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I was in a similar situation to you a few years back. I taught myself the language using the following book:

https://www.amazon.fr/dialecte-Libanais-larabe-litt%C3%A9ral-partie/dp/095288822X

This is the French version which can easily be bought online. There exists an English version that is easy to get your hands on in Lebanon but from abroad I am not sure it is easy to find.

I also found the following book incredibly helpful:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/701-Lebanese-Verbs-Maroun-Kassab/dp/0615751245

Honestly, every Lebanese worth his/her weight in salt should own a copy of that book. It's the closest thing I can find to a Lebanese dictionary (obviously just for verbs).

After learning the language, I started watching some Lebanese TV programs. Being of a younger generation, I can't stand soaps and Lebanese soaps are some of the worst soaps out there. I eventually stumbled on 'Mafi Metlo'. It's a sketch comedy show which is honestly quite funny (at least, the earlier seasons are). The accent they usually speak with is a bog-standard Beiruti one which is the most common you would hear in the media (and one of the easier ones for a person who did not grow up in the Arab world to understand I find). The advantage of watching a show like Mafi Metlo (there are other sketch comedies like 'Ktir Salbeh Show' but I'm not a huge fan of that one) is that you also get a heavy dose of Lebanese culture, politics and (more relevantly to language) idioms and common phrases that you wouldn't pick up in a textbook. This greatly increases your capacity to speak Lebanese since the language is full of (usually unwritten although I do now recall that my grandfather has a book on Lebanese proverbs) such things.

When it comes to Arabic script, Lebanese is hardly ever written (at least by the younger generations) in that script. Most young people will use Latin letters and the Lebanese form of the 'chat arabic alphabet' (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_chat_alphabet ). Note that there is some internal variation in the country as to how certain letters are transliterated. For example, Christians and French educated people tend to use 'ch' to transliterate ش whereas it is usually the case that Non-Christian and English/Arabic educated people will default to 'sh' (forgive me for the sectarianism but it's something valid to be pointed out).

Levantine Arabic (which Lebanese is a form of; to be specific, it is Western Levantine) is surprisingly very formulaic (or perhaps unsurprisingly since it is heavily [and most uniformly] influenced by Aramaic). The more you get used to it, the more you realise the underlying (and sadly not well-exposed pedagogically I find) patterns. To a newish speaker the various forms of Levantine Arabic can sound very different (even within a country: the Tripoli accent is quite different to the Beiruti accent; similarly, Eastern Syrian sounds more like Iraqi than it does Damascene [which is pretty much grouped in Western Levantine afaik]). However, the more exposure you have, the more you realise that these languages all sound very much the same where the differences are mostly due to pronounciation rather than grammatical structure.

As an American who grew up in Beirut I can only tell you how jealous I am.

My advice:

1)Learn Arabic. Yes it's hard, and no you won't master it. And yes, everyone speaks English, French or both...but do it.

2) Learn the history - it's very interesting and people will be impressed that you cared enough to do so.

Start with: http://www.amazon.com/Beirut-Samir-Kassir/dp/0520271262/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348796298&sr=1-1&keywords=Beirut

http://www.amazon.com/Beware-Small-States-Lebanon-Battleground/dp/1568586574/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348796349&sr=1-1&keywords=beware+of+small+states

3) Almost everybody has a home town/village. Learn the geography and accept all invitations to visit. Beirut is great, but you learn Lebanon from the small towns.

4) Yes, Americans are appreciated and given some slack. But get yourself an informal coach there and give them permission to enlighten you on the cultural norms. They are very different than the US and if you can make mistakes only once, you show you are interested and care.

5) The Lebanese food is the best in the Middle East and they are very proud of it. Learn it before you go and try everything....over and over again. Even the stuff you don't like to begin with will grow on you.

6) Find a brie (drinking jug) and learn to drink out of the spout (this means swallowing while the water is still coming out. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cP-2t4P84Og/TI4r2ji5hxI/AAAAAAAABCg/C5ZmKwrNSYI/s1600/IMG_1257.jpg

My friend,

You gave a history lesson, so permit me a little lesson of my own. As someone who has gone through a similar experience to yours, what I can tell you is the following:

Lebanon is an ancient thing. You are Lebanese, by blood, and so your connection to the land that literally shaped your very genes cannot be denied.

Still, you are American by proximity, and so neither can you deny your connection to the land that shaped your very thoughts.

However, despite your ethnicity, and despite your psychology, you are a unique individual first, and the truth is that no matter where you go around the world, those on a good and honest path always share more in common with one another than they do with their own countrymen.

Do not allow your identities to dictate your understanding of the world. Instead, use their strengths to help you frame your own, distinct ideas, and let that become your identity.

The great Irish songwriter, Dominic Behan, got it right when he wrote The Patriot Game in 1956.

Truth be told, nobody will be able to bridge your opposing ideologies but you, yourself. However, others who have gone through the same thing can help, as I hope I might have, in some way.

I would also suggest you look into Being Arab by Samir Kassir, On Identity by Amin Maalouf and last, but most certainly not least, The Book of Khalid by Ameen Rihani.

You might also want to check out Cedars in the Pines, the documentary about the Lebanese in North Carolina that I posted a couple days ago.

Hopefully those will be good enough to get you started, and until then, just remember...

Here's what I found to be the best ones. There are a few here but out of all the ones on Amazon, these are the ones I've seen recommended most or are by reputable authors.

