How I Learned More About My Native Arabic Language While Teaching

Translating Arabic words into English, explaining them in their social and cultural context, and focusing on pronunciation, the approach I used to teach my children my native Arabic language. Teaching my own children a foreign language and being the only one who spoke Arabic to them was a job that needed patience and persistence. I decided to make learning fun and engaging. I used kids’ songs, animated movies for kids, and everything I have in the house, from food to furniture, grammar books, stories in Arabic, all were used as examples to comprehend the language. I was never tired of repeating the same vocabulary or grammar concepts until they got used right.

Here is some everyday vocabulary.

Hi or greetings—Marhaba مرحبا  
Good morning—Sabah el kheir صباح الخير
Good evening—Massa’ el kheir
I am at home today—Ana fee el manzel  أنا في المنزل
Today is a holiday—Al yaoum nahar outlah اليوم نهار عطلة
My kids are at home—Aoulaadee fee elmanzel  اولادي في المنزل
I will make a dinner—Saoufa atboukh el a’chaa’ سوف اطبخ العشاء
I will watch a movie—Saoufa oushaheedou feelmann   سوف أشاهد فيلمًا
I am going to sleep—Saoufa athhab eela el naoumm سوف أذهب إلى النوم
I had a long day—Kaanaa naharee taweelann  كان نهاري طويلًا

Idioms

An idiom was taken in a literal context—the way my children translated the idiom from Arabic to English for the first time.

The Arabic word طَيّب “tayyib” means tasty for food, it also means a kind person, and in the Lebanese Arabic dialect, it can also be used to describe somebody or something that is still alive.  My two daughters were about 8 and 10 years old when they saw a cockroach upside down on our back porch. When I saw its legs moving, I told my kids in Arabic that it was still “tayyib.” My daughters were surprised because they thought I said the cockroach was tasty!

An idiom unique to the Lebanese Arabic

A Lebanese idiom بْتِسْتاهِلْ فِجْلِة  “you deserve a radish,” is told to a person who wouldn’t be compensated for the terrible job he did. It is compared with eating a radish, a food that has a pungent taste and a peppery flavor that has no sweet or satisfying result.