EPT![[image loading]](http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/1635/37992317.jpg)
Purpose:
The purpose of this guide is to use the starcraft units, buildings, structures, etc. in order to enable you the reader to be able to speak basic Arabic by the end of the guide. The main purpose is to concentrate on speech and writing, since writing in Arabic is very intensive if you took a look at the characters used speech would be the easier one to get a hold of. By using starcraft, the experience will be much more fun and easy to understand
! I am hoping that you enjoy reading this guide as much as o3.power91 and I enjoyed writing it.How?
The main way or method I am going to use to enhance your learning experience is by using images of starcraft related things along with exercises in order to use already known words(lurker, marine, zergling etc.) to create conversation between player, units, and other units.
What will this cover?
I am covering 3 sections through this guide:
1- Letters and alphabet.
2- Numbers.
3- Combining both to create basic speech.
Section 1: Letters and the alphabet
![[image loading]](http://kuwait-stamps.com/images/arabic.gif)
The image above shows all 28 Arabic characters in each of their possible forms. There are some notes that have to be taken in order to be able to read. It is important to note that, unlike English, Arabic is read/written from right to left instead of left to right.
The name column shows the name of each of the letter and gives a sound that it makes but not necessarily the actual pronunciation. (ie: just like in English the letter “i” is named “eye,” but is not pronounced that way in a word such as “Medic”)
When looking at Arabic words, you often see letters separated or connected to one another. This is because there are certain rules needed to be aware of for the placement and form of letters in a word. The image of the alphabet above helps show some of these rules:
- If a letter starts at the beginning of a series of connected letters, it takes the form of the initial character in the image.
- In the same way, if the letter is in the middle of a series of connected letters, it takes the form of the medial character in the image.
- Like you probably have guessed, if the letter is at the end of a series of connected letters, it takes the form of the final character in the image.
As you may have noticed, some letters do not have initial and medial forms. In the case that one of these letters is at the end of a series of connected letters or is the first letter of a word:
- The following letter is to take the initial form regardless of whether it is in the middle of the actual word or not. For example in the word “ﺭﺟﻞ” the letter “ﺭ” does not have a medial or initial form therefore, they will have to be followed by a letter in its initial or isolated form.
- If the letter without a medial or initial form is at the start of a word like in the above example, it takes its isolated form.
- If the letter following the letter without a medial or initial form is the last letter of the word OR also does not have a medial or initial form, it takes its isolated form. Example: “ﺣﺎﺝ”
Vowels: There are 3 letters considered “vowels” in the Arabic alphabet: “ﺍ,” “ﻭ,” and “ﻱ.” These letters result in the same pronunciation as in the image unless they are placed after another letter in the same word. In that case, the following pronunciation rules apply:
- “ﺍ” which when placed AFTER another letter in the same word makes a long “ah” sound as in the name “Han.” Example: “ﺣﺎﺝ” is pronounced “haj” with a long “ah” sound.
- “ﻭ” which when placed AFTER another letter in the same word makes a long “o” sound as in the word “lose”
- “ﻱ” which when placed AFTER another letter in the same word makes a long “e” sound as in the word “feed.” In some cases, it can make an “ai” sound as in the word “main.” Often mistaking the two pronunciations is common in beginners and can be solved with a small amount of experience and practice.
Notes regarding the pronunciation key above that should be taken into consideration:
- Pronunciations that have a “.” under an English character mean that it is pronounced more deeply. For example the letter “ﺽ” makes the “dh” sound of the “Dharma Initiative” (from Lost).
- The pronunciation of the “dh” sound in the letter “ﻧ” is like that of the “th” sound in the word “the.”
- The letter “ﻉ” makes a deep “a” sound which I cannot explain through English words except in the sound you make while being strangled (or an angry “a” sound).
- The letter “ﻈ” does not actually make a deep “z” sound but rather a sound very similar to the letter “ﺽ.” These 2 Arabic letters are almost impossible for non-native speakers to differentiate in pronunciation so I will not go into too much detail.
