SyriaUntold is a place for Syrians of all backgrounds to express themselves through writing. The idea launched in 2013. It was the early years of the Syrian civil war and a cohort of journalists, activists, researchers, and academics came together to collaborate. Their goal was to provide a platform for Syria’s peaceful movement to gather and express themselves as well as to document what was going on as the war intensified. 

Ten years later, SyriaUntold is a nonprofit organization based in Berlin. It’s an excellent online archive of English and Arabic language reading material about all aspects of Syrian life and identity, both within the country and among the growing diaspora. This wide range of topics makes SyriaUntold a useful resource for expanding topical vocabulary and ensures that most readers can find multiple articles on the site that interest them. 

Many articles and stories on SyriaUntold are available in both Arabic and English, which is one of our favorite aspects of the site. This provides a convenient opportunity to read the story in Arabic, then check for understanding by scanning the English version. The short nature of the articles also makes them a good fit for intermediate Arabic learners, either as an in-class reading activity or as independent study material. 

SyriaUntold’s Arabic articles are primarily Fusha, which is disappointing for those of us looking for more Levantine dialect written resources. Fusha, however, remains the main dialect of written Arabic so it is good practice.

Looking for a place to start? Here’s a bilingual article we enjoyed