There’s never been a better time to learn Egyptian Arabic. That’s largely thanks to the Internet, and platforms like Instagram. That’s why we wrote this post on the best Instagram channels for learning Egyptian Arabic.
In it we’ll cover:
Let’s dive right in!
But first…
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So – why would you use Instagram to learn Egyptian Arabic anyway?
Turns out there are quite a few reasons. Here are just five of them:
I’ve said it before in my guide to learning Egyptian Arabic: audio is king. If there is one thing you should spend most of your time doing, it’s listening. That’s because listening is the hardest skill to master. Listening also improves numerous skills at the same time: your pronunciation, your supply of vocabulary, and speaking skills, in addition to listening comprehension.
Of course, it’s not like every Instagram channel focuses on audio. Some of them (ours included) are much more text-based. Still, a lot of them do. If you want exposure to spoken Egyptian Arabic, Instagram is a great place to start.
Tired of content that feels completely removed from what you actually want or need to learn? Want to actually learn something useful that you k now you are going to use in real life? Thank God for Instagram!
The thing with Egyptian Arabic Instagram channels is that they are almost always covering real stuff. Not the bland, outdated stuff from boring textbooks, but real language from real people. Let’s be honest: this is one of the big benefits to practicing a language via social media anyway – it’s authentic.
A big part of learning a language is learning a culture. Neglect this part, and many parts of the language simply won’t make sense. You won’t get references, and you’ll lose out on a lot of the real ways people actually use Egyptian Arabic.
Thankfully, depending on the channels you follow, Instagram can be a great chance to learn all about Egyptian culture. This in turn makes you more fluent with the language. This is wonderful if you aren’t actually living in Egypt or don’t know so many Egyptians.
Are you serious about improving your Egyptian Arabic? If you are, you need to reduce friction. What I mean here is making it as easy as possible to get in your study time like clockwork. This isn’t applicable to Egyptian Arabic only, but learning a language in general. The more you have to do when it comes time to study (going to another room to log into your computer, booting it up, going searching for good study material, finding a notebook and pen, etc.) the less likely you are to practice.
Thankfully, if you’re like most people, you’re already on Instagram. This makes the friction almost non-existent. Just take your phone out of your pocket and click on your Instagram. You can be studying Egyptian Arabic in ten seconds flat!
This is our last reason why using Instagram to learn Egyptian Arabic is a good idea. Basically, it’s a summary of everything else we said: immersion. We all know “immersing yourself” is essential for learning a language…but what does that actually mean?
Well, basically a ton of input. If you’re anything short of using Egyptian Arabic all day every day (living in Egypt or married to an Egyptian), “immersion” can be difficult to achieve. Difficult…but not impossible. The way you get it is through consistent exposure / input of a language. Instagram is great for that. You have audio, a bunch of vocabulary, reading material, cultural insight, and your phone is pretty much always with you – everything you need for immersion!
Now, before we move on to the best Instagram channels to learn Egyptian Arabic – let’s go over some tips!
It’s like Egyptian Arabic YouTube channels – often the most valuable stuff are the conversations that happen underneath a post. That’s because the language people use when commenting on stuff is super informal. Or, in other words, exactly the kind of language you probably want to learn.
It’s a big world out there, and there are tons of Instagram channels in all different dialects. You kind of have to make a choice here: do you want to be exposed to different Arabic dialects…or do you want to focus on Egyptian Arabic? We recommend the second one. It is your choice, though!
A lot of Instagram channels will mention other relevant channels. Be on the lookout for them. This is a great way to add more channels to your list. The result? A bunch of new material to consume and improve your Egyptian Arabic with.
It’s a big world out there, and some of these channels post quite a bit. Follow just a few of them and you’ll have enough Instagram channels to learn Egyptian Arabic forever!
This is all about actively using Instagram to learn Egyptian Arabic – not just passively consuming content. We have talked about this a few times on Cleo Lingo. The value of active study can’t be understated. Sure – passively scrolling through stuff on Instagram and saying “I’m learning Egyptian Arabic” feels good…but it’s not actually true. If you’re going to act on any of the stuff in this post, you need to learn it actively. And the best way to do that? Taking notes with a good old fashioned paper and pen!
