Vocabulary Cards — Session 19: My Body, Part 2

Print this page. Cut along the dotted lines. Each card is index-card sized. Carry them in your pocket. Pull one out during bath time, at the doctor, when someone gets a boo-boo.

Card 1

Say it: YAD Means: Hand

🎨 Picture: A small open hand, fingers spread wide, like a high-five.

Use it when: You wash your hands before eating. You hold someone's hand crossing the street. You wave hello.

Card 2

Say it: QA-dam Means: Foot

🎨 Picture: A bare foot in the sand at the Mediterranean shore.

Use it when: You take off your shoes at the door. You step in a puddle. You count toes after bath.

Card 3

Say it: RIJL Means: Leg

🎨 Picture: A kid kicking a soccer ball on a balcony, one leg up.

Use it when: You run. You climb stairs. You bump your leg on the coffee table (ouch!).

Card 4

Say it: EED Means: Arm / hand (Levantine — what teta actually says)

🎨 Picture: A grandma reaching out her arm to pull a grandchild in for a hug.

Use it when: Teta says "hat eedak" (give me your hand). Someone wants to help you up. You stretch your arms up high.

This is the everyday Levantine word. In books you'll see يَد (yad), but at home in Beirut, Amman, Damascus, Ramallah — people say إيد.

Card 5

Say it: QALB Means: Heart

🎨 Picture: A child's hand resting on their chest, feeling the heartbeat after running.

Use it when: You run fast and feel it thumping. Someone you love says "ya albi" (my heart). You draw a heart on a card for mama.

In Levantine, people call the ones they love يا قَلبي (ya albi — "my heart"). You'll hear it a hundred times growing up.

Card 6

Say it: BA-tin Means: Belly / stomach

🎨 Picture: A kid holding their belly after eating too much knafeh, laughing.

Use it when: You're hungry. You're full. Your belly hurts. You laugh so hard your belly shakes.

Card 7

Say it: SADR Means: Chest

🎨 Picture: A child taking a big deep breath, chest puffed out like a superhero.

Use it when: You take a deep breath. You thump your chest like a strong lion. The doctor listens to your chest with a stethoscope.

This word starts with our letter of the day: ص (sad). Feel how it sits heavy in your mouth — SAD-r, not soft like an English "s."

A bonus card — for the family

Card 8 (bonus)

Say it: WA-ja' Means: Ouch / it hurts

🎨 Picture: A kid pointing to a scraped knee, mama bending down to look.

Use it when: You bump something. You scrape your knee. Your tummy hurts. Anytime a body part says ow.

In Levantine homes, kids run to mama with "wajaʿ!" and point to where it hurts. Pair it with any body word: وَجَع بَطن (wajaʿ batn — belly hurts), وَجَع رِجل (wajaʿ rijl — leg hurts).

How to use these cards

1. Play "point and name." Call out a card, kid points to that body part. Switch — kid calls, you point.
2. Use them at bath time. Wash your يَد. Wash your قَدَم. Wash your بَطن. Real moments stick.
3. Use them when someone gets hurt. "Oh no, your رِجل? Let me see." Real words for real life.
4. Don't quiz. Just sprinkle. A word here, a word there. They add up.

On the letter of the day: ص (sad)

You'll see ص at the start of صَدر (sadr — chest). It's a heavy, deep "s" — your tongue pulls back, your mouth gets a little rounder. Try saying sad (English) then صَدر — feel the difference?

It's the same letter from صَباح الخَير (good morning), back in Session 1. An old friend.

A note for grown-ups

Some of these words are MSA (يَد, قَدَم, رِجل) — what kids will see in books. Some are Levantine (إِيد, وَجَع) — what they'll hear at teta's house. Both are real Arabic. Kids need both. Don't worry about mixing them — every Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, and Jordanian kid grows up code-switching all day long.

Yalla Arabic · Vocabulary Cards · Session 19