When I first decided to visit Morocco, I had no idea the ordeal (I mean that mostly in a positive way) I was embarking on. For such a small country it is so, so, so, diverse and will test you emotionally, physically and mentally. I tried to do a bit of research before my arrival, but what I wasn’t prepared for was the exceptional multilingualism of the country and its inhabitants. Language in Morocco was something I’d given little thought to when planning my trip.
When someone asks, “Oh Morocco, what’s language is spoken there again?” I’m sure Arabic and French come to mind for many. However, did you know the two official languages of the country are Arabic and Berber? What the heck is Berber? Yeah I had the same question, more on that in a minute.
My personal experience was that Arabic and French seemed to be the most useful languages to have a grasp on while traveling through the country, although, Arabic mainly if you spoke the Moroccan dialect. Meanwhile, French would be locals default when coming into contact with a blue-eyed Western looking girl such as myself, although not always, which I’ll get to later.
Arabic Language in Morocco
It’s important to note that while Arabic is an official language in Morocco and many other Muslim countries, not all Arabic is the same. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), (sometimes referred to as “Classical Arabic”, although there is some debate about the difference), is written Arabic in most Muslim countries, this is the same across North Africa and the Middle East.
However, no one really speaks MSA, which can be confusing to Westerners who’ve only really ever studied MSA in school, if they study Arabic at all. Don’t worry, most Arabic speakers will totally understand you, the problem is you won’t necessarily be able to understand them. I’ve heard and read this anecdotally from a few Western travelers, who ambitiously tackle this notoriously difficult language and then set out to practice it, only to be slapped in the face by dialect.
The thing is, each Arabic speaking country has its own particular brand of the language, the closest to MSA would be Egyptian Colloquial, the most widely understood dialect. In Morocco, the dialect is called Darija and it is one of the most “divergent” brands of dialect due to French and Spanish influences.
So while Arabic is an official language, note that it’s Darija that is the widespread version, not MSA. While you’ll see MSA written on signs, menus, etc. (as all written Arabic is more or less MSA) what you’ll mostly be hearing in the streets is Darija. Confused yet? Awesome, let’s keep that going with the country’s second official language.
Berber Language in Morocco
While Arabic came to Morocco by way of conquest, followed by the European colonization of Africa (which brought European languages), Berber is the language of the native nomadic people, the Amazight.
A language of nomadic origins and just like Arabic, various dialects and varieties. The “official” variety, Tamazight is the standardized version of Berber, sort of like how MSA is to Arabic. Once officially recognized by the government there was a large push to teach Tamazight in schools in addition to Arabic and French, as well as include it on road signs.
The success of implementing it in schools is a bit of a mixed bag, and I did occasionally see it on signs, although not as often as Arabic and French. The main issue being of course, that not all Amazight speak the Tamazight variety, and Tamazight is the only written version of Berber. The other dialects are very much oral (just like dialects of Arabic other than MSA), it was a good move on the part of the government to recognize native speakers (I do wish we North Americans would do the same with Native American languages), it may have been more for show.
A guide I hired for a few days of horse riding and hiking near Essaouira told me he only speaks a bit of Berber (didn’t elaborate on which variety). Perhaps this was because he didn’t have Berber origins and attended school long before it was taught as a subject. He did however speak amazing French (which we conversed in), fluent (I’m assuming) Darija and a bit of English.
He shared a funny story about a couple of French girls he took on a multi-day horse trek through the mountains where they traveled through many Berber areas and stayed with a few families. Apparently one of the French girls had a friend back home of Berber origin who had taught her quite a bit, to the point where she spoke better than the guide!
He said anytime they needed directions or had a question he sent her since she spoke so much better. Pretty cool and funny if you ask me, I mean how many Europeans learn another country’s indegenous language?
French Language in Morocco
As mentioned before, while Arabic and Tamazight might be the two official languages, the two unofficial “main” languages are Arabic and French.
Due to Morocco’s colonial past the French language is still very much a presence and is more often than not a second language for a vast majority of Moroccans. It is taught in schools, used in official documents, train/plane/bus announcements, on signs and for day-to-day communication.
If you haven’t already realized from this post, Moroccans are amazing multilinguals, and most that I encountered spoke French beautifully. This was my main language of communication when traveling throughout Morocco, as I didn’t speak Arabic or Berber and outside of major cities such as Casablanca and Marrakech, most Moroccans weren’t as comfortable with English.
English, Spanish, Chinese, and Other Languages in Morocco
While French was often locals first “guess” when attempting to converse with me, if it was a tout and I didn’t want a souvenir/tour/shop tour etc. and I didn’t respond, or depending on where I was in Morocco, sometimes they would “guess” another language.
Most often their second guess was English. However, in the north of the country Spanish was often a first or second guess, as Spain also has a large colonial past in Morocco, and for many older generations in the north, Spanish is the more common second language.
The most surprising “guess” I have to say was Chinese. In the north I was greeted with a “Nǐ hǎo” more than once, I guess the locals picked up on my Asian heritage? While this may seem quite bizarre, it does make a bit of sense for a few reasons.
Firstly, Chinese tourists are some of the most numerous in the world, you’ve probably at least seen one Chinese tour group on every vacation you’ve been on in the past few decades. Thus finding them in beach towns in Morocco wasn’t that surprising.
Secondly, China is currently involved in numerous “development” projects in Africa, including in Morocco. So more locals than I realized would be used to greating those appearing to be of Chinese heritage (despite part of my family being from the Philippines I never thought I fit this bill…but I do suppose I have a bit of an “ethnically ambiguous” appearance and thus I always receive a range of “guesses” on my background) with a “Nǐ hǎo”.
In addition to the languages discussed here I also received greetings in Arabic, German, Japanese, and Russian. Although these were typically “last resort” guesses after I hadn’t responded to marketplace greetings in the more common languages discussed above.
Final Thoughts
I may not have been prepared for the incredible diversity (linguistic and otherwise) of Morocco, but I hope this post helped shed some light for other travelers! I loved my two months traveling from Marrakech up to Tangier, and hope to return one day.
While I still maintain that Arabic and French are the most useful for traveling the country, they’re not essential. No matter what your native (and second and third and fourth) languages are, rest assured at least one Moroccan can help translate for you! Stay tuned for more posts about language and my Moroccan travels!
What about you? Have you traveled to Morocco? What were your linguistic experiences?
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