Though each city has its own form of Arabic, broader divisions of Gulfi dialect fall more geographically than by country. Western Saudi Arabia has a cross between Saudi and Sudanese / Egyptian / Levantine Arabic. Central Saudi would have a more “Saudi” dialect, but a لهجة بيضاء (“white dialect”) is spoken across the country that everyone understands. Eastern Saudi Arabia has a similar dialect to Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain. The UAE shares many similarities with both Oman and the rest of the eastern coast, and Yemen has its own dialect but is similar to southern Saudi. Overall, though, if you speak any Gulfi dialect, the others should be easy to pick up if you move there. 

It’s good to want to focus on a certain dialect so that you can really understand and go deep with those around you. However, having a broader understanding will also help you since you won’t be interacting solely with a certain type of people. 

If you’re interested in Qatari Arabic, don’t be afraid to learn a Kuwaiti word if it comes up! You won’t regret knowing it. If it’s come up once, it’s likely to come up again in another context. 

Also, Arabs don’t necessarily know with confidence when a word is or isn’t used in their country. I’ve had Arabs tell me things like, “No person from my city would ever say X,” then the next day I heard someone from their city say that word! So instead of using your energy trying to figure out which word to learn or not, just learn whatever sticks in your head.  

The same goes for MSA and ammia… There is much more overlap between the two than you’d realize, so don’t go sifting through every word that comes up to decide if it’s worth learning or not based on that. Decide if a word is worth learning based on your level and capacity, as well as the frequency you think it will come up. For example, in your first couple years you may not need to memorize the word for “reconsider,” “scandalous,” or “lucrative,” because you can talk around them. In addition, in your first couple years you don’t need to try to memorize multiple words with the same meaning (i.e. happy, content, cheerful, joyful), but as time goes on and you hear the different ones used, you’ll have capacity to learn the others as well. That’s a more helpful guide to go off than if you guess it will be used in your city—which is almost impossible to predict.

A common objection we hear is that once you learn a dialect, you can’t switch out of it to a new one. Then, because you will always have obvious traces of that original dialect, you’ll never sound very local. The first reason we don’t think that this is that big of a deal is that either way, you’re going to have an accent. So whether it’s an American accent with hints of Jordanian when you speak Omani Arabic, or whether it’s just an American Omani accent, either way you’ll have an accent. The second reason is that I personally have made a few dialect switches, and while the first months in a new place I have obvious traces of the old, in each place some people have mistaken me for being from there… so apparently my switching dialects was successful enough to sound local-ish. To do this, focusing on pronunciation—the sound of letters and the rhythm of words/sentences—is key. The third reason I think it’s okay to switch dialects is because Arabs are so gracious and so excited that you’re learning their language, that it’s okay! They often think it’s cute if you have a bit of an accent from another place. Imagine you were in their shoes—you met a Kuwaiti who spoke English with an Australian accent. You’d probably love it!

In general, if you can find a tutor or institute in/from the city you live in, that’s ideal. If you can’t, don’t be afraid to learn from someone else! It can only help you in the end.