Getting started
Listen to a short clip three times: for topic, for details, then to check with available written help. This page offers a listening video and two written dialogues to be read by a partner. These dialogues are separate exercises, not transcriptions of the video.
A video to work on listening
Watch the video: Darija Talk Podcast: listening training
The video is published by Learn Darija With KAWTAR. Start with twenty to thirty seconds. If the excerpt is too difficult, shorten it or choose a more guided lesson, like our reading and pronunciation resource .
Three listens with three goals
- Subject: listen without stopping. Notice what people seem to be talking about, even if you only recognize a few words.
- Details: listen again and look for information: a name, a place, a number or a request.
- Verification: use the displayed text, subtitles if they exist, or the help of a partner. Correct your notes.
Automatic subtitles may contain errors. If a word remains uncertain, keep the passage and ask a speaker for an explanation. Avoid memorizing a phrase just because a subtitle presents it that way.
Dialogue 1: getting to know each other
Ask a partner to read this dialogue without showing you the lines. First names and location are examples. Then answer: what is the person’s name and where do they live?
Show the dialogue and its meaning
- A: Shno smitek ?
What's your name? - B: Smiti Yassine.
My name is Yassine. - A: Fin sakn ?
Where do you live? — to a man. - B: Ana sakn f Rabat.
I live in Rabat. — male speaker.
Check answers
The person's name is Yassine and lives in Rabat. The clues are the words following Smiti and sakn f .
For a second try, your partner can change the first name and the city. This variation forces you to listen to the information instead of reciting the answer.
Dialogue 2: order a drink
Have this second dialogue read. Look for two pieces of information: what drink is requested and with what precision?
Show the dialogue and its meaning
- Customer: Bghit atay, 3afak.
I would like some tea, please. - Service: B s-sukkar ?
With sugar? - Customer: La, bla sukkar, 3afak.
No, no sugar, please. - Service: Wakha.
Okay.
Check answers
The customer asks for tea without sugar. Atay indicates the drink and bla sukkar means “sugar-free”.
Replay the scene accepting the sugar. Your partner can then modify the drink. The guide for ordering from cafe and restaurant helps to prepare other variations.
Keep track of what you understand
After each session, note the length of the extract, the number of times it was listened to and two pieces of information included. Come back to the same excerpt a few days later. You will be able to compare your own notes without transforming an informal exercise into an official level test.
The dialogues on this page are original educational scripts. For a listening session without a partner, use the video above or the recordings offered with the resources from Peace Corps Morocco . Written scripts do not have their own record here.