Q: I plan on traveling with my wife who speaks fluent Arabic, will we encounter problems if we don't speak any other dialects? What are some of the minor languages spoken in Algeria?
A: Hi again Terry, Most of these simple questions can be found by using google. If your wife speaks Arabic, you shouldn't have any trouble getting around in the cities. As for minor languages, please refer to the Wiki article on Algeria, as it has lots of answers to some of the more basic questions. Hope you enjoy your trip! Arabic Arabic is the language of 72% of Algeria's population, particularly Algerian Arabic spoken by 60 %; in addition to this, non-native speakers learn Arabic at school, so in fact 83.2%[citation needed] of the population understands Standard Arabic or the Algerian Arabic dialect. In Algeria, as elsewhere, spoken Arabic differs very substantially from written Arabic; Algerian Arabic has a much-simplified vowel system, a substantially changed vocabulary with many new words and many words from Berber, Turkish, and French, and, like all Arabic dialects, has dropped the case endings of the written language. Within Algerian Arabic itself, there are significant local variations; Jijel Arabic, in particular, is noteworthy for its pronunciation of qaf as kaf and its profusion of Berber loanwords, and the dialects of some ports show influence from Andalusi Arabic brought by refugees from al-Andalus. Algerian Arabic is part of the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum, and fades into Moroccan Arabic and Tunisian Arabic along the respective borders. In the Sahara more conservative Bedouin dialects, grouped under the name Saharan Arabic, are spoken; in addition, the many Sahrawi refugees at Tindouf speak Hassaniya Arabic. Most Jews of Algeria once spoke dialects of Arabic specific to their community, collectively termed "Judeo-Arabic"; however, most came to speak French in the colonial period even before emigrating to France and Israel after independence. Currently spoken languages - Arabic Berber French English Sub-Saharan African languages Hope this helps!