Vocabulary Cards — Session 9: Today I Feel...

Print this page. Cut along the dotted lines. Each card is index-card sized. Carry them in your pocket. Pull one out when your kid says "I feel weird" and doesn't have the word yet.

Card 1

Say it: mab-SOOT Means: Happy (for a boy / man)

🎨 Picture: A boy on a balcony with a big grin, holding a piece of watermelon.

Use it when: Your son finishes a puzzle. A boy gets a hug from teta. A dad comes home from work smiling.

Card 2

Say it: mab-SOO-teh Means: Happy (for a girl / woman)

🎨 Picture: A girl twirling in the kitchen while mama stirs a pot.

Use it when: Your daughter gets a surprise. A girl finds her lost toy. Mama laughs at something silly.

In Arabic, words change a tiny bit depending on if you're a boy or a girl. Mabsut for boys, mabsuteh for girls. Same feeling. Same heart.

Card 3

Say it: za'-LAAN (boy) / za'-LAA-neh (girl) Means: Sad, upset

🎨 Picture: A child sitting on the stairs with their chin in their hands, looking down.

Use it when: A friend didn't share. Someone got their feelings hurt. The ice cream fell off the cone.

Za'lan isn't only "sad." It's also "upset with someone." If your teta says ana za'laneh minnak — "I'm za'laneh with you" — she means you did something. (Probably you didn't call her enough.)

Card 4

Say it: KHAA-yif (boy) / KHAYF-eh (girl) Means: Scared, afraid

🎨 Picture: A child peeking out from behind a curtain with big eyes during a thunderstorm.

Use it when: It's dark in the hallway. There's a loud noise outside. The dog at the park is too big.

The kh sound (خ) is from the back of the throat — like you're gently clearing it. Practice with your kid. Make it a silly contest.

Card 5

Say it: ta'-BAAN (boy) / ta'-BAA-neh (girl) Means: Tired

🎨 Picture: A child flopped on the couch after school, backpack still on, eyes half-closed.

Use it when: It's the end of a long day. After running around at the park. When someone really doesn't want to brush their teeth.

Every Lebanese mom says ana ta'baneh at least four times a day. It's true. It's also a full mood.

Card 6

Say it: HAA-mil Means: Carrying / feeling (used in "I'm feeling…")

🎨 Picture: A child holding a small heart in their open hands, like a gift.

Use it when: You want to say how you feel today. Ana hamil shi za'lan — "I'm carrying a little sadness today." Or just kif hamil halak? — "How are you feeling?"

This one is a little grown-up. Don't worry if your 5-year-old doesn't grab it. The 9-year-old might.

A bonus card — for the family

Card 7 (bonus)

Say it: KEEF HAA-lak? (to a boy) / KEEF HAA-lik? (to a girl) Means: How are you?

🎨 Picture: Two cousins meeting at the door, one asking, one shrugging with a smile.

Use it when: Someone walks in. You call teta on the phone. You see a friend at school.

The answer is one of the cards above. Mabsut. Za'laneh. Ta'ban. Now you have a real conversation.

How to use these cards

1. Ask once a day: keef halak? At breakfast, in the car, before bed. Let your kid pick a card to answer.
2. Use them for YOU too. When you're ta'baneh, say it out loud. Kids learn feelings from watching us name ours.
3. Don't fix the feeling — just name it. Inta za'lan? ("You're sad?") is the whole job. The card is the bridge.
4. Make a feelings corner. Tape these to the fridge or the back of a door. Let your kid point instead of speak on the hard days.

A note for grown-ups

This session is small but it is big. Lots of kids — heritage and beginner alike — don't have feeling words in Arabic yet. They have mama and baba and kibbeh and yalla, but when they're sad they switch to English.

These six words change that. Even one of them sticks, and suddenly Arabic isn't just for food and hellos. It's for the whole heart.

Take it slow. One card, one feeling, one day.

Yalla Arabic · Vocabulary Cards · Session 9