Lebanese Public Service Announcements

On the MTV Lebanon website there is a daily clip called Minal (مين ال). The title is a pun. Every clip ends with him saying مين قال؟ انا ال. بشوفكم بكرة (Who said? I'm Al. I'll see you tomorrow.) The word قال and the guy's name ال (Al) are pronounced the same way in Lebanese. You'll get the pun better after you watch the clip.

The daily 1-minute clips have information about anything and everything. There is one about oatmeal and one about neck ties. They are good for someone learning Arabic because they cover words for everyday things and they are short. I learned how people say hairdryer in Lebanon from the episode on hair loss. It's سشوار (sishwaar). There is a bit of English and French thrown into these clips, but that's authentic for Lebanon. There is just so much context in these clips that even if there's a word you don't know, you can usually guess what it means from it either being written in English on the green screen background or drawn. They showed a picture of a hair dryer when they said سشوار.

This clip is about Champagne. I've included the transcript and key vocabulary words.




هاي. بأهم المناسبات و الأعياد بتكون قنينة الشامبانيا موجودة على الطاولة. شامبانيا أصله نبيذ بس مش نبيذ عادي انما في مفرقعات او سباركلنج. الأهم من هيك أنه هو بس من منطقة شامبانيا بفرانسا. و مش كل السباركلنج واينز بيحق إلهن يسمو شامبانيا. بس يللي موجودين بهالمنطقة. نوع العنب يللي مصنوع منه الشامبانيا هني البينو نوار, شاردوناي, و البينو مونياي. الضغط يللي موجود بقنينة شامبانيا هو 3 مرات أكثر من ضغط دواليب سيارة

Hi. On the most important occasions and holidays there is a bottle of Champagne on the table. Champagne is basically wine but not just any wine for it has fire works (he means the bubbles) or sparkling. More important than that is that it is only from the Champagne region in France. And not all sparkling wines are allowed to be named Champagne. Only those that are found in this region. The type of grapes that Champagne is made from are Pino Noir, Chardonnay, and Pino Meunier. The pressure in a bottle of Champagne is 3 times greater than the pressure of car tires.

تعرفو أنه ماريلن مونرو أخذت بوبلي باث او حمام بشامبانيا؟ و عازت أكثر من 350 قنينة لتعبي الباث توب. شامبانيا يُعد من المشروبات الروحية الأغلى و الأكثر عظمة. اكتُشف عدد هائل من القناني على متن التايتانيك. المفرقعات الموجودة بالشامبانيا تطلع من الكعب لسطح الكاس. و الشامبانيا يللي نوعيته منيحة البوبولز بيطلعو على مدار الكاس و مش بس بالنص. مين قال أنه اكسبيرينس الشامبانيا بتبلّش من فتح القنينة؟ انا ال. بشوفكن بكرة

Did you know that Marilyn Monroe took a bubbly bath, or a Champagne bath? And it took more than 350 bottles to fill the bath tub. Champagne is considered among the most expensive and most luxurious spirit drinks. A huge number of bottles were found on board the Titanic. The bubbles found in Champagne go from the bottom to the surface of the glass. And in good quality Champagne the bubbles go all around the glass, not just in the middle. Who said that the Champagne experience begins upon opening the bottle? I'm Al. I'll see you tomorrow.


Key Vocabulary:

قنينة (aneeneh) - bottle
نبيذ (nbeed) - wine
مفرقعات (mufarqa'aat) - fireworks
بيحق إلهن (bee ha' ilun) - they deserve to be/they have the right to be
دواليب سيارة (dawaaleeb sayyaara) - automobile tires
تعبّى (ta'abba) - to fill
على مدار ('ala madaar) - all around. A common phrase used by news stations is على مدار الساعة which means "around the clock", as in around the clock coverage.
بلّش (bellish) - to start