رحت عالبريد واستلمت الطرد قبل ما اروح عالشغل.

Because in Arabic, the verb itself usually shows the subject.

• رحت = I went
• استلمت = I received / picked up
• أروح / اروح = I go

The -ت ending in رحت and استلمت tells you the subject is I. So a separate أنا is not necessary unless you want emphasis.

Yes. رحت is the very common Levantine past-tense form meaning I went.

A native English speaker might expect something closer to Standard Arabic ذهبتُ, but in Levantine, راح / يروح is the everyday verb:

• راح = he went
• رحت = I went
• بيروح / بروح = he goes / I go, depending on context and prefix

So رحت is very natural in spoken Levantine.

عالبريد is a contraction of:

• على → in colloquial speech often reduced to عَ
• البريد = the mail / post / post office

So:

• عالبريد = to the post office / to the mail place

In natural Levantine, عَ + الـ often becomes عالـ:

• عالشغل = to work
• عالبيت = home / to the house
• عالمدرسة = to school

Even though على literally means on, in colloquial Arabic it is often used where English would use to.

In this sentence, it most naturally means the post office.

Literally, البريد can refer to mail/post, but in context:

• رحت عالبريد = I went to the post office

If you were talking more explicitly, you might also hear:

• مكتب البريد = post office

But in everyday speech, البريد can be enough when the meaning is obvious.

استلمت means I received, I picked up, or I collected.

In this sentence, because the speaker went somewhere to get a package, the best natural English sense is often:

• I picked up the package
• I collected the package

So استلمت الطرد is more specific than just أخذت الطرد (I took the package). It suggests receiving something that was being handed over or delivered.

الطرد means the package, the parcel, or the shipment.

It is a common word for a mailed package. So:

• استلمت الطرد = I received/picked up the package

Do not confuse it with other words that may sound unrelated in English. Here it clearly refers to a postal parcel.

This is a very common and important pattern.

After قبل ما (before), Levantine often uses the imperfect/present form, even when the whole sentence is talking about the past.

So:

• رحت عالبريد واستلمت الطرد قبل ما اروح عالشغل = I went to the post office and picked up the package before going to work / before I went to work

Why أروح / اروح?

Because after قبل ما, Arabic often expresses the later action with the imperfect verb. This is normal and idiomatic in spoken Arabic.

Compare:

• أكلت قبل ما أطلع = I ate before I left
• حكيت معه قبل ما نام = I spoke with him before he slept / before going to sleep

So even though English often uses a past tense after before, Levantine commonly uses the imperfect here.

Both represent the same word in informal writing.

• أروح is the more careful spelling
• اروح is a very common casual spelling online or in texting

The word means I go. The initial أ marks the I form in the imperfect verb.

So:

• أروح عالشغل
• اروح عالشغل

Both are understood as I go to work / I’m going to work, depending on context.

No. In natural English, it means to work.

It comes from:

• عَ = reduced form of على
• الشغل = work

So:

• عالشغل = to work

This is a very normal colloquial expression. In Levantine, شغل often means work/job, and عالشغل is the everyday way to say to work or at work, depending on context.

Examples:

• أنا بالشغل = I’m at work
• رايح عالشغل = I’m going to work

Because in Arabic, و (and) is written attached to the following word.

So:

• و = and
• استلمت = I received
• واستلمت = and I received

This is completely normal in Arabic spelling. Many short particles attach directly to the next word.

It is clearly closer to spoken Levantine.

Signs of that include:

• رحت from راح / يروح, which is very colloquial and common
• عالبريد and عالشغل, using عَ for على
• the overall simple spoken style
• قبل ما اروح, which sounds very natural in colloquial speech

A more Standard Arabic version might look more like:

• ذهبتُ إلى مكتب البريد واستلمتُ الطرد قبل أن أذهب إلى العمل

That sounds more formal and written. Your original sentence sounds like everyday speech.

A rough pronunciation would be something like:

reḥet ʿal-barīd w-stalamet eṭ-ṭarḍ ʔabel ma arūḥ ʿash-shuɣol

A few helpful notes:

• رحت sounds like reḥet or riḥet depending on region
• عالبريد often flows together smoothly
• واستلمت may sound like w-stalamet
• الطرد has an emphatic ṭ
• عالشغل often sounds like ʿash-shuɣol

Pronunciation varies by country and city, but this gives the general feel.

Yes, the word order is natural.

The structure is:

1. رحت عالبريد = I went to the post office
2. واستلمت الطرد = and picked up the package
3. قبل ما اروح عالشغل = before I went / before going to work

This is a very normal spoken sequence: action 1 + action 2 + time phrase.

A speaker might also say similar alternatives, such as:

• رحت عالبريد واستلمت الطرد قبل الشغل
• استلمت الطرد من البريد قبل ما اروح عالشغل

But your sentence is already natural and idiomatic.

Yes. That is a very good instinct.

In English, this part can be translated a few natural ways:

• before I went to work
• before going to work
• before heading to work

The Arabic expression is flexible, and the best English version depends on how smooth you want the translation to sound. In spoken Levantine, this kind of clause often feels very natural and compact in a way that English may render in more than one way.