Tell us where you are
A three-minute placement quiz puts you on the right shelf. Total beginner, rusty intermediate, or somewhere in between.
You grew up
hearing it.
Now speak it.
This is the Palestinian Arabic spoken in kitchens and corner shops, the dialect your family actually uses. Ten minutes a day, audio first. Most people are holding a real conversation in six to eight weeks.
Ten phrases you’ll actually use on a visit to Palestine. Each comes in easy phonetic spelling and in Arabic, with audio so you hear how it really sounds. Free PDF, straight to your inbox. Sign up now and founding pricing stays locked in.
You’ll get the pack, then the odd update. Unsubscribe anytime.
- Free to try
- iOS 16+ · Android 10+
- Works offline
AUDIO FIRST 🎧
OFFLINE READY
How it works
Three steps. Sa7teen.
10 minutes, every day
Bite-sized lessons. Audio first. Hands-free if you want.
Use it that afternoon
Order coffee. Greet your neighbor. Catch a phrase in a song. Real situations from day one, not month six.
The method
Built on how the dialect is actually spoken.
We start from the language as it’s really spoken at home, not the version textbooks teach. You hear every word before you read it, and you pick it up in the order you’d actually need it.
Listen, then speak
Every word reaches your ear before it reaches your eye. Five-second clips, played back until they stick. That's the old Pimsleur idea, retuned for a Palestinian rhythm.
Transliteration that respects you
A phonetic system for the sounds the script keeps hidden. The 3 in 3ayn. The 7 in 7alaal. The q that quietly goes missing in Jerusalem. And when you want the Arabic letters themselves, ع and ح are waiting right beside it.
Culture as curriculum
Every unit has an address: a fish market in Yafa, a café in Ramallah, the carpentry shop down your in-laws' alley. Learn the words and you've half-learned the place they belong to.
Made for mobile
Built for five spare minutes and a pair of headphones. A lesson fits a phone and a bus seat. Nothing to install, no laptop, no homework to hand in. Press play, say back what you hear, and that's the lesson.
The tasting menu
Ten phrases
you’ll use
this week.
Not “the cat sat on the mat.” Not “where is the library.” These are the ones you reach for first: greeting a neighbor, talking a vendor down on a watermelon, thanking the stranger who pointed you toward the bus in Akka.
#1
mar7aba
مرحبا
hello
#2
keef 7aalak?
كيف حالك؟
how are you?
#3
shukran
شكراً
thank you
#4
Sabaa7 il-kheer
صباح الخير
good morning
Want all ten? Grab the printable pack, with the Arabic script and audio on every phrase.
You’ll get the pack, then the odd update. Unsubscribe anytime.
Culture first
You’ll learn the words and the worlds they live in.
Words don’t stick in a vacuum. Every unit sits inside a real Palestinian dish, place, or custom, because that’s where the vocabulary belongs. Learning vegetables? You’re cooking maqloobe. Numbers? You’re haggling in a market. Family words? You’re three chairs deep at someone’s wedding.
كنافة نابلسية
knaafe nablusiyye
Knafeh, Nablus-style
مقلوبة
maqloobe
Upside-down rice
مسخّن
msakhan
Sumac chicken on bread
قهوة سادة
qahwe saade
Black cardamom coffee
Free guides
Bookmarkable answers to every Palestinian Arabic question.
CULTURE
Which Arabic dialect is closest to Palestinian?
Palestinian is a Levantine dialect, so the closest Arabic dialect is Jordanian, then Syrian and Lebanese. Egyptian and Gulf Arabic sit further out.
6 min read · 24 audio clips
PRONUNCIATION
How to pronounce Palestine in Arabic: falasTeen
Arabic has no 'p,' so Palestine becomes falasTeen. How to pronounce Palestine in Arabic: the f-for-p swap, the heavy T, and the long ee at the end.
7 min read · 11 audio clips
ABOUT
How to learn Arabic quickly: what actually works
How to learn Arabic quickly: skip the alphabet and Modern Standard Arabic, pick one spoken dialect, and learn it by ear. You'll be talking in weeks.
