Reflecting on a beautiful spring day, I took the opportunity to delve into the fascinating world of the Arabic alphabet, focusing on two specific letters: ‘س’ (seen) and ‘ش’ (sheen). In this video, I meticulously demonstrate how to write these letters in various positions within a word, providing clear examples and practical sentences to enhance understanding. I also intertwine the lesson with a delightful showcase of seasonal fruits, sharing their names in Lebanese and offering some health tips along the way. The aim is to create an engaging and educational experience, blending language learning with cultural insights. So, whether you’re keen on mastering the Arabic script or just curious about Lebanese fruits, this session is crafted to cater to your interests.
Transcript:
Hello guys, we meet again in the springtime to learn two new letters: ‘س’ and ‘ش’. The ‘س’ is pronounced as ‘seen’, similar to the ‘s’ in ‘summer’. The ‘ش’ is pronounced as ‘sheen’, akin to ‘shine’. Today, we are going to learn how to write these two letters.
Learning to Write ‘س’ and ‘ش’
Let’s start with ‘س’. To write it, you do it like this. I will demonstrate again. Now, moving on to ‘ش’. It is exactly like ‘س’, but with an additional hat on top. Once you learn how to write ‘س’, you can easily write ‘ش’.
Writing ‘س’ in Different Positions
Now, let’s learn how to write ‘س’ at the beginning of a word. It looks like this. Here, I’ve written ‘س’ as in ‘samak’, which means ‘fish’.
In the middle of a sentence, ‘س’ takes on this form. It loses this part here. For example, ‘masmakeh’ means ‘the place where you buy fish’.
At the end of a sentence, ‘س’ takes this form. Even if you choose not to add this part, it’s not a problem. For instance, ‘haris’ means ‘guardian’.
Writing ‘ش’ in Different Positions
Now, let’s move on to ‘ش’. At the beginning of a word, it looks like this, as in ‘shmel’, which means ‘north’ or ‘left’. If you want to learn more about directions, you can check my lesson on that topic.
In the middle of a word, ‘ش’ looks like this, as in ‘hashish’, which means ‘grass’.
A Word with Both ‘س’ and ‘ش’
Now, I will introduce a word that includes both ‘س’ and ‘ش’. The word is ‘shames’, meaning ‘the sun’. You can choose to add this part or leave it out: ‘shames’.
Writing ‘س’ and ‘ش’ might be a bit challenging, but it’s crucial to learn them as they are frequently used.
Springtime Fruits
And because it is the spring time. I will show you now the fruits, the delicious one that you have to taste. I’m sure you have a lot of them in your countries but really it is delicious and I want to tell you the names of them. So this is my plate, I prepare it to you. Here we have a kind of peach, it is called nectarine but later on it will be bigger of course but now because they are still small, the lovely color of the nectarine. It is called ‘derra2’.
Now we have here something very delicious but I don’t know the name. Here it is called ‘akkeh deneh’. I think in France it is called…I also forgot, sorry. Here we have the strawberries and in Arabic, in the fus-ha it is called ‘farawila’, ‘farabila’ but we say ‘fraise’ like the French language.
Here we have the kiwi and it is also called ‘kiwi’. I don’t know if they have a fus-ha name, ‘kiwi’. And here, for all the persons who cares about the weight and the calories, this is the fruits, this is the fruit that you are, that you are free to eat like a bowl every day without counting the calories because it is so poor in calories and it is ‘janerik’. They are sour-y and very delicious.
So don’t forget to eat your fruits. I will tell you about the kiwi that it will help you with the digestion. If you have a problem with digestion, eat kiwi but don’t peel, don’t peel it, eat it with this. okay. And also the Fraise are low in calories actually. So I’ll eat the ‘akkeh deneh’, no the ‘janerik’ and I will tell you bye with the lovely fruit. Bye.
Recap:
| English | Lebanese (Latin Letters) | Lebanese (Arabic Alphabet) |
|---|---|---|
| Seen (Letter ‘S’) | ‘س’ | س |
| Sheen (Letter ‘SH’) | ‘ش’ | ش |
| Fish | ‘samak’ | سمك |
| Place where you buy fish | ‘masmakeh’ | مسمكة |
| Guardian | ‘haris’ | حارس |
| North/Left | ‘shmel’ | شمال |
| Grass | ‘hashish’ | حشيش |
| Sun | ‘shames’ | شمس |
| Nectarine | ‘derra2’ | دراق |
| Unknown Fruit | ‘akkeh deneh’ | أكي دني |
| Strawberries | ‘farawila’/‘fraise’ | فراولة/فريز |
| Kiwi | ‘kiwi’ | كيوي |
| Sour Green Plums | ‘janerik’ | جنارك |
