My American Neighbor (الجار قبل الدار) is a Roya internet show about a young American guy, Ricky, who moves to Amman, and his interactions with Traad, his Jordanian neighbor. Ricky doesn’t know anything about Jordan or Jordanian culture so he constantly misunderstands situations, interpreting each gesture through the lens of an American. For example, when Traad gets an amazing Tawjihi score, his family shoots guns into the air which is customary during celebrations in Jordan but causes Ricky to cower under his kitchen table.

My American Neighbor has 4 seasons, each with 10 3-5 minute episodes. The show highlights differences between American and Jordanian culture, making it an excellent resource for both language and cultural learning. There’s a lot of situational humor and Ricky speaks primarily in English so it’s easy to follow along even with limited Arabic. My American Neighbor doesn’t have English subtitles, but does have Arabic subtitles when Ricky speaks. These Arabic subtitles are sometimes themselves part of the humor because of the connotations of the Arabic words or phrases. For example, Ricky says he’s learned not to look at another man’s wife but the Arabic subtitles use a slang word for “ogle” instead of “look.” 

My American Neighbor was written by Bret Weer (Ricky), Nathan Khawaldeh (Traad), and Cody Nelson. The complete series is available for free on Youtube.

Episode 1 Vocabulary / مفردات

00:00
جار
Neighbor

00:00
دار
House

00:21
بصبص
To ogle

00:27
ياما تحت السواهي دواهي
This idiom doesn’t have a direct translation but generally means that quiet people have many secrets

00:34
النتيجة
The results

01:13
هدوء
Calm

01:52
نكتب قلبه
To fall in love
Literal translation: we’ll write his heart

02:52
جاب
To earn a score on a test
This verb means “to bring,” so in Arabic you bring a score versus in English you earn a score or get a score