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Essential phrases
The everyday hundred: greetings, courtesies, yes and no, "I don't understand," and the small words that make you sound human rather than robotic.
Essential phrases →
Egyptian Arabic for travellers · Since 2020
Say it like you mean it — in Masri.
You don't need fluent Arabic to travel Egypt well. You need the right hundred phrases, said clearly enough to be understood, and the confidence to use them. Masr Phrase Academy teaches spoken Egyptian Arabic — Masri — the way travellers actually use it: greetings, prices, directions, the market, the café. Free phrasebooks to start, short live courses when you want to go further. No grammar drills, no classical Arabic you'll never hear on the street.
salām ʿalēku — hello
shukran — thank you
bikām da? — how much?
fēn…? — where is…?
maʿlēsh — never mind / sorry
How to learn
Three steps to useful Arabic
No fluency at all is required here. The simple goal is to be understood, and to understand the reply you get back.
1
Learn the survival hundred
Start with the phrases you'll use every single day — greetings, please and thank you, numbers, "how much," "where is." Our free phrasebook groups them by situation so you learn what you'll actually need first.
2
Get the sounds right
Egyptian Arabic has a few sounds English doesn't, and getting close matters more than getting perfect. Our pronunciation guide breaks them down with plain comparisons, so people understand you the first time.
3
Practise live, if you want more
When you're ready, a short live course with a Cairo or Alexandria teacher turns the phrasebook into real conversation — paced for travellers, focused on speaking, not exams.
Where to begin
Pick the situation you need
Six free, traveller-tested guides, organised by what you're actually doing rather than by abstract grammar topics. Full lessons with phrase tables on each page.
Sounds
Pronunciation
The throaty ʿayn, the heavy qaf, the rolled r — explained simply, with the closest English approximations and the ones worth practising.
Pronunciation →
Money
Numbers & money
Counting, prices, bargaining and reading the numerals on a banknote. The single most useful chapter for a market or a taxi.
Numbers & money →
Travel
Getting around
Taxis, directions, the metro, "stop here," "how far." The phrases that get you where you're going without a map argument.
Getting around →
Shopping
At the market
Bargaining without being rude, asking for a better price, "too expensive," "I'll take it." The souk runs on these, and a few words change everything.
At the market →
Reading
Script basics
You don't need to read Arabic to travel, but recognising a few letters and numerals helps. A gentle introduction to the alphabet for the curious.
Script basics →
Why Masri, not "Arabic"
Learn what people actually speak
Most apps and courses teach Modern Standard Arabic — the formal written language of news and books. It's important, but almost nobody speaks it casually. On the street in Cairo or Alexandria you'll hear Egyptian Arabic, Masri, which differs in pronunciation, vocabulary and rhythm. Learn the standard form and you'll still be guessing at a market; learn Masri and you'll be understood from the first "izzayyak."
We teach the spoken language travellers meet, written in a clear transliteration so you can use it before you ever learn the script. Read about how the academy works, start with the essential phrases, or get the sounds right from the beginning.
Want structured practice with a real teacher before your trip? Tell us your dates and level and we'll suggest a short course that fits.
A word on why this matters beyond convenience. Egypt is a place where a little effort with the language is met with real warmth — a shopkeeper who drops the tourist price, a taxi driver who points out something off the route, a family who insists you share their tea. None of that requires fluency. It requires the willingness to try "izzayyak" instead of "hello," to count to ten, to say "the food was delicious" and mean it. Those small moments are the difference between watching Egypt from behind glass and actually being in it, and they are exactly what a focused, traveller-sized handful of Masri unlocks. Everything on this site is built to get you to that point as quickly as possible.
Free to start, always
The phrasebooks and pronunciation guides are free and stay free. Our paid short courses add live practice with a teacher — but you can travel well on the free material alone.
Common questions
Before you start
You can get by in tourist areas with English alone, but a handful of phrases transforms the trip — warmer interactions, better prices, fewer misunderstandings, and genuine goodwill. Even fifty words used confidently make an enormous difference. Start with our essential phrases.
Yes. Egyptian Arabic (Masri) is the spoken dialect of Egypt and differs from Modern Standard Arabic in sounds and everyday words. Because of Egypt's film and music industry it's also the most widely understood dialect across the Arab world. We teach Masri because it's what you'll actually hear and use.
No. Everything in our phrasebooks is written in a clear transliteration you can read immediately. The script is optional and covered separately in script basics for those who want it — useful for reading signs, but not required to speak.
Each phrase uses a consistent, plain transliteration with stress marked, plus comparisons to English sounds. Our pronunciation guide walks through the tricky letters in detail, and our live short courses give you real-time feedback from a teacher.
Both. Short courses run live online for travellers preparing before a trip, and in person in Alexandria for those already here. They're small, speaking-focused and paced for visitors rather than language students. Details on the courses page.
Start speaking before you land
Grab the free phrasebook, or tell us your trip and we'll suggest a short course to get you talking.
Open the phrasebook