Although the deep-sound letters may be hard to pronounce at first, it is not a very big issue as it is perfectly normal for non-native Arabic speakers to have problems pronouncing them at first. These deep-sound letters are also a factor as to why the Arabic language at times sounds “angry.” XD
Now let us use starcraft unit names and buildings in order to comprehend how each of those letters when put in a word are pronounced, the following image shows examples of Arabic words that represent units, building, etc. within the starcraft universe:
![[image loading]](http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/5736/starcraftarabic.jpg)
As you can see, this might be tricky at first but referring to the 1st image try and read those Arabic words slowly a few times until you start getting the hang of how each of the letters are pronounced within a word.
Exercise:
Each of the following practice exercises have the name of a Starcraft unit written in Arabic text. Try to read it out loud to yourself and make out what unit it is. The answer is in the spoiler. If you are new to learning Arabic, then you are most likely going to take some time reading individual words so don’t feel bad if you spend 15 minutes looking back at the pronunciation guide and word over and over. Practice makes perfect! Good luck.
غوست
+ Show Spoiler +
![[image loading]](http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/starcraft/images/4/44/Ghost_SC1_HeadAnim1.gif)
فاير بات
+ Show Spoiler +
![[image loading]](http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/starcraft/images/2/23/Firebat_SC1_HeadAnim1.gif)
ديفاورر
+ Show Spoiler +
![[image loading]](http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/starcraft/images/d/d3/Devourer_SC1_GameAnim1.gif)
كويين
+ Show Spoiler +
![[image loading]](http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/starcraft/images/e/e1/Queen_SC1_GameAnim1.gif)
أولترا ليسك
+ Show Spoiler +
![[image loading]](http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/starcraft/images/3/32/SC1_Ultralisk.gif)
If you want additional practice reading Arabic text take a look at Arabic websites such as:
http://www.alaswaq.net/
There is some text in fancy fonts which you can disregard. Even if you do not understand the language just yet, you can at least try to read individual words. This will help you practice your reading skills a lot.
Section 2: Numbers
Weird enough the numbers used along with the Arabic language are actually the Indian numeric system, while the numbers used in most other languages such as English are in fact the Arabic numbers. Thus I won't use the Indian numeric system to represent the numbers however I will use the Arabic system and concentrate on the how to pronounce the number in the Arabic language.
The picture below shows how to pronounce the Arabic numbers from 1-10:
![[image loading]](http://danielschereck.com/wp2002arabia/arabicimages2/text-arabic-numbers0-9.jpg)
Now using the basic numbers, I will lead on to incorporate the use of numbers into a starcraft related exercise that you can do to get the hang of this:
How many zerglings are in this picture ?
![[image loading]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_i9u1_OaCZM4/RZBIleMGXUI/AAAAAAAAAPw/Cc8XH1w7dhc/s400/SC-07Zerglings.jpg)
+ Show Spoiler +
7 سبعة
How many Dragoons are in this picture?
![[image loading]](http://www.creepcolony.com/ss13.jpg)
+ Show Spoiler +
10 عشرة
How many Overlords are in this picture?
![[image loading]](http://classic.battle.net/images/battle/scc/br/pics/7vs10/2/s17.jpg)
+ Show Spoiler +
1 واحد
How many zealots are in this picture?
![[image loading]](http://www.carlsguides.com/pictures/starcraft/protoss10expand.jpg)
+ Show Spoiler +
5 خمسة
How many sunkens are in this picture?
![[image loading]](http://loot-ninja.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/starcraft.png)
+ Show Spoiler +
إثنين 2
Sections 3: Basic Speech
In this section we are going to introduce useful phrases and words etc. that can be used when having basic conversation with a person who speaks Arabic. We are also going to make a small conversation between 2 starcraft units, which will be revealed a bit later in this section and I hope you like this section since this was the most fun to make!
Basic Arabic Speech:
Arabic phrase / Pronunciation / English Translation
السلام عليكم / Al-salaam Alaykum / Peace be upon you
كيف حالك؟ / kayf haluka? / How are you?
أنا بخير / Ana bekhayr / I am fine
من ي بلدة أنت؟ / men ay baldaa ant / From which country are you?
