Vocabulary Cards — Session 14: Breakfast Time

Print this page. Cut along the dotted lines. Each card is index-card sized. Stick them on the fridge. Look at one card during breakfast, snack time, before bed.

Card 1

Say it: fu-TOOR Means: Breakfast

🎨 Picture: A small round table with bread, a bowl of labneh, olives, and a steaming glass of tea. Morning light through a window.

Use it when: You sit down to eat in the morning. Mama calls you to the kitchen. You smell bread and tea.

Card 2

Say it: LAB-neh Means: Labneh — thick strained yogurt

🎨 Picture: A white bowl of labneh with a swirl in the middle, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprig of mint on top.

Use it when: You spread it on bread. You dip a cucumber in it. Teta makes labneh balls and rolls them in za'atar.

Card 3

Say it: ZAA-tar Means: Za'atar — a green thyme-and-sesame spice blend

🎨 Picture: A small dish of green za'atar next to a puddle of olive oil. A piece of bread being dipped into both.

Use it when: You dip bread and oil into za'atar. You smell it on a man'oushe. You sprinkle it on labneh.

Card 4

Say it: KHUBZ Means: Bread (the flat, round kind)

🎨 Picture: A stack of warm round flatbreads, one torn open to show the pocket inside.

Use it when: You tear a piece to scoop labneh. Baba brings home a fresh bag from the bakery. You're hungry and there's nothing easier.

Card 5

Say it: zay-TOON Means: Olives

🎨 Picture: A small dish of green and purple olives next to a branch with olive leaves.

Use it when: You pick one off the breakfast plate. You see olive trees on a hill in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, or Jordan. You make a silly face because they're salty.

Card 6

Say it: SHAAY Means: Tea

🎨 Picture: A small glass cup of dark tea on a saucer, with a sugar cube beside it. Steam curling up.

Use it when: Teta is pouring tea for everyone. You smell it from across the room. It's cold outside and your hands want something warm.

Card 7

Say it: DHAW-ee (the ذ is like the th in "this")

Means: My taste / what I like

🎨 Picture: A child pointing at the labneh on the table with a big grin — "this one is mine!"

Use it when: You love something on the table. Someone asks what you want. You're explaining what you like and don't like.

This word starts with our letter of the day: ذ (dhal) — soft, like a tiny buzz at the front of your teeth.

A bonus card — for the family

Card 8 (bonus)

Say it: SAH-tayn Means: "Two healths!" — what you say to someone who's eating

🎨 Picture: A grandmother setting down a tray of breakfast, smiling at the kids around the table.

Use it when: Anyone in the family is eating. Someone takes their first bite. A friend opens their lunchbox at school.

In every Levantine kitchen, you'll hear this word more than almost any other. Say it to your kid at breakfast tomorrow. They'll learn it in one day.

How to use these cards

1. Put them on the breakfast table. That's where these words live. Let your kid see خُبز next to the actual bread.
2. Pick one word a day. Say it. Use it. Don't quiz — just name things out loud: "Pass the زَيتون, please."
3. Heritage families: your kid probably already knows the foods. The card just connects the word they hear to the letters they're learning to read.
4. Beginner families: try making one of these foods this week. Labneh + olive oil + za'atar + bread. That's it. That's breakfast.

On the letter of the day: ذ (dhal)

You'll see ذ at the start of ذَوقي. It looks almost exactly like د (dal) from an earlier session — but with one dot on top.

• د = a hard d sound (like door)
• ذ = a soft dh sound (like this or that)

One dot. Big difference. Arabic does this a lot — same shape, different dots, different sound. We'll meet more of these as we go.

Yalla Arabic · Vocabulary Cards · Session 14