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my question is : do most people in dubai speak english?

mich's picture
By mich - Posted on May 31st, 2009
Tagged:  

that's what I heard, that arabic is almost unnecessary and that knowing english is enough to get around doing business. is that correct?

‹ before moving to Dubai Life in Dubai - a melting pot or segregation along ethnic lines?? ›
rollman's picture
Most people in the UAE do
Submitted by rollman on 31 May 2009 - 9:52am.

Most people in the UAE do NOT speak English, since most people here are labourers from South Asia, speaking Malayalam, Urdu, Hindi (Urdu and Hindi is basically the same language) and other Indian languages.

However if you are a Westerner which I see you are and need to do business, English is all you need. It's just that if you venture out of the malls, Jumeirah.... etc. usual expat areas of UAE, then you might have trouble. I have met many people who can't speak a word in English.

cherrypicker's picture
Sometimes you run into taxi
Submitted by cherrypicker on 31 May 2009 - 11:07am.

Sometimes you run into taxi drivers Pakistan or India, and they tell they speak at least a couple of languages apart from their native Urdu / Hindi tongue.

seryozha's picture
i have seen illiterate shop
Submitted by seryozha on 31 May 2009 - 1:09pm.

i have seen illiterate shop attendands in Dubai who were speaking Russian, Arabic, English and Urdu. Amazing.

But , not to worry, Mich, English is all you need for business, and most of the central tourist and business places are where English is spoken

petebull's picture
I was always wondering
Submitted by petebull on 31 May 2009 - 2:45pm.

I was always wondering what's Urdu / Hindi? I mean always mention together? What's similar and what's different about them?

rickie's picture
Basically, we are talking
Submitted by rickie on 31 May 2009 - 5:18pm.

Basically, we are talking about the same language, petebull, however there are some differences: Urdu is written with the Arabic letters, while Hindi has its own 'devanagari' script derived from the ancient Sanskrit language. Urdu, being the language of mostly Muslim Pakistan, uses more Islamic terms incl. Arabic words.

For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindi-Urdu_controversy

kavalas's picture
Short answer: English is
Submitted by kavalas on 1 June 2009 - 9:32am.

Short answer: English is enough. However, know some Arabic will pleasantly impress your business associates if they are Arabs, of course Smile
Check this out www.gulfarabic.com

solecito's picture
no, most peoples speak
Submitted by solecito on 2 June 2009 - 12:47pm.

no, most peoples speak malayalam - it's a south indian language