How do you say "I don't understand" and "do you speak English?" in Darija?

The single most freeing phrase for a nervous traveller is "Ma fhemtsh" (ma-FHEMT-sh), "I don't understand". Said with a friendly shrug, it instantly resets a conversation that has run ahead of you — and Moroccans, used to a country juggling Darija, Berber, French, Arabic and English, take it completely in stride. There is no embarrassment in it. If you want the present-tense "I don't understand (you)", "ma kanfhamsh" works too, but "Ma fhemtsh" is the simple, reliable one to memorise.

To find a shared language, ask "Wash kat3ref negliziya?" (wash kat-REF neg-lee-ZEE-ya), "do you speak English?" — or, honestly, just raise your eyebrows and say "Negliziya?" and you will be understood. In tourist areas of Marrakech, Fes, Casablanca and the coast, plenty of people speak good English. Off the beaten track, French is far more widely spoken as a second language, so "Wash kat3ref francais?" (do you speak French?) is a valuable backup. Even a few French words — "où", "combien", "merci" — go a long way in the countryside.

When someone is speaking and you are losing the thread, two phrases keep you afloat. "Bshwiya, afak" (b-shwee-ya, a-FAK) means "slowly, please" — Moroccans speak quickly and warmly, and this is a charming, non-awkward way to ask them to ease off the gas. "3awd, afak" (a-AWD, a-FAK) means "repeat, please / say it again". And "Ash 3ni?" (ASH-nee) is "what does it mean?" if you want to learn a word you just heard. People genuinely enjoy a traveller who is trying, and these requests are received as effort, not as a burden.

A few practical fallbacks I always recommend. Download an offline translation app and the offline Arabic/French language packs before you arrive, because medina alleys often have no signal — pointing your phone screen at a vendor works wonders. Learn to recognise written prices in Western numerals (Morocco uses both 1-2-3 and Arabic-Indic ٠١٢٣ numerals). And carry the address of your riad written in both Latin script and Arabic so a taxi driver who reads neither English nor your accent can still get you home. Language gaps in Morocco are a daily, cheerful fact of life, not a crisis — a smile and "Ma fhemtsh" smooth over almost all of them.