Children who live for football learn Arabic much faster through sport than through worksheets.
Sport words
| Arabic | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|
| كُرَة | kurah | ball |
| كُرَةُ الْقَدَم | kuratu-l-qadam | football |
| هَدَف | hadaf | goal |
| فَرِيق | fariq | team |
| مَلْعَب | mal‘ab | pitch, playground |
| سِبَاحَة | sibahah | swimming |
| جَرْي | jary | running |
| فَازَ | faza | he won |
Action words for games
- اِرْكُضْ (urkud): run!
- اِقْفِزْ (iqfiz): jump!
- قِفْ (qif): stop!
- اِرْمِ (irmi): throw!
Play “Simon says” in Arabic using these words.
Commentate a match
Watch a few minutes of a match and commentate together: “هَدَف!”, “الْفَرِيقُ الْأَحْمَرُ فَازَ” (The red team won).
A word root
مَلْعَب (playground) and أَلْعَبُ (I play) share a root, ل ع ب. The pattern مَفْعَل often means “the place of”, just like مَسْجِد.
Teacher’s tip: Islam values strength and sport. Remind your child that the Prophet ﷺ raced with ‘A’ishah, which shows exercise and fun have a place in a Muslim’s life.
Related: Arabic verbs.
