List of the most popular hashtags for theme #ARABICISCOOL

Whom do you know learning Arabic? Students of Arabic have every reason to be proud of their achievements, however insignificant they may feel these are. Arabic is hard. Native Arabic speakers are often the first to admit this, proudly demonstrating the breadth of the Arabic vocabulary or the subtle differences between various consonants that require the tongue and the teeth to be in certain precise positions. It takes time to learn to clench throat muscles or insert glottal stops, and not to confuse the two sounds of the letters ‘ain’ and ‘hamza’. Especially once you add the spice of local dialects and styles of pronunciation! My own rudimentary study of Arabic at Damascus University in 2003/4 led me to comparisons mainly with German word order, grammar, and compound words. German was a language I had detested at school, mainly because of my bolshy adolescence and unwillingness to cooperate with an unhappy teacher. It’s also not that easy. But in my experience Arabic is harder than German for native English speakers. It’s harder than Chinese, and it’s harder than Mongolian too, at least I found it so. Learning to be literate in Arabic is a particular mental challenge because all of a sudden you are reading and writing in the opposite direction! It takes a while to learn that right to left can be forwards, not backwards. So I’m really happy when students of Arabic choose my personalised notebooks to support their study. I can customize the printing of any design so that the bottom becomes the top, and the pages work like a proper book in Arabic. It’s the least that a student of Arabic deserves! These spiral bound notebooks have 90gsm notepaper and a 350gsm cover with a matte finish that helps the colourful personalised design shine through. Treat someone you know who is putting in the effort to master this beautiful but challenging tongue, with a personalised notebook that goes the right way round, from right to left. I can write any type of name using the Arabic alphabet, the examples above show Alexa, Aisha, Helena and Zachariah. While HalunaHappyNames.com is under construction, visit my Etsy shop using the link in my bio☝to purchase.

One of the ways our children can feel a connection to Syria and their Syrian heritage is through my sporadic attempts to recreate the food we ate in their grandparents’ home. At least, Hadi, Selsabeel and perhaps Raiyanne can remember doing so, Tasneem was a baby the last time we visited and Muhammad, Yaqoute and Ilaf are still waiting for their first trip to their ancestral home. Today, being Sunday, and even better, being a Sunday in the holidays, we prepared seffayeh for a late lunch after Ibrahim and the children had spent hours playing pool volleyball. These triangle pies are maybe called fetayer in Lebanon or other parts of Syria. But in our town, the sefayeh recipe is renowned. The mince meat filling is characterised by lots of onion, fresh tomatoes and fresh coriander. They are folded into small closed triangles, a task performed ably by Selsabeel. I can’t recreate the dough properly - I think it’s maybe something to do with the difference between Australian and Syrian wheat. But we eat the little pies the same way as we would in Syria - round a tray on the floor in the front room, with bowls of fresh tomato juice extracted from the tomatoes used in the filling, and plain yoghurt, to dip them into. Swipe to see photos of the preparation, and a very sleepy Ilaf who had crashed out after swimming and missed the main sitting for lunch!

A matching #mug and #tshirt are ready to go to a special girl this weekend.... one of the reasons I personalise my designs in Arabic fonts and not in English is to get the right pronunciation of the name. Language is really important to me, especially across cultures and when a name from one linguistic origin is being used in another language setting. This little girl is called Aminah, with the stress on the long initial A, the i is a short vowel (‘Aamina’). But because English is hard to spell phonetically, most people pronounce her name wrong (‘Ameena’), with a short A and long i sound. That is a different Arabic girl’s name, with a different beautiful meaning! Phonetic transcriptions are so varied, with beautiful Arabic names I feel it’s easier to go back to the source. #Languageisimportant #meaningisimportant #arabiciscool #personalisedgifts #personalisedtshirt #personalisedmug #customdesignforkids #quirkygift #pink #hearts #jewels #stripes #kidsgift #arabicgift #wraparoundmugs #halunahappynames #funarabicnameart #آمنة #aamina #aminah #هديات #كس

I’m really#happy to have had an introduction into geometric patterns. The design is from the 1296 minbar built for the Sultan Lajin mosque in Cairo. My work is incomplete but the design is done! Not perfectly accurate but the shapes are there, no major disasters. And I learnt so much! Swipe for progress pictures. Next workshop for me will be later tonight, on #Arabesque #patterns, complementing the #geometry Ive learnt this morning.

Tasneem has a magnetic attraction to pencil cases, so she was the perfect candidate to test our mid-sized cotton pouches a few months back. She put this pouch, decorated with my very first design ‘... at the end of the Rainbow’, through its paces by cramming it with pencils, textas and gel pens. But by the end of the #rigorous #testing (end of term) it was filthy! I’m happy to report that a run through thewashing machine in last night’s load at 40 degrees has left it #clean and #fresh with all its #vibrant #colours intact, ready to be refilled and put straight back to work.

I’ve been thinking more lately about the ‘why’ behind Haluna Happy Names. I started making these designs to help my seven children and others with Arabic names to love and identify with their heritage, to appreciate the beauty of the Arabic script, and to cherish something personalised that is a bit cool, and a bit different, with their own unusual names on. Unpacking that, I’ve realised my mission is twofold: to empower the child, and to spread appreciation for this incredible language and writing system. But, I thought, does that mean that my products are *only* for children with Arabic/Persian/Urdu/Muslim names? I’ve concluded the answer is ‘Not at all!’ Given the two big ‘whys’ behind this project, I am so happy if just one goal is reached for each product I sell. Here is my 1980s throwback ‘... in my heart’ design, on a cute cotton T-shirt. The name on the shirt is Edith. Not an Arabic name. But isn’t it cool to see how Edith is written in Arabic? Swipe to see T-shirts for Christopher, Antoinette, James and Benjamin. These particular children (my nieces and nephews) have one parent with an Arabic language heritage. But even if they didn’t, I think the products still hold meaning and interest for the wearer and anyone that sees it. Do you agree? Similarly, if a name is written using the English (Roman) alphabet, the products I hope will still bring confidence, fun and joy to their owners, making them feel special with a unique personalised gift with a design that nobody else has. What’s prompting all this use of my poor tired brain? This month I joined an amazing group of women entrepreneurs after listening to a particular episode of the #mumswithhustle podcast. Their energy, expertise, and the training available in this group is lifting me up and making me so excited for the year ahead. #halunahappynames #hearts #personalisedgifts #empoweringchildren #bringingfuntolife #retro #1980s #socialmethodsociety #arabiciscool #loveyourname #personalisedtees #giftsforkids #christmas2018 #originaldesigns #1980s #pinkart #beirutfont

Das ma name #arabiciscool

Yeahhh. I’m an Arabic women. I have always wanted to try their style . If I ever go there I want to try their cloth! - - #arabic #arabiciscool #happy

It’s actually a family FOREST, not a family tree #Arabic #dialects #arabicdialects #arabiclearning #arabiclanguage #arabs #arabicidioms #arab #arabicidiom #arabiciscool #ualbany #arabic #arabicdialects #speakingarabic #learnarabic #arabicstories #arabs #arabichospitality #arab #arabicfood #arabian #arabic #arabicfamily #ualbany #learnlanguages #ualbanystudents #arabfamily #arabroyalfamily #familytree #arabia #arabian #عربيات #arab #عربي