easy Levantine Arabic · every day
نَسمة شاميّة.
nasmeh shāmiyyeh — “a Levantine breeze”
A daily journal in plain, readable Shami Arabic — coffee, the morning walk, a fish-tank disaster, a song stuck in my head. Not a course. Just a breeze of real Arabic, one small post a day.
Welcome. Before you dig in, let me tell you what this is — and what it isn’t.
It’s a daily journal written in easy Levantine (Shami) Arabic. Short posts about ordinary life, kept plain enough that a learner can actually read them. Not a textbook. Not a course. I’m not a teacher — I’m a guy learning this language as an adult, one نسمة at a time, and writing it down where you can read along.
If you’re past the very beginning of Levantine Arabic and you’re hungry for real content that isn’t out of reach, this is for you. And if you’re not learning Arabic at all? It’s still a daily journal with photos, family notes, and plenty of coffee. You’re welcome too.
— Jacob
How to read it
شوي شويRead the Arabic first
Let it wash over you. You don’t need to catch every word — that’s not the goal.
Play the audio
Hear the rhythm of the dialect, not just the letters sitting on the page.
Glance at the كلام gloss
Every post pulls out a few useful phrases with pronunciation and meaning — the good bits, not a full translation.
Then move on
The magic isn’t decoding one post perfectly. It’s reading a lot of easy Arabic over time. شوي شوي.
Good places to begin
My Morning Routine
A 5:30 wake-up in Shami Arabic — coffee, a walk to the synagogue, Jerusalem Talmud, morning prayers, then breakfast and the job hunt.
Read this one → 02The Fish-Tank Catastrophe
A Shami mini-story about our accidental fish-soup disaster and how the tank finally got replaced.
Read this one → 03A Trip to Ramle
A quick errand to Ramle with my son Yusuf, and a note on how locals react when a Jewish person speaks their language.
Read this one →نَسمة بنَسمة
Breeze by breeze. Pour a coffee and start reading.
Open the journal →