Syrian Arabic for babies and toddlers
First words in spoken Damascene Arabic, written so any parent can read them aloud.
Real spoken Syrian Arabic, not Modern Standard ArabicSyrian Arabic is what families speak at home, and it is not what children are taught to read. For Syrian families raising children in Germany, the gap opens early: the child arrives in Kita speaking Arabic and within two years German has taken over as the language of play, of school, of thinking.
The words here are spoken Syrian, closest to the Damascus register, with a Latin transliteration under every Arabic word. A parent or an older sibling who reads only Latin script can still read the whole book out loud correctly.
The Syrian Arabic and German wordbook covers 100 first words across 10 themes, illustrated in hand-painted watercolour by the artist Digitalartsi.
Syrian Arabic and Levantine Arabic
Syrian is one of the Levantine dialects, the group spoken along the eastern Mediterranean. The vocabulary here follows the Damascus register.
The Syrian Arabic wordbook
أوّل ١٠٠ كلمة
Meine ersten 100 Wörter
Syrischer Dialekt (Shami), nicht Hocharabisch- 100 first words across 10 themes
- Hand-painted watercolour by the artist Digitalartsi
- Latin transliteration under every word
- Board format, 8.5 by 8.5 inches, 26 pages
- Every word cross-checked against dialect dictionaries
Syrian Arabic words by theme
All 100 words, grouped the way they appear in the book.
Farm Animals
Cat, dog, horse, sheep, goat: the farm animals every toddler learns first
Fruits
Apple, banana, strawberry, watermelon: the everyday fruits in every toddler's vocabulary
Vegetables
Carrot, tomato, potato, broccoli: first vegetables for tiny eaters
The Kitchen
Fork, knife, pot, pan, pizza: words from the heart of every home
Vehicles
Car, bus, truck, tractor, train: the vehicles toddlers point at out the window
Zoo Animals
Lion, tiger, zebra, flamingo, koala: wild animals from far-away places
Ocean Animals
Shark, turtle, jellyfish, fish: the creatures that live under the sea
Sky & Air
Airplane, helicopter, rocket, boat: vehicles that fly and float
Weather
Sun, moon, rain, snow, rainbow: the weather words every child needs
Forest Animals & Nature
Deer, owl, butterfly, bee, tree, mushroom: the forest in 100 words
Gift moments for Syrian Arabic families
Including Aqiqa and Eid, plus the everyday milestones.
Pronunciation
Every word in the book has a written pronunciation. The full guide for the Syrian Arabic edition, including the sounds that have no direct equivalent in English, lives on its own page.
Open the pronunciation guideQuestions Syrian Arabic families ask
Is this real spoken Syrian Arabic?
This is spoken Syrian Arabic, closest to the Damascene register, not Modern Standard Arabic. It is the language used at home rather than the formal written form taught in school.
Is this Damascene Arabic or another Syrian region?
The vocabulary follows the Damascus register, which is the most widely understood variety across Syria and the one most commonly heard in Syrian television and music. Families from Aleppo or the coast will find nearly all of it familiar.
How accurate are the translations?
Each word is cross-checked against Syrian dialect dictionaries and carries a confidence score shown on its word page. A full native-speaker editorial review has not been completed, so corrections from readers are genuinely welcome and earn you a free corrected copy.
Where are most Syrian Arabic readers of these books?
Mostly Germany, Turkey, Sweden, the Netherlands and Canada. Books print on demand in each Amazon marketplace, so a grandparent ordering from one country can have the book delivered locally in another without international postage or customs.