Vocabulary Cards — Session 17: Vegetables (الخُضار)

Print this page. Cut along the dotted lines. Each card is index-card sized. Carry them in your pocket. Look at one card at the grocery store, at dinner, while chopping salad together.

Card 1

Say it: khu-DAAR Means: Vegetables

🎨 Picture: A wooden crate at a Beirut market piled with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and bunches of parsley.

Use it when: You're at the grocery store. Mama is putting away groceries. Someone asks what's for dinner and there's a big plate of veggies on the table.

Card 2

Say it: ban-DOO-ra Means: Tomatoes (Levantine)

🎨 Picture: Three red tomatoes on a balcony railing, sun shining on them.

Use it when: You slice a tomato for a sandwich. You see them in the fridge. Teta is making her famous tomato salad.

In other Arabic countries you might hear طَماطِم (tamaatim). In Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan — it's always bandora.

Card 3

Say it: khi-YAAR Means: Cucumber

🎨 Picture: A small Levantine cucumber (the short kind!) being washed under the tap.

Use it when: You're snacking on cucumber slices with salt. You see them in the salad bowl. You're packing lunch.

Card 4

Say it: baq-DOO-nis Means: Parsley

🎨 Picture: A big green bunch of flat-leaf parsley on a cutting board, with a knife next to it.

Use it when: Someone is making tabbouleh (it's mostly parsley!). You smell that fresh green smell in the kitchen. You're helping pick the leaves off the stems.

Card 5

Say it: NA'-na' Means: Mint

🎨 Picture: A small glass of hot tea with green mint leaves floating on top.

Use it when: Teta puts mint in the tea. You smell mint in tabbouleh. You see it growing in a pot on the balcony.

Many Lebanese families grow نَعنَع in a little pot by the kitchen window. Ask if yours does!

Card 6

Say it: BA-sal Means: Onion

🎨 Picture: A purple onion and a white onion sitting next to each other on a wooden board.

Use it when: Baba is chopping onions and his eyes are watering. You smell onions cooking in olive oil. You're helping make dinner.

Card 7

Say it: SA-la-ta Means: Salad

🎨 Picture: A big bowl of fattoush — tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, mint, crispy bread, lemon.

Use it when: Salad is on the table (which is basically every Lebanese meal). You're tossing the salad. Someone asks "shu fi lal-ghada?" — what's for lunch?

🌟 Letter of the day: س (sin) — you can hear it at the start of sa-lata! Listen for it.

A bonus card — for the family

Card 8 (bonus)

Say it: ta-BOO-le Means: Tabbouleh — the famous Lebanese parsley salad

🎨 Picture: A bright green bowl of tabbouleh — tiny bits of tomato, bulgur, lemon, lots and lots of parsley.

Use it when: It's on the table at a family gathering. You're helping chop the parsley super fine. Someone says "this is the BEST tabbouleh."

Tabbouleh is the queen of Levantine salads. It uses almost every word on these cards: bandora, baqdunis, na'na', basal — all in one bowl. If you learn to make tabbouleh with your family, you'll remember these words forever.

How to use these cards

1. Take them to the kitchen. Open the fridge. Point at the bandora. Say the word. That's it.
2. Play "what's in the salad?" Next time someone makes salad, name every ingredient in Arabic before eating.
3. Pick a favorite. Most kids latch onto one word — usually na'na' or bandora. Use that one a LOT.
4. 30 seconds a day. One card. One word. One real moment.

A note on the letter س (sin)

You'll spot س in سَلَطة (salata) and in بَقدونِس (baqdunis). It makes the s sound — like the "s" in "sun" or "salad."

Look for it on signs at the grocery store, on food labels, in your favorite Arabic books. Once you know س, you'll start seeing it everywhere.

On Levantine vs. MSA

The words on these cards are the words a Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, or Jordanian grandmother actually says at the table. In school books or news, you might see slightly different words (like طَماطِم instead of بَندورة). Both are correct. We teach what families really speak.

Yalla Arabic · Vocabulary Cards · Session 17