Hikayat Simsim is the Jordanian version of Sesame street. The short clips of the show that are available on YouTube are an engaging resource for expanding Levantine dialect vocabulary and grammar for Arabic learners of all ages.

Al Fosol Al Arabaa is a Syrian sitcom from the late 1990s. The format of the show makes it a perfect language and cultural study tool for intermediate and above Arabic language learners. Watch the episodes and discuss with our vocabulary lists and review questions.

Shankaboot is a Lebanese, short-form series that ran from 2009-2011. It’s an eventful series that dives into the complexities of interpersonal relationships, corruption, and economic status. It’s one of our favorite shows to recommend to Arabic language learners.

My American Neighbor is a comedy series an American who moves to Amman, and his Jordanian neighbor. In each short episode, Ricky blunders through cultural misunderstandings, slowly learning more about Jordanian society. Dialogue is a mix of Arabic and English with Arabic subtitles.

In the name of modesty and national harmony, the Censorship Bureau reviews all media before it gets published. And makes just about all of it more nonsensical and/or offensive than the original in this short-form Lebanese miniseries.

Al Hayba is a popular, Lebanese drama about an arms-dealing family on the border of Lebanon and Syria. Things get complicated when one of the sons dies and his Canadian family visits the town for the funeral. Al Hayba has 30 episodes, all of which are available (with English subtitles) on Netflix.

Al Rawabi School for Girls is an intense, mean girls, high school drama. The dialogue is full of excellent Jordanian and Levantine words and phrases - many of which you will find on these vocabulary lists.

وطن ع وتر is a popular Palestinian political and social satire. This episode, مواقف محرجة, features funny and embarrassing situations people find themselves in.

Chef Omar has a popular YouTube cooking show where he demonstrates how to make all kinds of recipes. He narrates in fast, Syrian Arabic and uses lots of fun colloquialisms. Let’s dig into the knafeh video!

Jinn is the first Arabic-language Netflix original series and chronicles a Jordanian high school field trip to Petra where the students begin encountering the supernatural (jinn). The show uses relatively attainable Jordanian dialect with subtitles in many languages (perfect for practicing!) but misses the mark in other areas.