Pronunciation ChallengeThe Language Without "Yes" Or "No"

When learning another language, especially as an adult, it’s quite common to assemble your thoughts in your native language first, then translate those thoughts into the target language. For example. I can think “I want a large iced coffee” in English, then translate that to “aisu ko-hi- L saizu de wo onegaishimasu.” in Japanese. But of course, problems can arise when the words you think of in your native language simply don’t exist in the target language. I have some language-learning stories of my own to share related to this topic, but I’ll save those for later. Today’s video gives us a classic example of that in the language of Arabic which, according to the video, lacks the words “yes” or “no”. This is difficult for me to imagine as an English speaker, since “yes” and “no” are probably the two most important words in English, and are used all the time. So in Arabic, what should you say instead of “yes” or “no”? Watch the video and find out! It will help give you a bit of insight into Arabic culture. Right now, however, let’s check out today’s featured sentence.


Sentence:

The next time you meet an Arab and we ask you a question, you don't need to know the language or the answer. Just say... inshallah.

Pronunciation Tips:

question - short e, ‘ch’ sound (not typical ‘tion’ sound)
answer - long a, silent w The ‘er’ sound: you just have to remember how to spell it, because that ‘er’ sound can happen with any vowel (e.g. bird, word, forward, absurd)
blended words - you a, an Aarab, the answer

Vocabulary:
Meet V KK[mit] IPA /miːt/

To meet means to arrange or happen to come into the presence of someone. For example, “I will meet him at the party tonight.”


Similar phr. V: Run into KK[rʌn] [ˋɪntu] IPA /rʌn/ /ˈɪn.tuː/
“Run into” is a similar phrase, although to ‘run into’ someone implies the meeting was unplanned, whereas ‘meet’ could be planned or unplanned. Here’s an example sentence “I was out shopping yesterday when I ran into Bill. He seems to be doing well!”

Synonym: See V KK[si] IPA/siː/
“See” can often be used as a synonym for meet. For example, “OK then, I’ll see you tonight at the restaurant.”

Arab N KK[ˋærəb] IPA/ˈer.əb/
An Arab is a person from Western Asia or North Africa who speaks Arabic as a first language. Here’s an example sentence “My neighbor is an Arab, and he makes the most delicious hummus!”
An adjective for Arab would be Arabian for example “Arabian cuisine”.

Inshallah KK[ɪnˈʃalə] IPA/ɪnˈʃalə/
Inshallah is an Arabic word meaning “If God wills it.” Here’s an example sentence: “Inshallah, there will be peace.”

And that brings us to the end of today’s pronunciation challenge. I live in Taiwan, where Mandarin Chinese is the most commonly spoken language, and one challenge for me is that in Mandarin there is no direct equivalent for the English word “yes”. There is “shì”, but that is the verb ‘to be’, and can’t always be used in the same way that “yes” can be used. So I have to be careful! In Japanese, pronouns are often omitted from sentences. While this doesn’t pose a big problem when speaking, it makes listening difficult, because the context of the sentence needs to be understood before you know specifically who or what is being talked about. So for those of you out there who sometimes struggle with organizing your thoughts in such a way that you can express them in English, believe me when I say that I share your frustrations when speaking Chinese or Japanese.

I’m Jonathan for VoiceTube. Thanks for listening, don’t forget to do your recording, and I’ll catch you next time!

The next time you meet an Arab and we ask you a question, you don't need to know the language or the answer.