Vocabulary Cards — Session 46: Now I Read! Good Morning

Print this page. Cut along the dotted lines. Each card is index-card sized. By Level 4, your reader can actually READ these cards. Let them hold the card and sound it out before you say anything.

Card 1

Say it: sa-BAH al-KHAYR Means: Good morning. (literally: "Morning of goodness")

🎨 Picture: The sun coming up over a Beirut balcony. A kid in pajamas holding a glass of water, hair still messy from sleep.

Use it when: You walk into the kitchen and see mama making coffee. You greet your teacher at the classroom door. You answer the phone before noon and it's teta calling from Lebanon.

Card 2

Say it: sa-BAH an-NOOR Means: Good morning back! (literally: "Morning of light")

🎨 Picture: Teta in a kitchen, smiling, pouring tea. Sunlight coming through the window onto the table.

Use it when: Someone says صَباح الخَير to you FIRST. You always answer with النّور — light back at them. It's a little gift in return.

Heritage note: You can also hear صَباح الفُل (morning of jasmine) or صَباح الوَرد (morning of roses). Lebanese aunties love these. Try one on teta and watch her face.

Card 3

Say it: ash-SHAMS Means: The sun

🎨 Picture: A round yellow sun over the Mediterranean, drawn in a kid's storybook style.

Use it when: The sun comes up. You point at the sky on a hot day. You read the word in the story and recognize it: "Oh! That's shams!"

Card 4

Say it: yas-TAY-qidh Means: He wakes up

🎨 Picture: A boy sitting up in bed, rubbing one eye, blanket still on his legs.

Use it when: You read it in the story. You describe your morning: baba yastayqidh early. You're being silly about the cat: the cat yastayqidh and wants food.

Reader's tip: This is an MSA (book) word. In Levantine spoken, we usually say byifeeq (بيفيق). Both are good. Books use one, mama uses the other.

Card 5

Say it: ya-QOO-lu Means: He says

🎨 Picture: A speech bubble coming out of a smiling kid's mouth, with Arabic letters inside.

Use it when: You read it in the story — yaqoolu sabah al-khayr. You retell a story: and then he yaqoolu... This is one of the most useful little words in any book you'll ever read.

Card 6

Say it: li-UM-mi-hi Means: To his mother

🎨 Picture: A boy hugging his mom from behind while she stirs something on the stove.

Use it when: You read it in the story. You spot the little word أُمّ (umm = mother) hiding inside it. Arabic words are like that — small words live inside bigger ones.

A bonus card — for the family

Card 7 (bonus)

Say it: KAYF al-HAAL Means: How are you? (literally: "How is the condition?")

🎨 Picture: Two cousins on a balcony, one just arrived, the other pouring lemonade.

Use it when: Right AFTER صَباح الخَير. This is how the real conversation starts. Greeting → "how are you?" → the day begins.

The classic answer: الحَمدُ لله (al-HAM-du lil-LAH) — "all good, thanks." Every Arab kid hears this fifty times a day. Now you can say it too.

How to use these cards

1. Let your reader READ them first. By Level 4, the Arabic side is the FRONT of the card, not the back. Let your child sound out the word before you help.
2. Match cards to the story. When you read 'Good Morning' from Hayya Beena Naqraa, lay these cards on the table. When a word appears in the story, point to its card.
3. Use them in real mornings. Tape Card 1 and Card 2 to the fridge. For one week, the whole family greets each other in Arabic before coffee.
4. Notice the diacritics. The little marks above and below the letters (َ ُ ِ ْ ّ) — these are your reader's training wheels. They tell you the vowels. Soon you won't need them. But this week, slow down and notice them.

On the diacritics

You'll see lots of little marks this week:

• فَتحة (a small slash above) = "a" sound
• ضَمّة (a small loop above) = "u" sound
• كَسرة (a small slash below) = "i" sound
• سُكون (a small circle above) = no vowel, just the consonant
• شَدّة (a small "w" above) = double the letter

Books for kids keep these marks. Grown-up books drop them. Your reader is right in the middle — strong enough to read, still using the training wheels. That's exactly where they should be.

Yalla Arabic · Vocabulary Cards · Level 4 · Session 46