Living Arabic

I've made a Patreon page for The Living Arabic Project. If you like the project want it to keep growing, please support it if you can. Any funds I get now go to finding someone to help with the Gulf dictionary I'm working on. patreon.com/user?u=8064876…

Thanks to the UPenn for inviting me to give a talk titled "Regimagining Arabic" about how there is a history of treating Arabic dialects and al-Fusha as discrete languages, but we can see Arabic and create learning/linguistic tools to understand it as an interconnected system.

At a recent panel, Osama Al-Sayyad of Arabi Facts Hub cited 21,000+ reports showing 42% focused on political content — much of it false — with identity and national security themes dominating crises. Read more: al-fanarmedia.org/2026/02/flood-… #AlFanarMedia @arabifactshub

في #اليوم_الدولي_للغة_الأم نشارك معكم مقال اللغوي والباحث حسام أبو زهر «ازدواجية اللغة وأثرها على مستويات تعليم التلاميذ العرب.. دعوة للمواجهة»، المنشور على «الفنار للإعلام» في أبريل 2022 اقرأ المقال كاملًا: al-fanarmedia.org/ar/2022/04/%d8… #الفنار_للإعلام @LivingArabic

@Dealtrade_Group 2/2 The decline in documentation + a puritanical attitude of Classical vs. Dialects has led to a divide that really shouldn't be there.

@LivingArabic Yes, my own observation wd be roughly that any dialect is traceable back to the "classical" Arabic, as - it´s (almost) always based on the same, "dictionary" 3K roots; it´s just that - there are different vocab preferences plus grammatical, syntactical and phonetic "slips"

My latest on Al-Fanar about teaching "Arabic as One"—dialects and MSA together. Thank you to Radwa El Barouni Heba Salem, Laila Familiar and the many others who allowed me to interview them, filled out surveys, etc. al-fanarmedia.org/2026/02/arabic…

@Dealtrade_Group 1/2: the documentation of Arabic in early dictionaries (Lisan al-Arab, etc.) included multiple dialects, which is why so much of modern Arabic can be traced back to "classical". You actually find a lot of "dialect" words in Classical Arabic dictionaries.

@Dealtrade_Group I think conceptually it's hard to get because language is always framed as a monolithic entity. It's interesting comparing that to my son. I've taught him about dialects since he was young. Now, at 10, he has a natural grasp of it.

@LivingArabic Interesting article. A student I teach now has MSA at school. Before we started, I extensively explained her all the context + suggested we start focusing on a dialect while she will MSA at school anyway. She accepted and, 2 years into it, wd say, starts getting the wider point.

يرى اللغوي والباحث حسام أبو زهر أن دمج اللهجات العاميّة مع الفصحى في الفصول الدراسية ضرورة لتعلم اللغة العربية بشكلٍ فعّال. اقرأ المقال كاملًا: al-fanarmedia.org/ar/2026/02/%d8… #الفنار_للإعلام @LivingArabic

«To truly support learners, Arabic programmes must invest in instructor training, adopt integrated curricula, and foster environments where code-switching and dialect awareness are treated as strengths, not mistakes». Read more: al-fanarmedia.org/2026/02/arabic… @LivingArabic

Happy to have been invited to join QFI's podcast All Things Arabic to talk about navigating Arabic's multiglossia. youtube.com/watch?v=x4SJyT…

@idris_razan There are a number of video games now that have been translated into Arabic, (e.g. Prince of Persia's latest edition). I've been impressed with the quality of some. I hope more games become available in dialects going forward.

@LivingArabic Charming. As a child I had a few original animated cd rom games voiced in Arabic, I wonder if there's anything out there now.

I've been working (mainly with my brother) on developing edutainment games for Arabic. Here's the latest: سمن وعسل (or سمنة وعسل , depending on your dialect). It's a card game based on "player-judge" games like Apples-to-Apples: livingarabic.com/samne-w-3asal

I love it when new resources are made for learning Arabic. Check out Alexander Magidow's translation of Fast Fantasy. It's a great way to have fun with friends and practice your Arabic at the same time. amag111.itch.io/fast-fantasy-ar

Happy to have been invited by the AADL and give a brief talk introducing Arabic, some learning tips, and why it is so awesome: youtube.com/watch?v=Uo9fa5…

I've finally gotten back on my Arabic lessons through cooking videos series. This time, I pre-recorded the next 15 episodes and scheduled all the posts (once a week for the next few months, excluding holidays). Here's the latest: patreon.com/posts/arabic-c…

For supporters on Patreon, I've now added a new benefit: Removal of ads on The Living Arabic Project. It does require you to make an account on The Living Arabic Project, but that is free and only takes a few minutes. Sign up on Patreon here: patreon.com/c/livingarabic

I've been trying to make games for Arabic dialects for a while, and now I've got one: a version of "Wordle" that works with dialects. I called it خسمة بسبعة because the grid is 5x7. You can select a dialect and play to your heart's content. 5x7-94b35e.gitlab.io

Check out this new explainer video for The Living Arabic Project with some advanced tips like how to find single letter words and some hidden secrets you probably didn't even know you could search for. patreon.com/posts/explaine…

For centuries, highly educated men were the only people writing Arabic dictionaries. That leaves a host of linguistic gaps for modern lexicographers to fill, writes Hossam Abouzahr. Read the full Op-Ed: al-fanarmedia.org/2025/07/who-ge… #AlFanarMedia

I've made an explainer video about how to use The Living Arabic Project's dictionaries and posted it on Patreon. I made this mainly after a professor said they do a lesson specifically on using the website, and I figured I can lend a hand. patreon.com/posts/explaine…