Egypt

Language

Some English is spoken by most people involved in tourism: hotel clerks, shopkeepers etc, and many Egyptians take every opportunity to try their language skills on visitors to their country. A little patience with a waiter practising his English will pay dividends.

Shopkeepers even come out with buzzwords designed to appeal to their customers. Thus, after establishing you are British - "where you from?" is usually the first question of anyone you meet - they will say "lubbly jubbly" or "Asda price" with a large grin.

Shopkepers are friendly, but persistent. Knowing some Arabic can be helpful

Although it is difficult for the westerner to get his tongue around some arabic words, Egyptians appreciate any attempt to speak their language. Some useful phrases (shown here as they sound) are:
"shukran" = "thank you"
"lah" = "no" (you will use "lah, shukran" a lot)
"aywa" = "yes"
"salaam alla aykum" = "hello" (the reply is "alla aykum es salaam")
"imshi!" = "go away!" (use only when absolutely necessary)

Written arabic is even more difficult for the westerner to learn in a short holiday. Fortunately, most signs are also in English and/or graphical.

More Egyptian basics

Travel phrases