Anyone who knows the Arab world knows that the language, the slang, the turns of phrase and the sounds change in the speaking of Arabic depending upon where you are.
For those who spend a bit more time in the region, you soon come to recognise the nationalities behind those various dialects.
Once a foreigner comes to master a particular dialect they come to be seen in a totally different light – really speaking the local lingo earns you a lot of brownie points in the Arab world.
With her pitch perfect Hijazi (Western Saudi) accent, Shannon Elizabeth is building up quite a following in the Arab speaking world.
She teaches English and American slang via her You Tube channel called AnisaAmrekeeya – have a watch of one of her videos explaining slang words such as ‘legit’.
Her conversational style using Arabic with her Hijazi twist is winning her a little following as well as regional coverage and PR including a recent news story on Arab News.
“I get a fair number of ‘how much is your dowry’ and ‘where does your father live so I can ask for your hand in marriage’ type of questions,” the rising online star told the Arab News.
As well as writing a blog (in Arabic!) the American teacher has also published a book called “Al-A’ameeya Al-Amrekeeya” (American Slang) which was published by the Dubai-based Madarek Publishing House.
In fact, Dubai is where her journey all began as this is where she for Saudi media company MBC back in 2014 and where she first learned Arabic.
She found herself perfecting the Hijazi twang due to landing a small role in an MBC drama which required her to speak like the ‘locals’. The accent stuck and the rest is history!
“Honestly, when I came to Dubai seven years ago, I knew nothing about the Gulf or Arabic language, culture and traditions. I will say that I am grateful to know amazing people from many different countries.”
