Episode Seven: Loving Morocco, Leaving Morocco- On Immigration

Salam dear listeners, inchallah you are all well. I am excited to share with you the last episode of Season One.

I will be starting graduate school this fall, so I will not have time to publish weekly episodes, but I will be back for Season Two in December. In the meantime, I am going to try and continue posting Darija and Morocco related content on Instagram. You can follow me @salamzinazwina. I would also love to hear from you! If you have feedback about the podcast or topics you would like me to discuss in Season Two, please send me a message.

For the Season One finale, I am joined by a new guest, Ustadha Fatima Zahra (and yes, she shares a name with a previous guest, but this is a different Fatima Zahra!). Ustadha Fatima Zahra has taught Darija and Modern Standard Arabic at the Arab American Language Institute in Morocco (AALIM) for 16 years. She is also an ACTFL certified Arabic tester and participated in the Arabic Flagship Program at The University of Texas at Austin. 

Today we discuss immigration in Morocco. Ustadha Fatima Zahra shares how immigration has evolved during her lifetime and become a major decision that young Moroccans face. We talk about the opportunities and challenges that can draw people abroad, including employment, education, healthcare, and the hope for a higher quality of life.

We also discuss Fatima Zahra’s experience in America, and why she ultimately will never leave Morocco permanently. We also explore the question: How can someone deeply love their country and still feel that they need to leave it?

Fatima Zahra uses quite a few advanced terms in Modern Standard Arabic throughout today’s episode, so you may notice that the vocabulary list is longer than usual. Since this is the final episode for the next few weeks, I am leaving you with an extra vocab list.

As always, khtwa b khtwa (step by step), and I’ll see you all in Season Two, inchallah!

الهجرة- Immigration

 كيهاجر-  He immigrates

ناحية إنسانية- Human perspective

مستوى أعمق- Deeper level

صعوبات وتحديات - Difficulties and hardships

مشاعر معقدة - Complicated feelings

قضية- Issue 

حواس -Feelings

خروج الاستعمار الفرنسي - The departure of  French colonization

كيساهمو في تنمية البلاد - They contribute to developing their country

اغراءات-Incentives

انبهرو /انبهار- They were impressed by

باش يحقق داك الحلم- So he can achieve that dream

حقه الاكتشاف -His right to explore

تحقيق الذات -Self fulfillment or self actualization

نموذج- Model

جودة في الحياة - Quality of life

رعاية صحية- Healthcare 

ظاهرة- Phenomenon

ثمن معقول - Reasonable price

يتشوقو أكتر يعيشوا ديك الحياة الحديثة المتطورة -They long to live that modern and developed life

جامعة منفتحة  -Open minded university

التنوع الثقافي - Cultural diversity 

ما كيخليش ينسلخ من تقافتة - It does not make me detach myself from my culture

نستقر/ استقرار- I settle down/ stability 

تقدير - Appreciation

التقافة ديالي لا تقل عنها في شيء- My culture is in no way inferior 

الجذور- Roots 

فيها ما يدار وفيها ما يتشاف- It is worth experiencing, desirable, worth it

يستحقوا- They deserve

 تاريخ عريق - Ancient history 

كيف أنا نبغي نستفد من تقافات الآخرين بغيت حتى هم يستفدوا من التقافة ديالي - Similar to how I benefit from others' cultures, I want them to benefit from my culture

نية أوساذجين- Naive 

لا يمكن الإنكار- You cannot deny

 كيزيد قدام- To move forward/progress

سبل وطرق- Ways/paths

مجهودات- Efforts

التأمين - Insurance

الدول الغربية قطعت أشواط كبيرة -Western countries have made great strides

أحنا غاديين في الخطة ديالها- We are following in her path 

ينمو المواهب ديالهم - They grow their talents  

الذنب- Guilt

الأمل - Hope

تكتسب الخبرة - You acquire experience

بدأو يحكمو على- They began to  judge

خبر استعجالي - Breaking news

ممر العبور- Passageway

يتسراو- They stroll for take a walk for leisure

كل واحد الحق باش يحسن حياته - Everyone has the right to better his life

أوروبا كتعاني من شيخوخة السكان- Europe struggles with an aging population 

 كيندمجوا / اندماج-They assimilate

نجرب حظي - I try my luck