Vocabulary Cards — Session 10: I Want / I Don't Want

Print this page. Cut along the dotted lines. Each card is index-card sized. Keep them on the kitchen counter. These are snack-time, meal-time, thirsty-time words. Use them where the food is.

Card 1

Say it: BID-dee Means: I want (Levantine)

🎨 Picture: A child pointing at a cookie on the counter, eyes hopeful.

Use it when: You're hungry. You're thirsty. You see something you'd like. This is one of the most useful words in Levantine Arabic — kids use it a hundred times a day.

Card 2

Say it: ma BID-dee Means: I don't want

🎨 Picture: A child shaking their head, hand up, in front of a plate of something green.

Use it when: Someone offers you something you don't want. You're full. You'd rather have something else. (Mama might still say "eat it" — but at least you said it in Arabic.)

Card 3

Say it: MAA Means: Water

🎨 Picture: A tall glass of cold water with little drops on the outside.

Use it when: You're thirsty. After running around. At dinner. Before bed. Try saying: بِدّي ماء — biddi ma' — "I want water."

Card 4

Say it: ha-LEEB Means: Milk

🎨 Picture: A small glass of milk next to a bowl of cereal in the morning.

Use it when: Breakfast time. With cookies. In your coffee — wait, not yet. Try: بِدّي حَليب — biddi halib — "I want milk."

Card 5

Say it: KHUBZ Means: Bread

🎨 Picture: A stack of warm pita bread on a plate, one piece torn open.

Use it when: Any meal. With hummus. With labneh. With cheese. In a Lebanese house, there is always khubz. Try: بِدّي خُبز — biddi khubz.

The kh sound is from the back of your throat — like you're gently clearing it. Practice it. Kids love this sound.

Card 6

Say it: tuf-FAA-ha Means: Apple

🎨 Picture: A shiny red apple in a child's hand, one bite taken out.

Use it when: Snack time. After school. In your lunchbox. Try: بِدّي تُفّاحة — biddi tuffaha — "I want an apple."

Notice the double f — press into it. Tuf-FAA-ha.

A bonus card — for the family

Card 7 (bonus)

Say it: min FAD-lak Means: Please (to a boy/man) — min FAD-lik to a girl/woman

🎨 Picture: A child holding out an empty cup with a big polite smile.

Use it when: You want something and you want to ask nicely. Pair it with biddi: بِدّي ماء مِن فَضلَك — biddi ma' min fadlak — "I want water, please."

This is the magic word in any language. Teta will smile bigger. Baba will pour faster. Promise.

How to use these cards

1. Keep them in the kitchen. Fridge, counter, near the snack bowl. These are food-and-drink words — they belong where the food is.
2. Use them before you hand it over. When your kid asks for water, smile and say: "بِدّي ماء?" Wait. Let them say it back. Then pour.
3. Let them say "ma biddi" too. Yes, even to broccoli. The point is they're speaking Arabic. The broccoli battle is a separate war.
4. Mix and match. Once they've got biddi, they can plug in any noun. Biddi + tuffaha. Biddi + halib. This is the sentence frame that opens everything.

A note for parents and teachers

Biddi is the single most powerful word a kid can learn in Levantine Arabic. It turns a list of nouns into a real sentence. It turns a learner into a speaker.

If your child only remembers ONE word from this whole session, let it be biddi. Everything else they can point at. But biddi — that's them using their voice.

And ma biddi? That's them using their voice too. Both count.

Yalla Arabic · Vocabulary Cards · Session 10