الجامعة على الشمال، قدام البنك.

A common Egyptian pronunciation is:

el-gāmʿa ʿala sh-shemāl, oddām el-bank.

A few useful notes:

• الجامعة is usually pronounced el-gāmʿa
• الشمال is usually pronounced esh-shemāl or heard in the sentence as ʿala sh-shemāl
• قدام is often pronounced oddām in Cairo speech
• البنك is el-bank

So the whole sentence may sound a bit different from what the spelling suggests if you only know Standard Arabic.

Because Arabic normally leaves out the present-tense verb to be in sentences like this.

So:

• الجامعة على الشمال literally looks like the university on the left
• but it naturally means the university is on the left

This is completely normal in both Standard Arabic and Egyptian Arabic.

If you wanted a past meaning, then a verb would appear, for example:

• الجامعة كانت على الشمال = the university was on the left

Yes, it is a very normal everyday way to say on the left in Egyptian Arabic.

Literally:

• على = on
• الشمال = the left

So على الشمال is literally on the left.

For directions, Egyptians very commonly use:

• على الشمال = on the left
• على اليمين = on the right

قدام is a very common Egyptian Arabic word meaning:

• in front of
• ahead of
• sometimes facing

In this sentence, it gives another location clue about where the university is relative to the bank.

A useful comparison:

• Egyptian Arabic: قدام
• Standard Arabic: أمام

So if you know أمام, then قدام is the everyday Egyptian equivalent.

Its basic meaning is in front of the bank or facing the bank.

In real-life directions, English speakers might sometimes translate it as across from the bank if that is clearly the situation, but قدام itself does not specifically mean across from in every case.

If you want a clearer idea of opposite / across from, Egyptians often use words like:

• قصاد البنك
• مقابل البنك

So قدام البنك is best understood first as in front of the bank.

This is because of sun letters and moon letters.

• ش in الشمال is a sun letter
• ب in البنك is a moon letter

With sun letters, the l sound of ال disappears and the next consonant doubles.

So:

• الشمال is pronounced roughly esh-shemāl or sh-shemāl in connected speech
• البنك keeps the l sound: el-bank

That is why the article sounds different in the two words.

Because in Egyptian Arabic, the letter ج is usually pronounced as a hard g.

So:

• Standard Arabic pronunciation: al-jāmiʿa
• Egyptian pronunciation: el-gāmʿa

This is one of the most noticeable pronunciation differences in Egyptian Arabic.

Also, in Egyptian speech, some short vowels are reduced or dropped, so جَامِعَة becomes the more compact gāmʿa.

In Cairene Egyptian, ق is very often pronounced as a glottal stop, so قدام is commonly pronounced:

oddām or ʾoddām

That is why learners often see it written in transliteration as oddam.

A few important details:

• The Arabic spelling is still قدام
• In Cairo, it usually does not sound like qoddam
• In some other Egyptian varieties, it may sound more like goddām

So the spelling stays the same, but the pronunciation changes by dialect.

They are definite because the sentence is talking about specific, identifiable things:

• الجامعة = the university
• البنك = the bank
• الشمال = the left

In Arabic, directions are often expressed with the definite article, so على الشمال is the normal idiomatic form, much like English says on the left rather than just on left.

So the definiteness here is completely natural.

No. You do not need و here.

Arabic often puts location phrases one after another without a word meaning and:

• الجامعة على الشمال، قدام البنك

This is a natural way to give directions. The second phrase simply adds more information.

You could hear و in some speech, but it is not necessary. The original sentence is already complete and natural.