Conversation Lebanon's native language, Levantine Arabic, are, even between some native speakers of Levantine. Western Armenian and Kurdish are used by their communities in Lebanon, and different sign languages are used among the Deaf community.
Oral media Many public and formal speeches and most political
talk shows are in Lebanese, not MSA.
Egypt was the most influential center of Arab media productions (movies,
drama, TV series) during the 20th century, but Levantine is now competing with Egyptian. As of 2013, about 40% of all
music production in the Arab world was in Lebanese. Most big-budget pan-Arab entertainment shows are filmed in the Lebanese dialect in the studios of Beirut. Moreover, the Syrian dialect dominates in
Syrian TV series (such as
Bab al-Hara) and in the
dubbing of
Turkish television dramas, which are both aired in Lebanon. With the release of
Secret of the Wings in 2012, Disney began re-dubbing and dubbing its films in MSA, instead of
Egyptian, and in March 2013, Disney and pan-Arab television network
Al Jazeera made a deal allowing the latter to distribute some of Disney's MSA-dubbed shows and films. The release of
Frozen with an MSA dub and without an Egyptian one caused a controversy in the Arab world. Lebanon used to have two francophone television stations, but they were shut down in the mid-1990s. Show hosts on television networks that are traditionally affiliated with Christians, such as
MTV and
LBCI, tend to use more English and French words than hosts in networks owned by Muslims, such as
Future TV,
Al-Manar, and
NBN. Modern Standard Arabic has a standardized spelling in the Arabic script and is typically used in literature, official documents, newspapers, school books, and instruction leaflets. In formal media, Levantine is seldom written, except for some novels, plays, and humorous writings.
Subtitles are usually in MSA, sometimes translating Arabic dialects to MSA.'s campus, Beirut|alt=refer to captionMost Arabs struggle to write MSA correctly. Especially among younger generations, Arabizi is commonly used on social media and
discussion forums,
SMS messaging, and
online chat. Arabizi initially evolved because of the lack of
digital support for Arabic letters, but it is now used to save time switching keyboards and, for typists who are not proficient in an Arabic keyboard, save time typing. A 2012 study found that, when writing in Levantine on
Facebook, Arabizi is more common than the Arabic script in Lebanon, while the Arabic script is more common in
Syria. Several studies have reported that the complexity of
Arabic orthography slows down the word identification process, In general, school students are exposed to two or three languages: MSA and either French, English or both. Lebanon's job market is weak. Many young Arabs struggle with basic MSA reading and writing skills, Children learn best in the language they speak at home, according to the
World Bank. "When confronted by an unfamiliar language in the classroom, progress becomes next to impossible."
Government and law A member of the
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, Lebanon's official languages used to be French and MSA. However, after Lebanon's independence in 1943, French was no longer designated as an official language but as a recognized one.
Lebanon's national anthem and all government-related announcements, documents, and publications are in MSA. French is also used, alongside MSA, on road signs, the Lebanese lira, and public buildings. The Lebanese dialect of Levantine is used in courtrooms, but in order to record court proceedings, the
judge restates in MSA what the suspect has said, and the court recorder handwrites the judge's translation. This process, according to a report funded and led by the World Bank, "risks an edit or an omission in the restatement by the judge."
Brands and businesses Email communication and announcements in professional job settings are mostly through English. == Minority language varieties ==