No use learning Egyptian Arabic from Instagram channels if you don’t actually remember it. So – how to do it? I almost always recommend Anki. This is a software that’s based on spaced repetition. That means you spend the majority of your time studying vocab that you’re about to forget.
Even if you don’t feel like using Anki specifically, I highly recommend having some sort of system for recording (and remembering) vocabulary. Not sure where to start? Check out my guide on how to learn Egyptian Arabic for some inspiration. 🙂
The fact is, a lot of native Arabic speakers don’t always use the Arabic script when writing. They use a combination of Latin letters and numbers. This is called Franco Arabic and it’s what a lot of Egyptians will use on social media. If you want to learn Egyptian Arabic by reading comments on Instagram posts, Franco-Arabic is a must!
If you really want to learn Egyptian Arabic, but you want to do it with truly authentic material – why not just ask an Egyptian? Egyptians are using Instagram – and quite a lot! Odds are they are following a few accounts you might love. Be sure to ask any Egyptians you know which Instagram channels they follow. The answers might surprise you!
Now – here’s the section you’ve been waiting for. Below you will find a list of Instagram channels you can use to learn Egyptian Arabic. We think these are the best channels out there if you’re serious about learning the Egyptian dialect.
Some of them are more active than others. Some are a bit more academic. Certain Instagram channels are pretty funny, while others can be a bit serious.
One thing is certain though – they will all improve your Egyptian Arabic!
We won’t lie: we haven’t been all that active on Instagram the last five years. But 2024 is the year that changes! We post once a week, and have a mix of educational / language-related stuff + funny pictures from Egypt. Want to get an insight into Egyptian culture through the eyes of a foreigner (and learn some Egyptian Arabic along the way)? We’d love to have you!
Mimo is great when it comes to grammar. He will take something that a lot of Egyptian Arabic students have trouble with, then explain it in a way everybody can understand. I highly recommend his videos. Also, he has over 1,000 Instagram posts, so this is an Instagram channel that will keep you busy for a while.
Cairo360 is an interesting business. It’s basically your one-stop shop for everything related to living in Cairo. Restaurants, events, concerts, hospitals, new cafes…Cairo360 has information on it all! We have linked the Arabic version (be sure to check out the English version as well). The “read the comments” tip is particularly relevant here, as a lot of the posts from Cairo360 are in Standard Arabic.
Kind of a basic Instagram channel with some good stuff. The problem here (like a lot of language-focused Instagram channels) is that most of the posts are just on single words. This is better than nothing. Still, if you want to learn entire phrases, you’ll have to check out some of the other channels.
Kind of a fun Instagram channel with a bunch of phrases. It’s great because pretty much all of the posts are video clips. This ensures that you are learning correct pronunciation. I can’t say it enough: no matter your preferred study method, make sure you are getting a lot of exposure to audio. This Instagram helps you with that!
This is a great Instagram channel to check out if you are a complete beginner. Abdo goes over a lot of beginner vocabulary and explains it clearly. The problem with this channel is that a ton of the posts are just single solitary words. This is fine, but doesn’t really get you speaking Egyptian Arabic.
This is my favorite Egyptian actress. She’s a common staple in a popular TV series just about every Ramadan, and one of the most well known Egyptian celebrities out there. I won’t lie: this isn’t the greatest Instagram channel to learn Egyptian Arabic. Pretty much all of her posts are a combination of English and Standard Arabic (to appeal to a wider audience). It’s an interesting insight into “famous Egyptian culture”, though. Plus, Nelly Karim is just really a great actress!
Lots of example sentences on this Egyptian Arabic Instagram channel. This is great because it gives you more context with the content. This is always better than single words. That said, there’s almost no audio. Depending on how you prefer to learn, this can be a drawback. Still worth checking out.
Ahmad is a super cool guy. Not only will he teach you specific words and phrases that are useful to know, but will tell you stories, as well. This is a great form of content because it’s longer and gives you more exposure to Egyptian Arabic. Check it out – he’s super funny, too!
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Happy learning,
Cleo Lingo
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