Classic Lebanese Cuisine: 170 Fresh And Healthy Mediterranean Favorites

Julie Taboulie's Lebanese Kitchen: Authentic Recipes for Fresh and Flavorful Mediterranean Home Cooking

Rose Water and Orange Blossoms: Fresh & Classic Recipes from my Lebanese Kitchen

Saha: A Chef's Journey Through Lebanon and Syria

Middle Eastern Cookbook, 150 Recipes

Lebanese Cuisine: More than 200 Simple, Delicious, Authentic Recipes

The Lebanese Kitchen

A Taste of Lebanon: Cooking Today the Lebanese Way

I saw it in the summer, in July. You must go there, the guy who picked up the phone may not know what it is. Below is a link to the an arduino on their website. its quite a ripoff but if you need it then at least this is a good place to buy it.

http://ekt2.com/products/productdetails/412_ARDUINO_ZERO_ORG

Alternatively, you can ask a friend to bring it with from the US for MUCH CHEAPER. i have bought many off of amazon, the link below is a cheap good quality one that i have.

https://www.amazon.com/Elegoo-ATmega328P-ATMEGA16U2-Compatible-Arduino/dp/B01EWOE0UU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1486427055&sr=8-5&keywords=arduino

Finally AliExpress sells them for even cheaper if you are willing to with some more .

Hope this helps and good luck.

There are several resources that I think you might find helpful, however I would advise against the Lebanese YouTuber as she only gives very basic lessons and uses allot of English.

[701 Lebanese Verbs] (https://www.amazon.com/701-Lebanese-Verbs-Maroun-Kassab/dp/0615751245)

The book is good, not great, but the verbs are very very lebanese so that may be a plus.

Also YouTube has quite a few shows in the dialect that are pretty entertaining. If you are advanced I would suggest Ma Fi Metlo, DNA, as well as just searching for anything using the terms "مسلسلات باللهجة اللبنانية"

If you just want to get familiar with the dialect go for either Beirut I Love You (The mini series not the short film) or the film West Beirut as they both have subtitles.

Alain ménargues, Les secrets de la guerre du Liban.



Honestly, the best book by far. It provided all sources, some as scanned documents in the end of the book.

Ménargues was a grand reporter de guerre, and he was in Lebanon the whole war time, or most of it.

As a French, he stayed a lot with Gemayel, and he have a looooot of original document in his possession. Most of them are provided in this book.


They had it in Antoine librairie, if your Beruti, but if not here's a link.




https://www.amazon.fr/Secrets-guerre-Liban-massacres-palestiniens/dp/2226121277



Look carefully if it is the tome 1, but I believe so.


It's to know that it is him that implied the Israeli leadership in the Sabra & Chatila massacre, by quoting a Sharon aid camp know as Scorpio iirc.

Well read the book brother, can never say how well documented and how good it is.

I hope that I've helped. Cheers guys.

Edit: he was the chief of RFI too, which can tell you how serious he was in his journalist job.

Just the latest Pi 3 model B

> http://www.ekt2.com/products/productdetails/412_RASPBERRY_Pi_3

Kit that doesn't include MicoSdcard or HDMI

> http://www.ekt2.com/products/productdetails/412_RASPBERRY_Pi_3_KIT

Amazon CanaKit that I ordered from abroad using Aramex, that includes everything you may possibly need

> https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Complete-Starter-Kit/dp/B01C6Q2GSY

Total price after import was $105 which is a bargain compared to local alternatives, but this is if you're interested in gaming on the Pi

Good Luck

If I leave me beard without oil for a few days it starts to get really unorganized, dry and scraggly. Most beard oils I have used reduced this to some extent : )

For op, you can literally make your own beard oil using some basic ingredients and oils you can probably find in any cosmetic section.
https://www.amazon.ca/ArtNaturals-Organic-Beard-Oil-Conditioner/dp/B0128V0260/ref=sr_1_9?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1511890079&sr=1-9

I like using this one, as its ingredients are pretty basic, and doesn't leave any annoying smells on your face throughout the day.

First google search I pulled on how to make beard oil: https://draxe.com/beard-oil-recipe/

Good luck

You can get them using aramex or company called onyourway.
This is the link to the product from amazon B'Loonies 4 Pack (6 Count) 6 Packs of 4 (24 Total) B'Loonies Four Colors - Green, Yellow, Blue, Red Blow up with 2 GosuToys Stickers https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T2FT9SG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_j2uoDbJ66QBBT

You can get them for 10$ shipping delivered to your door If i remember correctly from onyourway, its pretty cool stuff, so its like what? 22$? I would love that nostalgia trip so i may get one.

A friend of mine who lives in Fredricton told me how awful some winters are with the storms and power cuts (I used to live in Edmonton, so it's basically the same lol), but very beautiful in the summer, will surely visit it!

A bit related to your documentary, there's this book by Anthony Shadid called House of Stone, he talks about how he went back to Lebanon to rebuild an old family house. In his book, he also talks a lot about how his family immigrated to the US in the early 1900s and what they went through to get there, your documentary reminded me a lot of it!

I bought my girlfriend, whose Lebanese this one. We like it. It's nice and broad in its content.

Beirut - Samir Kassir
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beirut-Samir-Kassir/dp/0520271262
I also suggest researching the author :)

What do you think about this review of the book? https://www.amazon.ca/secrets-guerre-Liban-massacres-palestiniens/product-reviews/2226121277/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews