    نابع عن = Stems from 

    إحاطة = understanding grasping of something

    أنماط =  patterns/stereotypes

    كتمت مشاعري = I suppressed my feelings

    التنمر = Bullying

    فخورة = Proud

    شكرا على المدح = Thanks for the compliment 

    ما بيتناقض مع =Does not contradict with 

     بحنان= Compassionately-tenderly
  • Learn Levantine Arabic with Livi

    Series Two, Episode Two: Armenian Culture, mixing languages and identities with my friend and theatre designer Melissa.

    24/01/2023 | 38 mins.
    Hello and welcome to all the listeners. I disappeared for a while because I was overloaded with work and travel and didn't have enough time to make new episodes for you. And, to be totally honest, I was being a bit lazy....but i've shaken off the laziness and here I am, back to share a new episode with you which is a conversation with my brilliant friend Melissa.

    We'll be hearing a conversation between Melissa and I where we will discuss her work in the world of theatre, Armenian culture, her experiences growing up as Armenian in Lebanon and how she combines multiple languages and cultures together in her life.

    I hope you will find the conversation as interesting and useful as I did.

    Below are the vocab that will help you when listening to the podcast (lots today as an apology for not making an episode for so long!)

    بعتذر مسبقا - I apologise in advance

    مهندسة معمارية - architect

    هندسة معمارية - Architecture

    تصميم المسرح - Theatre design

    شغف - Passion

    كبير الشغف في - My passion grew

    فراغ في /بداخلي - an emptiness inside me

    نوبه - attack/panic

    بالوقت الحالي - now / in the present moment

    إبادة جماعية - Genocide

    انتماء - Belonging

    لبنانية قبل بكفاية / انا لبنانية بشكل كافي - I am Lebanese enough

    متمسكة - Attached/connected

    مواطنة من العالم - Citizen of the world

    ملحوظ - Impressive/distinctive

    بفتكر/ بفكر - I think

    الشتات - The diaspora

    يستعيروا - They borrow

    نزوح/ نازحة،نازح - Exodus / Displaced

    اجدادنا - Grandparents / Our Grandparents منخبر بعض قصص - We tell each other stories

    أكتسبت - I gained / I acquired

    افسر حالي - I explain myself

    مماثل - Similar / Comparable

    برهن - Prove (to prove something)

    بسلط الضو على شي - To shine a light on something / To highlight something
  • Learn Levantine Arabic with Livi

    Series Two, Episode One: Introducing Adam from Gaza and our journeys learning languages.

    24/12/2021 | 36 mins.
    Hello and welcome to all the listeners and a Happy Christmas!

    I hope you are all well and in good health.

    I'm finally ready to make new episodes and this week i'll be talking to my friend Adam from Gaza about our experiences in learning languages.

    Adam is also an Arabic teacher and I advise you to have a go studying with him because he really knows and understands the nuances within Arabic and English and he's super patient with his students. I also benefitted a lot from my conversations with him because he has a Gazan accent (which I am not used to) and I like to be flexible with understanding different accents in the region.

    He's got some spots available for new students if you'd like to try studying Arabic through conversation with him.

    If you'd like more information, send us an email at [email protected]

    I'd also like to say a big thank you to Muhammad, who teaches Arabic on italki. He's from Syria, living in Germany and from time to time I take lessons with him - when I feel like brushing up on my Arabic. He helped me out preparing for this episode and getting my brain in gear after neglecting my Arabic for a few weeks. He's such a great teacher and super encouraging to his students, so check him out! Here is the link to his page on italki: https://www.italki.com/teacher/2678645

    Here is the new vocab for this week. Enjoy!

    أنا عال العال - Couldn’t be better

    فضولي - curious

    دءوب - diligent, perseverant

    بشكل رسمي - formally

    بستحي - I am ashamed

    بخجل - I am shy

    مقالة - Article

    ميزة - characteristic or quality, or feature

    حاجز ذهني - mental block

    أفكار مسبقة سيئة - negative preconceptions

    اتجاهلت - I ignored, I neglected

    استمرارية - continuation

    احنا في الهوى سوى - we are in the wind together - you and be both, we are both in the same shit, used quite humorously.

    حاجة / حاجات - a thing, things

    بتناسبني - it suits me / it fits me

    قدوة - an example or a model

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About Learn Levantine Arabic with Livi

A new podcast for intermediate and advanced students of Levantine Arabic which encourages you to speak confidently and not worry about making mistakes. Each episode includes an interview with a native Arabic speaker, exploring a range of topics and introducing new vocabulary. Livi, the presenter, is not a native speaker, so each week, the native speaker will help her out with her pronunciation and correct any errors she makes.
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