If you plan to travel to a country where the national language is Arabic, you should know some of the common Arabic greetings. They are sometimes referred to as survival phrases because no matter where you are in an Arab country, you will undoubtedly need to know some of the language. What happens if you get lost or if you are introduced to someone who cannot speak your native language? It could be an important business contact and when this person sees you are making an effort to speak the language, it could mean the difference between sealing and losing the deal you want to make.

Every Arabic language learning course will start off with the basic words and phrases, such as:

- Naaam ?yes

- Laa - no

- Min faDlik - Please

The most common greetings in the Arabic language that you will learn when you start taking a course in the language include:

- How are you? - kaifa Haluk? This can change if you are speaking specifically to a man or a woman. For example Kaifa haloka is the masculine form while Kaifa haloki is the feminine form.

- I am fine, thank you. - anaa bikhayr shokran

- What is your name? - maa ismuk?

- My name is... ?ismii...

- I don't understand. - anaa laa afham

Learning to say good morning and good night is also an essential part in learning how to greet others ion Arabic. Some of these phrases that would be beneficial to know include:

- Good Morning ?Sabah el kheer

- Good Night ?Tosbeho khair (if you are speaking to a male) and Tosbeheena khair (if you are speaking to a female)

- Good-bye salama

- Hi ?Salam

- Thank You ?Shokran

- Can you help me? Hal beemkanek mosa dati?

- How much is this? - Kam howa thamanoh?

- Do you speak English? - Hal tatakallamu alloghah alenjleziah?

- I sorry (not understanding) ?fwan

- I sorry (made a mistake) ?Aasef

The spelling and the pronunciation of the various words used in common greetings can also be different depending on the dialect of Arabic that you learn. This will also make a difference in being able to understand those speaking to you. The best choice in an Arabic course is to learn to speak and write in standard Arabic. Just about all Arab speakers can understand this form of the language, even though they may consider it a formal type of speech. Once you do have knowledge of the language, you will easily pick up the dialect of those with whom you speak most often and will gradually make the adaptations to your speech.

You can learn many of the Arabic words and phrases you need from a book but if you rely on this resource alone, you will not learn how to pronounce the words. You will speak with the accent of your own language and some of the sounds used in the Arabic language are not used in other language. Just as in English, the way you pronounce the word conveys a meaning, so if you do not know how to say the word you could be conveying a message completely different from what you intend.