Family Guide — Session 4: How Are You?

A one-page guide for parents, after-school caregivers, or co-teachers. Plain English. No teaching experience required.

What we learned today

Your child can now ask someone how they are — and answer back — in Arabic:

They also met the letter ث (tha) — the soft "th" sound, like in think.

Why this matters

Knowing how to ask someone how they're doing is the next layer of being a real Arabic speaker — not just a greeter, but a conversation-haver. And kids love the two-word format: Kifak? Mneeh! It feels like a real exchange. By the end of this week, your child should be able to bounce this little ping-pong back and forth with you, a sibling, or a stuffed animal.

One small but important thing: كيفَك (kifak) is for boys, كيفِك (kifik) is for girls. One vowel changes. We'll keep practicing this — it's the first time your child meets grammatical gender, and the brain figures it out fastest through repetition, not explanation.

What to do this evening (3 minutes total)

You don't need to drill or quiz. Just do these three tiny things:

1. When you see them after school, ask:

"كيفَك؟" (Kifak?) — or كيفِك؟ (Kifik?) if your child is a girl.

Wait. Let them answer in Arabic. If they freeze, whisper: mneeh? tamam? taʿban?

2. At dinner, ask one other family member the same question.

Let your child hear you use it on someone else. Modeling > teaching.

3. At bedtime, ask once more — and this time, you answer first.

You: "Ana taʿban!" (I'm tired!) Then: "W enta? Kifak?" (And you? How are you?)

That's it. Three Arabic moments. Under a minute.

What to do this week (5 minutes total)

Pick one of these:

• The morning check-in. Every morning this week, the first words spoken to your child are Sabah al-khayr! Kifak? Build the rhythm.
• Feeling cards on the fridge. Write mneeh, tamam, taʿban on three sticky notes. Each morning your child taps the one that matches their mood.
• Phone calls in Arabic. Call grandma, an auntie, or a friend who speaks Arabic. Coach your child to say Kifak/Kifik? — that's the whole call. Thirty seconds of glory.
• Stuffed animal interviews. Your child plays reporter. They go around the house asking every stuffed animal Kifak? The animals (you) answer with different feelings.

If you don't know Arabic yourself

You can absolutely do this one. It's just two words.

• Practice kifak / kifik in the mirror once. That's all the prep you need.
• Answer in Arabic too, even if you feel silly. Say tamam! with a thumbs up. Your kid will giggle. Good — laughter glues language to memory.
• Don't worry about which version to use. If you mix up kifak and kifik, your child will correct you. Let them. That's a huge win for them.

If you're a heritage Arabic speaker

• Use the dialect your family actually uses. If you say kif halak or ezzayak (Egyptian) at home, keep doing that. Mention to your child that there are many ways. They can hold both.
• Model al-hamdu lillah casually. Even secular families across the Arab world use this as a default "I'm doing okay" — it's cultural fluency, not religious instruction.
• Watch for the gender thing. Heritage kids often hear kifak/kifik a thousand times but have never noticed the vowel switch. This week is a great moment to point it out — once, gently.

What's coming next session

Session 5: My Family (عائِلتي) — Your child learns mama, baba, akhi, ukhti (mom, dad, brother, sister), plus the letter ج (jeem).

Materials needed: a family photo, if you have one handy. Phone photos are fine.

Questions or struggles?

Email: dabagh_safaa@smc.edu Or visit: https://learnwithoutwalls.com

Yalla Arabic · Family Guide · Session 4