Working On Gallery Vol. 8 - No.1
Guest Teacher: Mona Khattab
Curator: Naoko Fujimoto
Guest Teacher: Mona Khattab
Curator: Naoko Fujimoto
Let's Go & Do It is a theme for the Working On Gallery Vol.8.
The theme was inspired by the word, "Yalla" (يلا), which means "Let's Go / Come On / Hurry Up" in Egyptian Arabic. I will be committing more hands-on experience for the Vol.8. I will still introduce writers, poets, translators, professors, and artists in the gallery, but I want to be more proactive on interacting with them. I will visit their countries, share face-to-face time, and celebrate living on this timeline together.
Since the pandemic in 2020, I was a bit slow - perhaps negative. Even though I was very active on publishing pieces and being a part of my literary community, my emotions had not fully lifted until now. Throughout my Egyptian Arabic journey and visiting Egypt, my mindset is more active and present. My translation book "of Women" is forthcoming in 2026, so I am indeed starting my engine.
Please enjoy reading my first article in Vol. 8.
The theme was inspired by the word, "Yalla" (يلا), which means "Let's Go / Come On / Hurry Up" in Egyptian Arabic. I will be committing more hands-on experience for the Vol.8. I will still introduce writers, poets, translators, professors, and artists in the gallery, but I want to be more proactive on interacting with them. I will visit their countries, share face-to-face time, and celebrate living on this timeline together.
Since the pandemic in 2020, I was a bit slow - perhaps negative. Even though I was very active on publishing pieces and being a part of my literary community, my emotions had not fully lifted until now. Throughout my Egyptian Arabic journey and visiting Egypt, my mindset is more active and present. My translation book "of Women" is forthcoming in 2026, so I am indeed starting my engine.
Please enjoy reading my first article in Vol. 8.
Mona Khattab in Cairo
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Mona Khattab is a private Egyptian Arabic language teacher. Her students work in well-established fields such as governmental offices, international relations, and creative industries from all over the world. Some of her students were from London, Bangkok, Tokyo, Austin, and Mexico City. Her most recent student has a YouTube channel that explores Egyptian Arabic language and customs with her as a cultural guide. She teachers in Cairo and online. The lessons are all private and customizable. She is available at: mona [dot] khattab [dot] 2013 [AT] gmail [dot] com If the email was not reached, please contact me with your active email address. I am happy to connect you to her. |
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As many of you know, my book "GLYPH" has an element of the concept behind ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. This is a fun fact, now my book and The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Graphic Literature are available at the Alexandria Bibliotheca. I hand delivered them to Alexandria in Egypt. I had a strong admiration for ancient Egyptian history. Indeed, I wrote, "I bought a coffin to spend all my allowances at the British Museum" in my diary when I was eleven. Egyptian Arabic is different from Standard Arabic. It has been four months for me to realize that well-known fact. First, I downloaded Duolingo in January 2025. I committed to access every day for twenty minutes taking notes seriously. I learned their alphabets and basic pronunciations. My scores were pretty good. I was always high in the Arabic category rankings. Then, I met an Egyptian professor visiting in Los Angels. I was like, "I am going to have a conversation with him!" Guess what he said to me after I said a couple words. |
Mona and Me in Cairo
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"Naoko, could you please, please speak in English."
- Egyptian Professor
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He explained to me that Egyptian Arabic is slightly different from Standard Arabic. The Duolingo App may contain several dialogues of Arabic; therefore, what I learned did not make sense to Egyptian Arabic Speakers. Why did nobody inform me about this! So I was discouraged for several weeks and gave up learning Arabic. I slowly started watching some YouTube language channels in June again. I watched a couple every day taking notes, but I was not sure what I could believe. In addition, some pronunciations were pretty hard; especially the sound of a scratchy throat. I know my pronunciation was horrible because I cannot do certain English pronunciations. I also had a difficult time learning Italian because of my strong Japanese accent. What should I have expected? Therefore, I asked Chloe Bordewich for help. I met her at the Bread Loaf Translators' Conference. She is a Montreal-based researcher, writer, editor, and translator focused on the history of information and the politics of historical narrative in the Eastern Mediterranean. She introduced me to my Egyptian Arabic teacher, Mona Khattab. |
The Great Egyptian Museum (GEM)
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In this YouTube video, my teacher is in the pink shirt. She had several interviews and lessons with her student, Gisselle on the left side. There are many interesting episodes, so I strongly recommended visiting the channel if you are interested in more.
English is my second language, and I also teach Japanese composition and English creative writing, so I understand how hard it can be to acquire a foreign language. I took only ten lessons, but I was communicating with locals. My Egyptian Arabic was not perfect, but it was more than good enough for everyday things - sightseeing, shopping, restaurants, and small talk. People loved to interact with me. Egyptians were kind and warm. I am thankful that Mona taught me rigid Egyptian Arabic. |
Here is why Mona Khattab's method works:
Mona Khattab's Best Approaches on Egyptian Arabic:
- She works to personalize / customize pronunciations.
- She teaches simple, yet effective phrases.
- She is flexible with class schedules.
1) Personalized Pronunciation
"Good morning" in Egyptian Arabic is "Sabah el kheir".
I could not pronounce it for a long time; especially, "bah", "el", "kheir"; basically, all words. It look me two weeks to train my throat and tongue. Mona was very patient and changed Romanize phonetic phrases over and over until I could easily read Romanize and pronounce it well. I practiced it every morning! When I did well, we celebrated it. I felt really accomplished. At least I could greet appropriately.
I could not pronounce it for a long time; especially, "bah", "el", "kheir"; basically, all words. It look me two weeks to train my throat and tongue. Mona was very patient and changed Romanize phonetic phrases over and over until I could easily read Romanize and pronounce it well. I practiced it every morning! When I did well, we celebrated it. I felt really accomplished. At least I could greet appropriately.
2) Simple PhrasesShe also taught me useful phrases. We focused on sightseeing, traveling conversations such as "Where is the bathroom" or "Could you give me a leftover box?" for ten online lessons. We met in Cairo in the last class to celebrate her birthday. More photos and videos are available on the Working On Gallery Instagram. Egyptians cook and eat pigeon as their regional specialty. Mona and I went to a local restaurant to taste it. It was delicious. The only challenging thing it that the word, pigeons (hamaem), and bathroom (hamam), sound confusingly similar. I am unsure that I am saying, "Where is a pigeon" or "I will have a bathroom." Again, Mona customized the pronunciation, and I added all her inputs. I made my own dictionary, so I could communicate better with locals. My Egyptian Arabic was well-recieved while I stayed. People were really kind and fantastic. However, I lost my handwritten dictionally at a cake shop by Mandarine Koueider at the Great Egyptian Museum! I talked to bakers in Egyptian Arabic and they were so thrilled. When I received a small gift from them, I placed my dictionally on their counter. I realized it later when my taxi driver kept talking to me in Egyptian Arabic. |
This is my WhatsApp Messenger during our live lesson. You can see how Mona worked on my pronunciation. This was my first lesson.
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I was so proud of selecting each sweet, but I will miss my handwritten dictionary.
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Pigeons in the middle
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Mass Baled Gamilla,
Egypt is beautiful.
This is my favorite phrase in Egyptian Arabic.
Egypt is beautiful.
This is my favorite phrase in Egyptian Arabic.
January 2026
