Morocco Travel Forum

What is the main language in Morocco?

Arabic. Get a good travel guide book and do some good research on the country and the people before you go.

Arabic is the official language but depending where you are Berber dialects, French (the main business language) and Spanish are also spoken.

.......and english

..... of course :-)

French is by far the foreign language that is the most widely used (not only in business). Unless you go to very remote places, there will always be someone around that speaks French. In the north, older people often know some Spanish. Besides those involved in the tourist business (hotels, airport, tourist office, etc) you will not find many people speaking English. The best bet would be among students. Moroccans are very helpful and do not worry too much about the language.

Why do people start answering with silly things like Eglish, German, Spanish...? I know some touts that also know a few phrases of Japanese & Swedish in oder to blag & rip off a few tourists.

The question was what is the MAIN language.

That is French & Arabic.

>> silly things like English, German, Spanish..? I know some touts that also know a few phrases of Japanese & Swedish

Sorry but nobody spoke neither of German, Japanese nor Swedish.

- Spanish is undoubtedly the second foreign language in Morocco, especially in the north (former Spanish colony and with Ceuta and Melilla still Spanish).
- English must be mentionned too, even if (I feel), it is only the third foreign language.

Indeed, it's difficult to give a straight answer when there isn't one, I only have one Moroccan friend, he speaks a Berber dialect at home, Arabic at work and English with me, his Spannish in good too but his French aint.

I don’t agree with the US Department of State on absolutely everything they say but they appear to have it somewhere about right here:

“Arabic is Morocco's official language, but French is widely taught and serves as the primary language of commerce and government. Moroccan colloquial Arabic is composed of a unique combination of Arabic, Berber and French dialects. Along with Arabic, about 10 million Moroccans, predominantly in rural areas, also speak one of the three Moroccan Berber dialects (Tarifit, Tashelhit, and Tamazight). Spanish is also used in the northern part of the country. English is rapidly becoming the foreign language of choice among educated youth and is offered in all public schools from the fourth year on”.

Which is roughly what we said init? :-)

I have many Moroccan colleagues and have also met many Moroccan graduate students (in Sciences). All of them are perfectly fluent in French, their level ranging from fair to excellent. Each time I had the opportunity to check their level in English, I must say that it ranged from low to mean. Only very few are really fluent in English.

Mark, I suppose that you are right when you say that “English is rapidly becoming the foreign language of choice among educated youth » but to day it remains very low, except in tourism related jobs.

I do not know well the north and in this area, there might be Moroccan that are fluent in Spanish and not in French. I suppose this is the case for your friend.

I expect it would be difficult to graduate in Morocco without French, when i wrote “English is rapidly becoming the foreign language of choice among educated youth" I was quoting the US State Dept. My friend is from Erford, which is indeed north.

Yes, English now is getting a little more popular, especially among young people. A several years ago, English was taught since the first year of high school (10th grade), now it is to taught starting from the 7th grade.
As a local, I speak Arabic, French and English (I am Arab so only speak very little Berber for now).
Throughout the four years of University education in Agadir, I noticed more and more people were choosing English as a major. Hopefully in the next decade, English will be used more widely, or even as much as French.
You can get by either Arabic or French. You only need to use Berber if you happen to be in a very remote area where locals only speak Berber.

can't argue with that! cheer's Abderrazak