Session 2 — People, Possession & “This and That”¶

Duration: ~2 hours
Level: Complete beginner → early A1
Method: 20-hour intensive approach

Today's objectives¶

By the end of Session 2, you should be able to:

ask who, what, where
say this is / that is
introduce family members
say my / your / his / her
say “I have / I don't have”
describe people with a few basic adjectives
recognize and write several more Arabic letters
hold a 2–3 minute basic conversation

0:00–0:15 — Session 1 recall¶

No notes initially.

Say these aloud.

A. Translate into Levantine¶

Hi.
How are you? — male
I'm good.
Thank you.
I'm Benoît.
I'm from France.
I want coffee.
I want water.
Where are you from?
What's your name?

Answers¶

English	Levantine
Hi	ahlan / marhaba
How are you? M	kifak?
I'm good	ana mnih
Thank you	shukran
I'm Benoît	ana Benoît
I'm from France	ana min Faransa
I want coffee	ana baddi ahwe
I want water	ana baddi mayy
Where are you from?	inta min wein?
What's your name?	shu ismak?

Quick pronunciation drill¶

Say 3 times:

ana baddi ahwe

Then:

ana baddi mayy

Then:

ana min Faransa

The objective is to make these automatic, rather than mentally constructing them.

0:15–0:30 — The three question words¶

Today we add three extremely important words.

شو — shu¶

what

شو هيدا؟
shu hayda?
What's this?

مين — miin¶

who

مين هيدا؟
miin hayda?
Who is this?

وين — wein¶

where

You already know this one:

وين؟
wein?
Where?

And:

إنت من وين؟
inta min wein?
Where are you from?

The three-word system¶

Memorize:

shu = what
miin = who
wein = where

Don't translate them when speaking.

You want:

shu → what

to become an immediate association.

0:30–0:45 — This / that¶

Levantine has several demonstratives. For now, learn the common spoken forms:

هيدا — hayda¶

this / this one — masculine

هيدا كتاب
hayda ktaab
This is a book.

هاي — hayy¶

this / this one — feminine

هاي سيارة
hayy sayyara
This is a car.

For now, don't worry about grammatical gender in depth. We'll build it gradually.

That¶

هيدا... / هداك¶

hayda → this

hdaak → that — masculine

Example:

هداك كتاب
hdaak ktaab
That's a book.

For feminine:

هديك
hdiik

We'll mainly concentrate on hayda / hayy today.

0:45–1:00 — Family vocabulary¶

Now we're going to use real vocabulary.

Arabic	Transliteration	English
أب	ab	father
أم	imm	mother
بي	bayye	dad
إمّي	immee	mum
أخ	akh	brother
أخت	ukht	sister
ابن	ibn	son
بنت	bint	daughter / girl
عيلة	ʿayle	family
صاحب	sa7eb	male friend
صاحبة	sa7be	female friend

Two important observations¶

بيّي / bayye is commonly used conversationally for “my dad” or “dad,” depending on context.

إمّي / immee = my mum / mum.

We'll learn exactly why these forms work when we study possessive suffixes.

1:00–1:15 — Possession¶

This is one of the most useful structures in Arabic.

Instead of saying:

my + house

Arabic can attach the possessive element to the noun.

For now, learn these four forms:

English	Ending	Example
my	-i	beiti
your M	-ak	beytak
your F	-ik	beytik
his	-o	beyto
her	-a	bayta

بيت — beit¶

house

So:

beiti = my house
beytak = your house — male
beytik = your house — female
beyto = his house
bayta = her house

Don't try to master every possible noun ending yet.

We are establishing the concept:

noun + ending = possession

1:15–1:30 — I have / I don't have¶

This is essential Levantine Arabic.

عندي — ʿandi¶

I have

عندي سيارة
ʿandi sayyara
I have a car.

عندي وقت
ʿandi waʔet
I have time.

عندي بنت
ʿandi bint
I have a daughter.

