Session 1 — Hello & Goodbye

مَرحَبا ومع السَّلامة

Level: 1 — Hello, Arabic! Time: 25 minutes Audience: Heritage learners + total beginners (ages 5–7) Letter of the day: أ (alif) Big idea: I can greet someone in Arabic.

👩‍🏫 For teachers

This session works in a 25–30 minute slot with 5–25 students. You'll need: name tags (paper + markers) or a chalkboard to write each child's name in transliteration. Set up before class: print the vocabulary cards (1 set per student) and place one card face-down on each desk. If you have audio: have the dialogue audio ready to play twice.

Differentiation:

• Heritage stretch: Ask heritage kids to teach the class one more greeting they hear at home (like kifak — how are you).
• Beginner warm: Repeat each greeting 4 times together as a class, with hand gestures.

🏠 For parents at home

This session works one-on-one in 20 minutes at the kitchen table or wherever feels cozy. You'll need: 5 small pieces of paper or sticky notes, a pen, and your phone (for audio). No prep beyond reading through this plan once.

If your child is heritage (Arabic spoken at home): point out that everything we say here is what mama/baba already say. Make it feel like recognition, not "new learning."

If your child is new to Arabic: start with the very first greeting (marhaba) and let them practice saying just that one for the first minute. Don't push.

Materials checklist

• 5 small pieces of paper (for the greeting cards game in Block 4)
• A pen or marker
• Audio file: session-01-audio.mp3 (vocabulary + dialogue)
• Optional: print the workbook page on regular paper

Block 1: Hello & today's word (2 min)

Goal: Greet the child in Arabic, set today's theme.

Script:

Say with energy: "مَرحَبا!" (Marhaba!) — "Hello!" Then point to yourself, then to the child, and say: "اليَوم نَتَعَلَّم نَقول 'مَرحَبا'." (Al-yawm nata'allam naqūl 'marhaba'.) — "Today we learn to say 'hello'."

Show or draw a smiling face on paper. Write مَرحَبا under it. Don't ask the child to read it yet — just point and say.

Repeat together: Mar-ha-ba. Three times. Then once with a wave.

Block 2: Listen & repeat (6 min)

Goal: Learn the 5 core greetings.

Today's vocabulary (5 words):

Script:

Play the audio file once. Don't speak during it — let the native voice land first. Then say each word slowly, and have the child echo. Use big mouth movements so they can see how your lips shape the sound.

Now do it with hand gestures:

• Marhaba → wave
• Ahlan → hand to heart
• Sabah al-khair → hand opening toward sun
• Masaa al-khair → hand opening toward moon
• Ma'a as-salaama → wave goodbye

Play the audio one more time. By now they should be echoing along.

Block 3: Letter of the day — أ (alif) (5 min)

Goal: Meet the first letter of the Arabic alphabet.

Script:

Say: "هذا حَرف 'أ'. اسمُه 'أَلِف'." (Hādhā harf 'A'. Ismuhu 'alif'.) — "This is the letter 'A'. Its name is 'alif'."

Write a big أ on paper or board. Trace it together — top to bottom, one straight line with a tiny hat (the hamza).

Find it in the words we just learned:

• **أهلاً**
  — starts with أ!
• **أَلِف**
  — the letter's own name starts with أ!

Stretch (heritage kids): Can you think of any more words that start with alif? Hint: your name might! Listen for the "ah" sound at the start of names.

Practice writing: Trace one alif in the workbook. Then write one yourself.

Block 4: Play with it — The Greeting Cards Game (8 min)

Goal: Use the greetings in real conversation.

Setup: Write each of the 5 greetings on a separate small paper. Shuffle them. Place them face-down in a pile.

How to play:

1. The child picks up a card. They look at the Arabic word.
2. They (or you, if they're stuck) say the greeting.
3. The other person responds — if it's a hello, respond with another hello. If it's "goodbye," wave goodbye and pretend to leave the room.
4. Now the other person picks a card. Switch roles.

Play through all 5 cards. Then shuffle and play again. The second round should feel faster, more natural.

Classroom variant: Walk around the room. Greet 5 different classmates with 5 different greetings.

Block 5: Tiny reading (3 min)

Goal: Read TWO words today. Yes — already, on day one.

Show the child these two words, side by side, with pictures:

Have them point to one. Say it. Then the other. Say it.

That's reading. That's it. Two words. Day one.

(In the workbook page, this is the first row — "I can read these words.")

Block 6: Goodbye & try at home (2 min)

Goal: End warmly and seed home practice.

Script:

Say: "يَلّا، مع السَّلامة!" (Yalla, ma'a as-salaama!) — "Okay, goodbye!" Wave goodbye.

Tonight at home (tell the child):

Use marhaba with one family member tonight when you see them. Use ma'a as-salaama with one family member when you go to bed.

For parents: When your child says marhaba or ma'a as-salaama, respond in Arabic too. Don't switch back to English. Even if they only say one word.

After this session

• Send home the Family Guide (one page).
• Send home the Vocabulary Cards (cut on dotted lines).
• Workbook stays in folder/binder.
• Next session: Session 2 — My Name Is... (اسمي), letter ب (ba).

Teacher / Parent observation notes (formative — not graded)

Watch for, this session:

No grading. No tests. Just notice and remember.

Yalla Arabic · Level 1 · Session 1 of 48