Speak Like a Local.
Tunisian Arabic for travelers — the spoken language Tunisians actually use, with audio recorded by a native speaker for every phrase in the book.
Hear it from a Tunisian.
Reading Tunisian Arabic in Latin letters only gets you halfway there. The 3, the 7, the 9 — three sounds that don’t exist in English — have to be heard to be said.
Every phrase in this book has a recorded pronunciation by a native speaker. No robot voices. No generic Modern Standard Arabic. Just a Tunisian, in Tunis, saying the words the way you’ll actually hear them on the street.
Scan from the page
A QR code beside every phrase. Point your camera at it; the audio plays in your browser. No app to install.
Take it offline for the trip
A downloadable MP3 bundle ships with the book — every recording, organized by chapter. Load it on your phone before the flight; no roaming required.
The conversation I’ve had a hundred times, distilled.
I’m Saber Ben Hassen. I was born and raised in Tunis. I left Tunisia to study and live in the United States, and the years I spent abroad gave me something most language teachers don’t have: I know exactly what it feels like to be the foreigner trying to navigate a language nobody around you treats as foreign.
A generic “Arabic phrasebook” will teach you Modern Standard Arabic or Egyptian Arabic. Neither will land in Tunisia. Walk into a Tunis café and ask for tea in either, and you’ll be understood — but you’ll also be marked instantly as someone who didn’t do their homework.
This book teaches Derja — the language people actually use to greet you, charge you, feed you, joke with you, and welcome you home. Every phrase has been verified by me. Every cultural note reflects the country as it actually is, not as a tourist brochure imagines it.
A small piece of advice before you start: try the phrases. Mispronounce them. Get the throat sounds wrong. Tunisians will laugh kindly, correct you once, and like you better for trying than they ever would for staying silent. That’s how it works here.
A complete survival kit for two weeks in Tunisia.
Thirteen chapters across three parts — read the foundations before you fly, the situation chapters as you need them, the cheat sheet when you’re in a panic.
That Get You Through
Three numbers that stand for three sounds.
Tunisians use numbers for letters that don’t exist in English when they text and post online. This book uses the same convention — so what you read on the page matches what you’ll see on a Tunisian’s phone.
You’ll see them throughout the book: 3aychek (please), We7ed (one), 9adech (how much). Chapter 2 walks you through each sound with practice exercises and audio.
Six phrases that open the door.
The first words you’ll learn — and the ones that make a Tunisian smile when a foreigner uses them.
Written by a Tunisian, for the traveler.
Saber Ben Hassen
Bring Tunisia’s language on the trip.
Before you buy.
If language opens the door, food sits you at the table.
The Authentic Tunisian Cookbook — sixty traditional recipes from the heart of North Africa — is the food side of the same project. Together, they’re an attempt to give a foreigner real cultural keys to one of the Mediterranean’s most underrated countries.
See the cookbook →Carthage Magazine
Tunisia’s first and largest premier English-speaking general-interest publication. Carthage Magazine uncovers the country’s rich culture, innovative spirit, and vibrant civil society — redefining the conversation about Tunisia and the wider MENA region.
