Essential Arabic phrases

Hello — the everyday Levantine greeting, warmer and less formal than the Gulf's as-salaamu alaykum. 'Marhabtein' is the standard reply.

'How are you?' in Levantine Arabic. Jordanian Arabic is much closer to Syrian and Palestinian than to anything in the Gulf — a Gulf vocabulary will not transfer.

The circle. Amman's addresses are given as First Circle through Eighth Circle along Zahran Street, and directions here mean 'past Fourth Circle, then left' rather than a street name.

Hill. Amman is built across them and they name its neighbourhoods — Jabal Amman, Jabal al-Weibdeh, Jabal al-Hussein. Two places a hundred metres apart can be a steep climb apart.

The rooftop water tank. Piped supply arrives once or twice a week and fills it; you live off it in between. 'Did the water come?' is a normal weekly question in Amman.

Downtown — the old low-lying centre with the Roman theatre, the gold souq and the fruit market. Nobody calls it 'downtown Amman' in Arabic; it is simply 'the town'.

Jordan's national dish — lamb cooked in fermented dried yoghurt over rice and flatbread, eaten communally with the right hand. Being invited to one is a genuine social event, not a meal.

'May God give you strength' — said to anyone working, from a taxi driver to a colleague finishing a shift. Reply 'allah yʿafeek'. Using it correctly buys enormous goodwill.

Work permit — issued by the Ministry of Labour, tied to one employer and one occupation, and entirely separate from the residence permit the police issue.

Organisation — in Amman it almost always means an international NGO or UN agency. 'Which organisation are you with?' is a normal opening question at a dinner here.

Emergencies — 911 is Jordan's unified line, run by the Public Security Directorate, which handles more than seven million calls a year across the Kingdom.