Vocabulary Cards — Session 34: At My Grandmother's

Print this page. Cut along the dotted lines. Each card is index-card sized. Carry them in your pocket. Look at one before a phone call with teta, or on the way to her house.

Card 1

Say it: TAY-ta Means: Grandma (Levantine)

🎨 Picture: A grandmother in her kitchen, apron on, holding a tray of cookies. A child hugging her waist.

Use it when: You call your grandmother. You talk about her to a friend. You're going to her house this weekend.

In Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan — almost every kid says teta. Some families say sitto or jiddah, but teta is the most common.

Card 2

Say it: ish-TAQ-til-lak (to a boy/man) · ish-TAQ-til-lik (to a girl/woman) Means: I missed you.

🎨 Picture: A child running into teta's arms at the front door. A suitcase still by the steps.

Use it when: You see someone you haven't seen in a long time. You video-call family far away. Teta opens the door and you haven't visited in weeks.

This is one of the warmest things you can say in Arabic. It means "I longed for you." Say it and watch faces melt.

Card 3

Say it: AH-kil BAY-ti Means: Homemade food (literally: "food of my house")

🎨 Picture: A table covered in small dishes — hummus, rice, stuffed grape leaves, a pot of soup steaming.

Use it when: Teta puts food on the table and says kul, kul! (eat, eat!). You smell something cooking when you walk in. Someone asks if you want to go out to eat and you'd rather stay home.

In every Levantine family, akil bayti is the highest compliment. Restaurants are nice — homemade is better.

Card 4

Say it: kook Means: Cake / cookie / sweet baked treat

🎨 Picture: A plate of round semolina cookies dusted with powdered sugar, next to two small glass cups of tea.

Use it when: Teta opens the cookie tin. You smell something baking. Someone offers you dessert with tea.

Kuk is the cozy word for the sweet thing on teta's table. Every teta has her version — some bake it, some buy it, all of it goes with tea.

Card 5

Say it: hi-KAA-yeh Means: Story

🎨 Picture: Teta on the couch, a child curled up next to her, both wrapped in a blanket. Teta is mid-sentence, hands moving.

Use it when: You ask teta to tell you about when she was little. Someone starts telling about something that happened. Before bed, when you want a story.

Ask: اِحكيلي حِكاية — ihkeeli hikaayeh — "Tell me a story."

Teta stories are the best stories. About the village. About when mama was small. About a goat that ate someone's laundry.

Card 6

Say it: qa-'AD-na Means: We sat. / We hung out.

🎨 Picture: A family on a balcony — teta, a parent, and two kids — small cups of tea on a little table. Mountains in the background.

Use it when: You tell someone what you did at teta's. You spent time together — sitting, talking, eating. Nothing fancy. Just being together.

In Levantine Arabic, qa'adna doesn't only mean we sat down on chairs. It means we spent time together. "We sat at teta's" = "We hung out at grandma's all afternoon."

A bonus card — for the family

Card 7 (bonus)

Say it: shaay Means: Tea

🎨 Picture: A small clear glass of tea, steam rising, a sprig of mint inside.

Use it when: Teta puts the kettle on. Someone offers you a drink. You sit on the balcony in the afternoon.

Tea at teta's is almost always in a small glass cup, often with na'na' (mint) or maramiyyeh (sage). It comes with the kuk. This is how visits happen.

How to use these cards

1. Pick one before the next call with teta or jiddo. Try to use it. Even just one word.
2. Practice 30 seconds a day. Pull a card. Say it out loud. Picture the moment.
3. Heritage families: Ask the grandparent which words they use. Some say teta, some say sitto. Both are right. Add their version to the card.
4. Total beginner families: Don't worry about the spelling yet. Just say the words. The letters will come.

On the words you're seeing

These are all Levantine spoken Arabic — the everyday Arabic of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan. This is how families actually talk at home. In school Arabic (MSA), some of these words look a little different — teta becomes jiddah, hikaayeh becomes qissa. Both are real. Both are Arabic.

But when you walk into teta's house? You say teta. You say ishtaqtillak. You sit down. You eat the kuk. You drink the shaay. You listen to the hikaayeh.

That's the whole session.

Yalla Arabic · Vocabulary Cards · Session 34