La Afham

Whenever travelling to a place whose national language isn’t English, my assumption would be to pack a mini dictionary, or phrase book or at least learn the most essential words such as food and toilet.

So if packing for Dubai, whose official language is Arabic, one would assume to learn the following:

Habibi: Friend

Shukran: Thanks

La Afham: I don’t understand

Min Fadlak: Please

However, of the approx. 2 million living in Dubai, 71% are foreigners and expats. Most working behind the scenes of Dubai’s world-class buildings. So with over 60 nationalities in one city and languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam, Bengali, Tamil, Tagalog, Persian and Chinese, even learning the word ‘food’ would be quite a task. However, despite Arabic being the official language, English is the most commonly spoken word in Dubai. It is taught in schools alongside Arabic.

With road signs even having English translations, I have refined the list of words to know (bare minimum):

Ibn Battuta/ Mercato/ Wafi Mall- different types of Malls in Dubai

Burj Khalifa: tallest building in the world (and still growing)

Sikkat al-Khali Street: Deira Gold Souk (market) and Perfume Souk

Interestingly, I came across the concept of Dinglish- Dubai English on Expat woman. com. It is a more colloquial form of speech, being a mixture of Hindi, Arabic and English. This more recent form of language exchange provokes for a deeper insight into Dubai’s identity, beyond the created cosmopolitan façade into the world of the 71% also shaping this city.  On a lighter note, examples of Dinglish.

http://www.expatwoman.com/dubai/monthly_faqs_language_in_dubai_8458.aspx