Learn some French and Arabic
Are you fluent in French? Although Arabic is the official language of Morocco, French is widely spoken, particularly in cities such as Marrakesh. When it comes to bartering, asking for directions, and other things like calling a taxi, speaking French or Arabic might truly open doors for you.
Morocco has a diverse population, but the two official languages are Modern Standard Arabic and Amazigh (Berber). The majority of Moroccans speak French as their second language. Because English is not as widely spoken as French, you may find it difficult to converse at times.
The larger communication difficulty for us was Moroccans' widespread belief that visitors would comprehend French. That meant that a lot of people would start chatting to us in French quickly as we stared at them blankly. And they seemed to assume that by not replying, we were being impolite.
However, written French and English both utilize the same characters. So, even if you can't pronounce your hotel or riad name correctly, you can display it to your taxi driver on your phone and they'll be able to figure out where you're trying to go. Nonverbal queues, of course, help a lot.
The Google Translator app can also be really useful. There is a list some useful French/Arabic phrases below.
- Hello = f: Bonjour/a: Samaal alikum
- Thank you = f: Merci/a: Shukran
- How much is this? = f: Combien/ a: Kam althaman
- Where is? = f: ou est /a: ‘ayn hu
