La bess

Today was a day for getting to know people and getting familiar with Morocco. Since I am a language teacher, I would like to share some of the simple but essential terms for getting around in Morocco:

• Salaam aleikum = Peace Be With You (Hello)
• Aleikum Salaam = With You Be There Peace (Response to Hello)
• Shukran = Thank you
• La shukra alla wajeeb = No thanks for an obligation (You're welcome)
• La bess? = No problem? (How are things going?)
• La bess = No problem (Things are going well.)
• Smeetik? = What is your name?
• Ismee _______ = My name is _________
• Waha = Okay
• Shkoon? = Who?
• Eshnoo? = What?
• Fokash? = When?
• Feen? = Where?
• Alesh? = Why?
• M'sh-hall? = How much?
• Mzeeyen = Good
• Khaib = Bad
• B'salama = Goodbye

An interesting thing it is to greet someone in Morocco. If you know the person or are introduced by a friend, you kiss cheek to cheek and a good friend will end on the last cheek with a spurt of kisses as if it is hard to let you go (a bit awkward, but nice). Then comes the "La bess" litany. "La bess", as I mentioned above, means "no problem". The Moroccans use it to ask a litany of questions when you first greet each other. A greeting between two people usually goes something like this:

• "La bess?" ("No problem?")
• "La bess." ("No problem.")
• "Inta la bess?" ("No problem with you?")
• "La bess." ("No problem.")
• "Saha la bess?" ("Your health, no problem?")
• "Saha la bess." ("My health no problem.")
• "Draree la bess?" ("Your children no problem?")
• "Draree la bess." ("My children no problem.")
• "Hedma la bess?" ("Your work no problem?")
• "Hedma la bess." ("My work no problem.")
• "Coolshee la bess?" ("Everything no problem?")
• "Coolshee la bess" ("Everything no problem.")
• "Hemdoollah." ("Praise be to God.")
• "Hemdoollah." ("Praise be to God.")

Moroccan Arabic is very different from Arabic elsewhere (although it is very similar to Algerian or Tunisian Arabic). It is influenced heavily by the French and Spanish colonial era as well as by the Berber way of speaking. As a French teacher, I am most intrigued by the French words that have become part of the regular social discourse in Morocco, even if someone doesn't know French. Since so many words in French and Spanish are similar, it is sometimes hard to tell if the word in Moroccan dialect came from French or Spanish.

For example, when a Moroccan wants to tell someone to "hurry up", they often will say "serbee" which is an aberration of the French word "service" (ser-vees). Here is a list of French terms that regularly occur in Moroccan dialect:

• Tomobeel from automobile
• D'accord
• La gare
• Bolees from police
• Speetal from hôpital

Of course, I am able to get around quite well just speaking French. It is nice, though, to show the people here that I am interested in their language and culture.