What is the best Moroccan -English dictionary available? Do you have one? Where did you buy it?

Question

I am looking for one my husband and I can both use. He is native Moroccan and I am American.

Answer 1

I went to an 'American' bookstore in Rabat and got a manuscript of Moroccan-English / English-Moroccan. There are plenty of Arabic-English books out there and many travel guides will have basic phrases to get you around.

The problem is that it is 99.9% likely to be classical Arabic or Egyptian arabic... most likely the latter.

To pick up Moroccan Arabic in its 'purest' form one needs to live there and converse with the people who live there. There is one country in the world that speaks this dialect and of those people almost all speak other languages (French, Spanish, Berber, German).

I try to brush up on my French as best as I can so when I don't know how to say something in Moroccan I say it in French and then ask how to say it in Moroccan. Additionally my accent in French is much less than it is in Arabic so the people understand me better.

Thanks

Zelo

http://www.bestmorocco.com

Answer 2

I got an Arabic / English dictionary in Marrakech. It came from a bookstore that I use regularly - was only about £4. If you like Terry Ill get you one when I go there in October  minbad Ramadan inchallah.