You have¶

ʿandak — you have, male

ʿandik — you have, female

عندك وقت؟
ʿandak waʔet?

Do you have time?

I don't have¶

ما عندي — ma ʿandi¶

ما عندي وقت
ma ʿandi waʔet
I don't have time.

ما عندي سيارة
ma ʿandi sayyara
I don't have a car.

This is a very useful pattern:

ma + verb/expression

We'll use it constantly.

1:30–1:40 — Basic adjectives¶

We need only a handful.

Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
منيح	mnih	good
منيحة	mniha	good — feminine
كبير	kbiir	big
كبيرة	kbiire	big — feminine
صغير	zghiir	small
صغيرة	zghiire	small — feminine
حلو	7لو / 7لو	nice / beautiful / sweet
جديد	jdiid	new
قديم	2diim	old

The exact pronunciation of some of these will need practice.

Gender pattern¶

Notice:

kbiir → kbiire
zghiir → zghiire
mnih → mniha

A common feminine ending is:

-e / -a

This will become increasingly intuitive.

1:40–1:50 — Arabic alphabet: 5 new letters¶

You already know:

ا ب ت م ن

Now add:

ي — ya¶

Sound:

y / i

Examples:

بي
bayye

و — waw¶

Sound:

w / u

Example:

وين
wein

ل — laam¶

Sound:

l

Example:

لا
la'

ك — kaaf¶

Sound:

k

Example:

كيف
kif

س — siin¶

Sound:

s

Example:

اسم
ism

Reading drill¶

Try to identify the letters yourself:

كيف¶

kif

How?

Letters:

ك ـ ي ـ ف

We haven't formally learned ف yet. That's intentional: you're beginning to recognize that you can sometimes decode part of a word even before knowing every letter.

وين¶

wein

Where?

و ـ ي ـ ن

You know all three letters.

مين¶

miin

Who?

م ـ ي ـ ن

Again: all three.

This is exactly how your reading ability should develop.

1:50–2:00 — Your first real conversation¶

Now combine everything.

Situation¶

You meet someone for the first time.

You¶

أهلا، كيفك؟

ahlan, kifak?

Hi, how are you?

Person¶

منيح، شكرا. وإنت؟

mnih, shukran. w-inta?

Good, thanks. And you?

You¶

تمام.

tamam.

Fine.

Person¶

شو اسمك؟

shu ismak?

What's your name?

You¶

أنا Benoît. وإنت؟

ana Benoît. w-inta?

I'm Benoît. And you?

Person¶

أنا Ahmad.

I'm Ahmad.

You¶

إنت من وين؟

inta min wein?

Where are you from?

Person¶

أنا من لبنان.

I'm from Lebanon.

You¶

عندك عيلة بفرنسا؟

ʿandak ʿayle b-Faransa?

Do you have family in France?

Person¶

إي، عندي أخت.

ee, ʿandi ukht.

Yes, I have a sister.

You¶

مين هيدا؟

miin hayda?

Who is this?

Person¶

هيدا أخي.

hayda akhii.

This is my brother.

🚨 Important: don't memorize the dialogue¶

Instead, extract the patterns.

Pattern 1¶

shu + noun?

What + noun?

shu ismak?
What's your name?

Pattern 2¶

miin + person?

Who?

miin hayda?
Who is this?

Pattern 3¶

inta min wein?

Where are you from?

Pattern 4¶

ʿandi + noun

I have...

ʿandi bint
I have a daughter.

Pattern 5¶

ma ʿandi + noun

I don't have...

ma ʿandi waʔet
I don't have time.

Active recall test¶

Do this without looking back at the lesson.

A — Translate¶

What?
Who?
Where?
This.
I have.
I don't have.
My house.
Your house — male.
His house.
My daughter.

B — Build the sentence¶

Use:

ana / baddi / ahwe

Make:

I want coffee.

Then:

ana / min / Faransa

Make:

I'm from France.

