Growing Participator Approach · Phase 1
Arabic, Session by Session
The plan for each ninety-minute session with my teacher: what to put on the table, the brief to send her the day before, the session minute by minute, the words to listen for, and what to do afterwards. Phase 1 is roughly a hundred hours of understanding before speaking is pushed; these are the first of them.
Session 1hour one
First Day in Arabic
Today you understand Arabic. You don't speak it, read it, or write it — those come later, and pushing them now buys a week of bad habits. One nurturer, twenty objects on a table, ninety minutes, and a recording you'll listen to tonight.
Practice audio: Lesson 1 on the podcastSession 2hours three and four
Second Session in Arabic
Session one taught you what things are called. This one puts them somewhere — on, under, in, next to — and starts the exchange that makes a table conversation: she asks for an object, you hand it over; she offers one, you take it.
Practice audio: Lesson 2 on the podcastSession 3hours six and seven
Third Session in Arabic
You can name thirty-four things and put them anywhere on the table. This session you start being asked about them — what is this, where is it, how many — and the objects start doing things: opening, closing, filling, emptying.
Practice audio: Lesson 3 on the podcastSession 4hours eight and nine
Fourth Session in Arabic
Three sessions have been about the table. This one is about the two people sitting at it. The commands leave the objects and land on your body — stand up, sit down, come here — and for the first time she talks about who: me, you, her, him.
Practice audio: Lesson 4 on the podcastSession 5hours ten and eleven
Fifth Session in Arabic
Until now every word has been the name of a thing or something to do with it. Today you get the words that tell two of the same thing apart: the big glass and the small one, the red apple and the green one, hot tea and cold water. Describing, not naming.
Practice audio: Lesson 5 on the podcastSession 6hours twelve and thirteen
Sixth Session in Arabic
Five sessions of single words and single commands. Today she tells you what happened: three things in a row, done at the table, in the past tense you have already heard her use. You prove you followed by doing them again.
Practice audio: Lesson 6 on the podcastSession 7hours fourteen and fifteen
Seventh Session in Arabic
Six sessions have been about the table and the two of you at it. Today the language leaves the room for the first time: your family and hers, in photos on your phones. Who is who, and what each one is doing.
Practice audio: Lesson 7 on the podcast