Make the most of your time working from home with an entire day of Arabic immersion, all without leaving the house!
Thanks to the wonders of the internet, this schedule for a day of Arabic #WorkFromHome goodness will transport you to sunny Jordan. Squeezing tonnes of Arabic practice into your normal daily schedule, this plan for a day of immersion in Levantine Ammiya will do wonders for your language skills (but we warn you, it may come with a side order of wanderlust).
Immersion is an incredibly effective language learning technique and will improve your comprehension, pronunciation, and dramatically increase your range of vocabulary thanks to the wide range of activities you’ll be doing. Without a grammar drill in sight, you’ll be absorbing Arabic in the most natural way possible!
This schedule is packed full of videos which will support anyone wanting to improve their Levantine Ammiya – from food and film to news and even yoga, you’ll be ready for your next trip to Wast Al-Balad in no time!
With immersion learning, always remember that the goal is not to understand every word. Even if you only catch one word in ten, you’ll still be absorbing the rhythm of the language and improving your pronunciation and emphasis. You’ll even be subconsciously learning body language and hand gestures. Relax and enjoy your day of Arabic, we promise there’s no test at the end!
Breakfast
In Jordan, listening to Fairuz in the morning is an essential ritual. Begin your day the Middle Eastern way with a medley of Fairuz songs to accompany your breakfast and start the day right:
Morning News
After breakfast, get your daily news fix – search ‘Roya TV live stream’ to watch live news from Amman, or watch this recorded news programme broadcast on the 16th Jan through this link (remember that news readers use MSA!):
Your ‘Commute’
To really recreate those Amman vibes from home, go on a virtual commute with this video of a drive through Amman, complete with a medley of Jordanian taxi drivers’ favourite hits to get your work day off to a good start:
Morning at Work
Keep the Middle Eastern atmosphere going throughout the morning with one of these playlists, perfect for playing while you work:
Lunch
While you have lunch, go on a tour of the best food Amman has to offer with Jordanian food vlogger Basil ElHaj:
Or, start at the beginning and learn those essential restaurant phrases with this brilliant video from Qasid Institute:
Afternoon at Work
Make yourself a cup of qahwa and settle in for the afternoon with another playlist of chilled Arabic music:
After Work
Shake off the day with one of these workout videos in Levantine Arabic! Choose from a yoga routine to target stress or a more up tempo workout (you’ll need two small hand weights for this one):
Dinner
Learn to make the ultimate Jordanian feast with this mansaf tutorial by Fatafeat:
For the veggie option, take a look at this food show by Amman TV focusing on the absolute best way to make falafel:
Evening
If you’ve already been lucky enough to spend time in the Middle East, you’ll know that an evening without the dulcet tones of musical icon Umm Kulthum is an evening wasted. Make sure to accompany your dinner properly with one of these playlists on Youtube or Spotify:
Get the popcorn ready for an evening of Jordanian entertainment! Across a range of streaming platforms, take your pic from an Oscar-nominated adventure film shot in breathtaking Wadi Rum, the YA tv series that scandalised a nation and a lighthearted sitcom about a foreigner in Amman:
Watch the highly controversial Netflix Original series that divided Jordanian society. See this article for an intro to the controversy.
Watch Theeb, the Oscar-nominated film about a young Bedouin boy, on Amazon for £1.99. Filmed in the desert of Wadi Rum, this impressive adventure film is set during the First World War, in the wake of the Arab Revolt.
These fun mini sitcom episodes mixing English and Ammiya show the escapades of a Jordanian family and their new American neighbour.
We hope you enjoy your day of immersion! We’ll be back soon with another dialect, inshallah.