Then:

ʿandi / bint

Make:

I have a daughter.

Then:

ma / ʿandi / waʔet

Make:

I don't have time.

Reading challenge¶

Try to read these without transliteration:

8.¶

ما

You should now recognize a significant portion of these.

Homework — ~25 minutes¶

1. Speaking — 10 min¶

Say these aloud five times each:

ana Benoît

ana min Faransa

ana baddi ahwe

ana baddi mayy

ʿandi bint

ma ʿandi waʔet

shu ismak?

inta min wein?

miin hayda?

Don't rush. Pronunciation and automaticity matter more than speed.

2. Vocabulary — 5 min¶

Learn these 15 actively:

shu, miin, wein, hayda, hayy, ana, inta, inti, ʿandi, ma ʿandi, ab, imm, akh, ukht, bint

You should be able to produce the Arabic from the English meaning without looking.

3. Reading — 5 min¶

Practice:

أنا
إنت
مين
وين
بيت
باب
مي
ما

Try to read them directly.

4. Speaking challenge — 5 min¶

Without notes, introduce yourself:

أهلا. أنا Benoît.
أنا من فرنسا.
أنا بدي قهوة.
أنا بدي مي.
عندي بنت.

Then ask:

شو اسمك؟
إنت من وين؟
كيفك؟

What you should know after 4 hours¶

You now have the beginnings of a functional language system rather than a vocabulary list:

WHO?
miin

WHAT?
shu

WHERE?
wein

I
ana

YOU
inta / inti

THIS
hayda / hayy

I HAVE
ʿandi

I DON'T HAVE
ma ʿandi

I WANT
baddi

FROM
min

And your first sentence-building system:

ana + X
ana min + X
ana baddi + X
ʿandi + X
ma ʿandi + X
shu + X?
miin + X?
inta min wein?

That is enough material to start generating new sentences, which is more valuable at this stage than memorizing another 100 words.

Next session¶

Session 3 — Numbers, age, time, money and practical transactions. We'll introduce 1–20, prices, “how much?”, telling your age, asking the time, and begin working on the Arabic numbers and additional letters.

Session 2 — People, Possession & “This and That”¶

Today's objectives¶

0:00–0:15 — Session 1 recall¶

A. Translate into Levantine¶

Answers¶

Quick pronunciation drill¶

0:15–0:30 — The three question words¶

شو — shu¶

مين — miin¶

وين — wein¶

The three-word system¶

0:30–0:45 — This / that¶

هيدا — hayda¶

هاي — hayy¶

That¶

هيدا... / هداك¶

0:45–1:00 — Family vocabulary¶

Two important observations¶

1:00–1:15 — Possession¶

بيت — beit¶

1:15–1:30 — I have / I don't have¶

عندي — ʿandi¶

You have¶

I don't have¶

ما عندي — ma ʿandi¶

1:30–1:40 — Basic adjectives¶

Gender pattern¶

1:40–1:50 — Arabic alphabet: 5 new letters¶

ي — ya¶

و — waw¶

ل — laam¶

ك — kaaf¶

س — siin¶

Reading drill¶

كيف¶

وين¶

مين¶

1:50–2:00 — Your first real conversation¶

Situation¶

You¶

Person¶

You¶

Person¶

You¶

Person¶

You¶

Person¶

You¶

Person¶

You¶

Person¶

🚨 Important: don't memorize the dialogue¶

Pattern 1¶

Pattern 2¶

Pattern 3¶

Pattern 4¶

Pattern 5¶

Active recall test¶

A — Translate¶

B — Build the sentence¶

Reading challenge¶

1.¶

2.¶

3.¶

4.¶

5.¶

6.¶

7.¶

8.¶

Homework — ~25 minutes¶

1. Speaking — 10 min¶

2. Vocabulary — 5 min¶

3. Reading — 5 min¶

4. Speaking challenge — 5 min¶

What you should know after 4 hours¶

Next session¶