Now be prepared for some conversation made by no other than o3.power91 and his weird imaginations LOL! Notice that 1st comes the pronunciation then the Arabic sentence and then the English translation:
Conversation 1:
*in a store (fee al souq/في السوق)*
Customer: Salam alaikum/ السلام عليكم/ Peace be upon you
Shop-guy: 3alaikum alsalam/ و عليكم السلام/ Peace be upon you too
Customer: Kam hatha alketab?/كم هذا الكتاب؟/ How much is this book?
Shop-guy: Hatha ashra dollar amreeki/هذه عشر دولارات أمريكية/10 American dollars
Customer: Kam hatha fee dinar Bahraini?/كم هذا في الدينار البحريني؟/ How much is that in Bahraini Dinars?
Shop-guy: taqreeban thalatha dinar./تقريبا ثلاثة دينار/ Approximatly3 Dinars
Customer: hasanan, ana sawfa ashtari hatha al ketaab. Shukran.
/حسننا سوف أشتري هذا الكتاب شكرا
Thanks I will buy it.
Conversation 2:
*a long time from now, in a galaxy far far away*
Marine: Salam alaikum ya lurker!/ Hi! Peace be upon you lurkerالسلام عليكم يا ليركر
Lurker: Wa alaikum alsalam ya marine al sagheer./ و عليك السلام أيها المرين الصغير
and peace be upon you little marine
Marine: Kayf halek ilyowm?/كيف حالك اليوم؟ /How are you today?
Lurker: Ana bukhair, wa int?/ أنا بخير و أنت؟/ I am fine ,you?
Marine: Ana bukhair./.أنا بخير / I am fine
Lurker: Wa kayf halek aaelatek/وكيف حال عائلتك؟/ How is your family?
Marine: hum bukhair./هم بخير/ They are all fine.
Lurker: Wa kayf haal hatha medic al halew?/ و كيف حال هذا المديك الحلو؟
/ and How are those lovely medic?
Marine: kulhum maoto ams besabab hatha al shakhs lee jae dong/
./ كلهم ماتوا أمس من هذا الشخص لي جي دونغ
They all died because of some person called Lee Jae Dong
Lurker: Maatha Hadatha lahum?/ماذا حدث لهم؟/ What happened to them?
Marine: Kulhum mashoo maa'a marines ilal base mal al zerg wa hatha al matkhalaf fantasy nasa an yafa'al al stim./
كلهم مشومع المرينز الى بيس الزيرغ وهذا المتخلف فانتاسي نسي أن يفعل الستيم
They all went with the marines to the zerg base but that retarded fantasy forgot to stim!
Lurker: lol
Marine: ba'ad maat kul al marine wa medics./ بعدين مات كل المارين و الميديك
All the medics and marines died after that.
Lurker: kaanoo yosarekhoon?/ Were they screaming?كانوا يصارخون؟ /
Marine: na'am. Sarekh bethaja, ana samath min al barracks./نعم! صريخ بضجه, سمعته من الباركس
Yeah! I heard them scream from the Barracks!
Lurker: lol. Kayfa halo akhook?/ كيف حال أخوك؟/ And your brother how is he?
Marine: akhee mat ma'ahum./ أخي مات معهم./My brother died with them T.T
Lurker: na'am, ana aarf./ Yes, I know!/ نعم أنا أعرف
Marine: kayfa ta'ref ant?/ كيف تعرف أنت؟/ How do you know?!
Lurker: lianee qataltah bel ams/ لأني قتلته بل الأمس/ Because I killed him yesterday!
Marine: Matha? kayfa qatala?/مذا؟! وكيف قتلته؟ / What?! And how did you do that?!
Lurker: anee adakhel fee al ardh wa aqtala ma'a spines./
إني أدخل في الأرض و أقتله مع السباين
I went inside the ground and started hitting him with spines.
Marine: bin gahba inta. sawfa aqtalak alheen./بن قحبه أنته, سوف أقتلك الان
You son of a Bich! I am gonna kill you!
Lurker: Bafajer Raasak alaan. *burrow and kill marine*/ بفجر راسك الان
I will blow your head now!
Marine: aarrghh.
Ending Note: Me and O3.power91 have worked for about a week on this project and we are really excited to finally let it out! I hope you guys enjoy it! I hope this can earn us the beta keys we want so badly ^^!
Thanks alot! ^^
