Fablingo / Fablingo Arabic / Level pre-A1
Episode 19 · Murájaʿa — read a sentence, write your name
Duration: 5:21
▶ 20 October
After this lesson you can:
I can read a whole fully-voweled sentence aloud, and write my own name in Arabic.
In this episode
Breather (cumulative). Farid places the reed pen in Sam's hand as he did on Day One — but this time Sam doesn't copy a letter, he writes his name, whole, in his own hand, then reads a full sentence off a card without a stumble. Nour, for once, doesn't race him; she watches the man who couldn't read a mark read a line. The dīwān is still on the shelf — but now he knows he will read it.
Welcome back to the Book Quarter. Last time, Ustadh Farid showed Sam the secret architecture of Arabic: the three-letter roots, like ك-ت-ب, that build whole families of words.
Today, the shop is quiet. Dust motes dance in the afternoon sun. Sam is standing by Ustadh Farid's great wooden desk, looking up at the high shelf where the old poetry collection—the dīwān—rests.
Farid pulls a fresh, thick sheet of paper from a drawer and lays it flat. He picks up the same carved reed pen he handed Sam on his very first day, dips it in the inkwell, and holds it out.
لا نَسْخَ اليَوْم.
'No copying today,' Farid tells him. Today, it's time for Sam to write something of his own. And we'll start with the most important thing you can say.
اِسْمِي...
اِسْمِي... — My name is... (write your own) · IS-mee...
The word for name is اِسْم. To make it 'my name', we just add that long 'ee' sound at the end. اِسْمِي. Listen to the clean snap of the letters.
اِسْمِي... — My name is... (write your own) · IS-mee...
Say it with me, and feel that small catch in your throat on the first syllable. اِسْمِي.
اِسْمِي... — My name is... (write your own) · IS-mee...
One more time, nice and easy. اِسْمِي.
اِسْمِي... — My name is... (write your own) · IS-mee...
Sam touches the pen to the page. He doesn't look at a chart. He just feels the shapes he's practiced for weeks. He writes it out.
مَرْحَبًا! أنا سام.
مَرْحَبًا! أنا سام. — Hello! I am Sam. · MAR-ḥa-ban! A-naa Sam
Look at that! He recycled our old friend مَرْحَبًا, and added أنا. أنا means 'I' or 'I am'. In Arabic, you don't need a word for 'am' here. Just 'I' and your name.
مَرْحَبًا! أنا سام. — Hello! I am Sam. · MAR-ḥa-ban! A-naa Sam
The word أنا ends in a long vowel, but we often say it lightly. Try introducing yourself. Say: مَرْحَبًا! أنا سام.
مَرْحَبًا! أنا سام. — Hello! I am Sam. · MAR-ḥa-ban! A-naa Sam
Again. Put your own name at the end if you like! مَرْحَبًا! أنا سام.
مَرْحَبًا! أنا سام. — Hello! I am Sam. · MAR-ḥa-ban! A-naa Sam
Nour is perched on a stool nearby. Normally, this is where she'd challenge him to a race or point out a wobbly letter. But today, she just watches quietly.
Let's take a breath and review what we've written so far. First, 'My name is...': اِسْمِي... اِسْمِي... And 'Hello, I am Sam': مَرْحَبًا! أنا سام. مَرْحَبًا! أنا سام.
Farid takes the paper and sets it carefully on the windowsill to dry. Then he reaches under the counter and pulls out a small, heavy card.
He slides the card toward Sam. Up until now, Sam has read letters, and single words. Now, there is a full sentence waiting for him.
اِقْرَأ.
هٰذا كِتابُ الكاتِب.
هٰذا كِتابُ الكاتِب. — This is the writer's book. · HAA-dhaa ki-TAA-bul-KAA-tib
He did it! Let's break it down. We remember هٰذا, meaning 'this'. Then we have two words from the ك-ت-ب root family we learned last time: كِتاب and الكاتِب.
هٰذا كِتابُ الكاتِب. — This is the writer's book. · HAA-dhaa ki-TAA-bul-KAA-tib
Notice how they link together. The little 'u' sound on the end of كِتاب acts like a bridge straight into the next word. It flows nicely. Try it with me: هٰذا كِتابُ الكاتِب.
هٰذا كِتابُ الكاتِب. — This is the writer's book. · HAA-dhaa ki-TAA-bul-KAA-tib
Again, let it flow over that bridge. هٰذا كِتابُ الكاتِب.
هٰذا كِتابُ الكاتِب. — This is the writer's book. · HAA-dhaa ki-TAA-bul-KAA-tib
Now say it naturally, like you've been reading all your life. هٰذا كِتابُ الكاتِب.
هٰذا كِتابُ الكاتِب. — This is the writer's book. · HAA-dhaa ki-TAA-bul-KAA-tib
مُمْتاز يا سام.
'Excellent, Sam,' she says. And coming from Nour, that is the highest praise possible. She watched the man who couldn't read a single mark, read a whole line without stumbling.
Sam looks back up at the dīwān on the top shelf. It's still high up. It's still thick. But the wall of ten thousand words is gone. It's just a book, built of roots, waiting for him.
What a journey it's been. Let's review today's milestones one last time. My name is...: اِسْمِي... اِسْمِي... Hello, I am Sam: مَرْحَبًا! أنا سام. مَرْحَبًا! أنا سام. And this is the writer's book: هٰذا كِتابُ الكاتِب. هٰذا كِتابُ الكاتِب.
You are reading and writing in Arabic. We are so proud of you. Join us next time as the story continues—new lessons drop every Tuesday and Friday. See you in the Book Quarter!
Vocabulary
| Phrase | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| هٰذا كِتابُ الكاتِب. | HAA-dhaa ki-TAA-bul-KAA-tib — This is the writer's book. | |
| مَرْحَبًا! أنا سام. | MAR-ḥa-ban! A-naa Sam — Hello! I am Sam. | |
| اِسْمِي... | IS-mee... — My name is... (write your own) |
Grammar in this lesson
No new material — the cumulative milestone. The learner reads a full voweled sentence unaided (hādhā kitābu al-kātib — the root k-t-b twice, an iḍāfa felt), then writes their own name with the qalam — the two capstone acts of a reading course. anā ("I") and ismī ("my name") arrive as the frame for it.