7 min read · 22 audio clips
VOCAB
100 unique Arabic words with meaning, every one recorded
The words English needs a whole sentence for: 7aya, raa7a, inbasaT and 97 more. Each one recorded by a Palestinian speaker, grouped by when you'd use it.
9 min read · 108 audio clips
VOCAB
Beautiful Arabic words with meaning, said out loud
Twelve words Palestinians say daily, not poetry lifted off a quote list. Hear each one, and learn the gesture it belongs to and who you'd say it to.
9 min read · 34 audio clips
ABOUT
Best app to learn Arabic speaking: what actually works
The best app to learn Arabic speaking depends on which Arabic you want to speak, and whether the app ever makes you open your mouth. The honest test.
9 min read · 15 audio clips
Get these in your inbox.
The starter pack now, then a new guide every couple of weeks. No more than that.
You’ll get the pack, then the odd update. Unsubscribe anytime.
Honest answers
The questions everyone asks first.
No dodges. If a question reaches us more than twice, it ends up on this list.
Is the app out?
Yes, on both stores. Tfaddalu is live on the App Store and on Google Play, free to try. If you'd like the printable starter pack too, the email box above still sends it.
Will this help me read Arabic?
Eventually, yes. From your first lesson the Arabic script sits next to the transliteration, so you can lean on whichever you want. We don't formally drill the alphabet until Unit 4, but the letter shapes start sinking in from your very first knafeh order.
Do I need to know the alphabet first?
No. You can start from zero. Words reach you as audio first, then as a transliteration built to match how Palestinians really say them. The script comes in once you're ready for it.
How is this different from Duolingo?
Duolingo's Arabic course teaches Modern Standard, the formal Arabic of news anchors and textbooks. Nobody speaks that at home. We teach the spoken dialect of Yafa, Ramallah, Akka, and Bethlehem: audio first, real conversations, and no gems to hoard.
Is the dialect understood outside Palestine?
Yes. Palestinian Arabic is Levantine, a close cousin of what's spoken in Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. Use it in Beirut, Amman, or Damascus and people follow you fine. Go as far as Egypt or the Gulf and you'll still get by, with a little adjustment.
How long until I can have a basic conversation?
Six to eight weeks, at ten minutes a day. Greetings, ordering food, talking about family, asking directions, getting through a short phone call. Month one is small exchanges; by month two you're in real back-and-forth conversations, mistakes and all, with people happy to forgive them.
Is there audio?
Yes, on every word and every line. Each clip is voiced in the spoken Palestinian dialect, so you hear how a phrase actually sounds before you ever read it.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Download a lesson once and it's yours on a plane, on the metro, anywhere the signal gives out (which happens plenty in the region itself). Your streak and review queue catch up the next time you're back online.
Is my progress synced across devices?
Yes. Sign in on a phone, a tablet, or the web, and your streak, downloaded lessons, and review queue all come with you. You can switch devices mid-sentence if you want.
Why I’m building this
My whole childhood, I visited family I couldn’t really talk to. I’d catch the warmth in the room and lose the words.
Learning was its own wall. There was almost nothing for Palestinian Arabic, and the Modern Standard I kept trying to study only confused me more. What I heard at the table was a different language.
I’m building Tfaddalu so the next person at that table doesn’t have to just nod along.
Yalla.
It’s out.
Tfaddalu is live on the App Store and Google Play.
Want the phrases on paper first? Your first ten, free in your inbox today.
Ten phrases you’ll actually use on a visit to Palestine. Each comes in easy phonetic spelling and in Arabic, with audio so you hear how it really sounds. Free PDF, straight to your inbox. Sign up now and founding pricing stays locked in.
You’ll get the pack, then the odd update. Unsubscribe anytime.
Founding members lock in $99.99/year (about $8 a month).
Prefer to pay on the web? Lock in the founding price →Free to try · iPhone (iOS 16+) and Android (10+) · Works offline once a lesson is downloaded.
