Walaikum Asalam Steven,

I completely understand your frustration. I and many people who have at one point been new to Islam or have wanted to learn Arabic, have been exactly where you are. Even to this day, 15 years after converting, every now and then someone will use an Arabic word that I have forgotten the meaning of or have never heard before, but they use it as if it is a common word that everyone knows. It’s not fun feeling left out.

But the good news is that if you don’t know what someone is talking about, you can just ask. This won’t work for Jumuah (Friday prayer) since we should remain quiet during this time. But you can start by learning a few words that are very commonly used, like Alhamdulillah (all thanks and praise are due to God) SubhanAllah (Glory be to God) InshaAllah (God willing), MashaAllah (God has willed it) and Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest).

You already know imam (leader of the prayer), Salam (peace) or the elongated version- Asalamu Alaikum (Peace be with you) and its reciprocation Walaikum Asalam (and peace be with you)– so you are on your your way. You can check out the glossary I have compiled for my blog at this link: https://islamwich.com/glossary/ and study the phrases and expressions.

But don’t feel like people are conspiring to use Arabic instead of English words just to make you feel out of the loop. A lot of times the Arabic terms are more concise and represent deeper concepts than the English near translation could ever capture. You will, in time, come to find this is true and have a hard time extricating these words from your own daily use. For example, the Arabic word “tawheed” saves time and effort when talking about pure monotheism and the concept of not associating partners with the Creator of all things. One word in English just can’t capture it’s depth of meaning.  

The fastest way to learn many of these commonly used Arabic words is to start reading Islamic literature (you can start by reading some articles of your choosing here on About Islam) or watching Islamic lectures and looking up the unfamiliar Arabic words as you go. Soon, you will be the one explaining what all these Arabic words mean.

Also check out these links for useful info:

https://aboutislam.net/reading-islam/living-islam/is-praying-in-arabic-difficult-for-you/

https://aboutislam.net/reading-islam/living-islam/can-non-arab-muslims-engage-quran/
I hope this helps. All the best.

Walaikum Asalam.