Any Good Arabic Videos for Kids

[Owen'nZoe]

I've asked this question here before, but thought I'd try again, in case any great new videos have come up in the past few years since I last asked. ;) Do you know of any great Arabic lanugages videos on DVD for kids who are learing as a second language? Specifically, I'm looking for videos that are:

- in spoken Arabic, not classical

- mostly secular (we're not religious)

- appropriate for children who have a little vocabulary, but cannot actually speak Arabic at this point.

Any ideas? We have the Little Pim Arabic DVDs, which the kids like, but DH grumbles every time I put them on because they aren't in spoken Arabic. The kids also liked 'Alif is for Asad', but the amount of Arabic they could learn from that one was limited.

I keep thinking something like American cartoons or Disney movies translated into Arabic would be perfect, since they'd be familiar with the story, and might be more apt to sit and watch. I remember a mama here from the Detroit area saying she was able to find translated Disney videos in the Toys R Us there, but I haven't been able to find any myself.

[umsami]

Our favorite, so far, is the Arabian Sinbad (Sin-de-bad) ones from the UAE.  Personally, I hate "Little Pim", but that's because none of my kids want to watch them.  We also have "Alam Simsim" (Sesame World from Egypt) DVDs... and you can find a lot of clips on YouTube.

After seven years, I've realized that unless DH starts speaking exclusively to the kids in Arabic, they're never going to learn anything.  The videos really don't seem to do much IMHO.  One of these days, I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and move to an Arabic-speaking country for a year or two.

[Owen'nZoe]

Thanks for the suggestions, Umm Sami! Also,

After seven years, I've realized that unless DH starts speaking exclusively to the kids in Arabic, they're never going to learn anything.  The videos really don't seem to do much IMHO.

Bah! Don't tell me that! ;) I'm getting the same feeling. DH won't work with the kids on Arabic - he prefers English. We've talked about moving to the ME for a bit for them to learn the language, but both have some major reservations that I don't think we'll get over. The videos are my only hope! ;)

[umsami]

If it helps, it seems like pretty much every non-Arabic speaking person I know married to an Arabic-speaking person deals with the same thing.  DH feels weird speaking Arabic to the kids, but I tell him, "I don't care... I just want them to learn Arabic."  Every time we have a kid, I tell him.. OK... this guy is your last chance to have a fluent Arabic speaking kid... but his attempts to speak Arabic never last.  We're talking an hour tops.  LOL  The sad thing is it totally creates a barrier with a lot of his family.  Some of them speak English very well, but others, not so well (yet 1000x better than my Arabic).  

The Sinbad videos are really good.  We bought them through Islamic Bookstore--which at the time had the best price.  The kids did learn some works, and they loved the songs.

[Marylizah]

When you say "spoken Arabic", which dialect do you mean?

I haven't found any good videos. We have one Lebanese DVD (Mini Studio)-- it's full of the stupidest, most annoying songs on the planet. Otherwise, we've discovered a cable channel out of (I think) the UAE. It's called Baraem, and it has tons of PBS shows, but it's in classical Arabic. DS loves it. It's also ad-free. I should ad, I'm in Europe, so I don't know if you could get it on cable or satellite in the US. But it's been very beneficial for DS's spoken Arabic, though DH thinks it's funny when DS answers him in classical Arabic instead of Lebanese.

[Owen'nZoe]

That is a great question. DH's family is from the West Bank, so anything from that region would be fine. I kind of assumed most everything would be Egyptian Arabic - is that not the case? Ooooh, if they ended up sounding Iraqi, DH would be tickled pink. That is his favorite dialect by far, and he looks almost smitten whenever he hears an Iraqi speak.

[Liquesce]

Originally Posted by Owen'nZoe 

I keep thinking something like American cartoons or Disney movies translated into Arabic would be perfect, since they'd be familiar with the story, and might be more apt to sit and watch. I remember a mama here from the Detroit area saying she was able to find translated Disney videos in the Toys R Us there, but I haven't been able to find any myself.

I know this store sells some of that online: http://muslimtoysanddolls.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=59_60&zenid=9e81hbru3a27ttrsekonoonm87

You can also just google, for example, 'arabic disney dvds,' 'arabic pixar,' that sort of thing, and will likely find others.

[Dar]

Originally Posted by umsami We also have "Alam Simsim" (Sesame World from Egypt) DVDs... and you can find a lot of clips on YouTube.

I'm not a child, but... I love watching these clips, especially Anees and Badr! They do speak standard Arabic but without the case endings...

[barada]

The best Arabic language learning package for kids i found is Arabian Sinbad. My daughter loved the videos and learnt so much from them. It's in modern standard Arabic not spoken Arabic. The problem with spoken Arabic is you learn the local dialogue only and then you face the fact that almost each Arab country has its own dialogue. With modern standard Arabic you learn the language that every Arab understands.

I find the videos smart, clear and repeatitive with lovely songs and funny characters. You get 10 DVDs that are really useful and you also get in the package many supplementary tools like fun and activity books, think and play book, ilustrated dictionary, flashcards, stickers and PC Game and Song CD.

There are some sample videos on their website www.arabiansinbad.com and also on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/arabiansinbad

[ruqayyah]

You know on amazon you can get kung foo panda in arabic foosah...or on ebay!