Many of you may know that I am very passionate about learning Arabic language, in order to understand the word of Allah natively. For this reason, I have also created a Pathway to Arabic language, where I have gathered all the resources I have used personally and organized them into modular courses. If you follow each course one after the other you will be able to learn Arabic and understand Quran, hadeeth, and classical books of Islamic sciences, بإذن الله
But teaching Arabic to kids is different. While the resources in my Pathway to Arabic are great for adult learners, they are not suitable for kids. Since we need to make learning fun and more engaging for young learners.
Moreover, before introducing Quranic vocabulary and text to kids, we should introduce language which they can use in their daily lives and can relate to. The beauty of Arabic is that even though there are a lot of local dialects being spoken in different parts of the world, Fusha or classical Arabic can still be used to converse in daily life.
Once the kids are comfortable using Fusha Arabic in their daily lives, learning Quranic vocabulary and expressions comes much more easily to them.
Below are some of the resources that I have used personally and recommend for learning Arabic reading, writing, and comprehension for kids and even beginner adults. Even if you yourself do not know Arabic you can use these resources and learn alongside your kids.
Some of the resources in this list are paid. But making quality resources takes time and money, and the prices are quite reasonable. Please note that this is not a sponsored post, and I am just recommending the resources I personally use and love.
1. AlefBaTa
AlefBaTa is an online portal of games, stories, and interactive exercises to learn Arabic. It also contains thousands of worksheets if that is how you prefer to learn. The focus is mostly on reading and vocabulary. My favourite part of this website is their games, which are a good way to get kids comfortable with Arabic letters and start them on their reading journey.
2. Kutubee
Kutubee by Noorart is an amazing collection of more than 800 arabic books including illustrated story books, perfect for beginners. They also have books in English and French. Reading books with my kids is my favourite way to teach them a language, or rather their favourite way of learning a language. And Kutubee’s large collection of books is helping us read new books everyday.
3. Arabic Seeds
Arabic Seeds approach is that children should be exposed to Arabic daily through play, talking, books and more. To help you achieve this, they have created a diverse range of resources, including books, videos, online games, worksheets, and more to make you and your kids live and love arabic.
I am kind of part of their team as I develop their online games. (Which I am totally thrilled about!) But I have been using their resources since long before that.
4. Arabic Open Sessions by Arabic with Kids
Arabic with Kids conduct free, open sessions to learn Arabic through stories, Quran, and Hadeeth. Her open session “Coffee and Stories” is a place to engage with the language through illustrated Arabic storybooks for children. It can be a great way for the kids to learn Arabic, especially if you yourself are not fluent in Arabic and cannot read Arabic books with them.
5. Arabic Workshop
Arabic Workshop is a growing library of audio visual content to increase fluency in Arabic through listening. All audio-visual content is broken down into small steps (CEFR and ACTFL are further broken down into smaller steps). It’s a really good resource!
Listen to a couple of videos every day from the level that suits you and try repeating the conversations in your daily life.
6. Adventures in Arabic
Adventures in Arabic is my Facebook group. I have two Facebook groups for Arabic. This one is where I share resources like storybooks, YouTube videos, writing and listening practice activities and more to help people learn Arabic in a fun and casual way. It is a huge community and other people besides me share resources too. I moderate the posts and only allow posts which I personally feel are beneficial and are not spam.
What would you add to the list? Share your favourite resources in the comments below 👇