Vocabulary Cards — Session 45: Mama is Cooking

Print this page. Cut along the dotted lines. Each card is index-card sized. Carry them in your pocket. Pull one out at snack time, in the kitchen, on the way to teta's house.

Card 1

Say it: MA-ma Means: Mom / Mama

🎨 Picture: A woman in a kitchen apron, sleeves rolled up, stirring a big pot. Steam rising.

Use it when: You call out to your mom. You tell a story about her. You're reading our story today — she's the main character.

Card 2

Say it: TAT-bukh Means: She cooks / She is cooking

🎨 Picture: A woman holding a wooden spoon over a pot of mjadara. Tomatoes and onions on the counter.

Use it when: Mama is making dinner. Teta is at the stove. You see someone cooking on a show. Say: Mama tatbukh!

Card 3

Say it: AT-bukh Means: I cook / I am cooking

🎨 Picture: A kid standing on a little stool at the counter, stirring a bowl, flour on their nose.

Use it when: You help in the kitchen. You make scrambled eggs. You pretend-cook with playdough. Say: Ana atbukh! (I'm cooking!)

Card 4

Say it: AK-leh Means: A dish (of food) / A meal

🎨 Picture: A round table with a big platter in the middle — rice, chicken, a bowl of yogurt-cucumber salad on the side.

Use it when: You talk about your favorite food. Someone asks what's for dinner. You smell something good and ask: Shu hal-akleh? (What's this dish?)

This word ends in ة (ta marbuta) — the "tied taa." Today's letter review!

Card 5

Say it: MAT-bakh Means: Kitchen

🎨 Picture: A small Levantine apartment kitchen — a window with a balcony view, a pot on the stove, a tea kettle, a bowl of lemons.

Use it when: You walk into the kitchen. You're looking for mama. You smell food and follow your nose. Wayn mama? Bil-matbakh! (Where's mama? In the kitchen!)

Notice — tatbukh, atbukh, matbakh — they all share the same root: ط-ب-خ (cooking).

Card 6

Say it: TAY-yeb Means: Delicious / Yummy / Good

🎨 Picture: A kid taking a big bite, eyes closed, thumbs up.

Use it when: You taste something amazing. Mama asks how the food is. You want to make the cook smile. Say: Tayyeb ktiir! (Very delicious!)

Card 7

Say it: joo-AAN Means: Hungry (for a boy) / joo-AA-neh for a girl

🎨 Picture: A kid holding their belly, looking at the pot, waiting.

Use it when: It's almost dinner. You walk in from school. You smell mama's cooking and can't wait. Say: Ana joo'aan!

A bonus card — for the family

Card 8 (bonus)

Say it: sah-TAYN Means: Enjoy your meal! (literally: "two healths")

🎨 Picture: A whole family around a table, plates full, everyone smiling. Someone is reaching for the bread.

Use it when: Food is served. Someone is about to eat. Someone just finished eating (you say it then too!). The answer back is 'a albak — "on your heart."

This is what Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, and Jordanian families say every single day at the table. If your kid learns one word from this session, let it be this one.

How to use these cards

1. Take them into the kitchen. This is a kitchen session. Pull out tatbukh while mama actually cooks. Pull out tayyeb at the first bite.
2. Practice 30 seconds a day. Pick one card. Say it. Use it once.
3. Notice the root. Tatbukh, atbukh, matbakh — same three letters, three meanings. Point this out once. Don't drill it.
4. Let your kid be the chef. Hand them atbukh and let them narrate while they "cook" anything — real, pretend, playdough, sandbox.

On ta marbuta (ة)

You'll see it at the end of أَكلَة (akleh). That little circle with two dots — ة — is the "tied taa." It usually sounds like a soft -ah or -eh at the end of a word, and it usually means the word is feminine.

You've seen it before in teta (تيتا — though that one's actually a regular taa!) and you'll see it everywhere from now on: sayyara (car), madrasa (school), akleh (dish).

For now: just notice it. The rules come later.

Yalla Arabic · Vocabulary Cards · Session 45