We're Omar and Laya.

This site is our journey learning Arabic, written down one story at a time. Laya takes the kids stories; Omar works through the beginner ones. Every Friday we post the two from our week.

We named it after عين كارم — Ein Karem, the spring of the vineyard, a village in the hills west of Jerusalem. The name is the whole idea: the stories are the spring, you drink a little each week, and the vineyard grows on its own time.

How to read here

Read the Arabic first, even if you only catch three words. Then turn the English on and see what you had right. Read it out loud once more with the English hidden — that's when it sticks.

Don't look up every word. Understanding enough is how a language actually arrives; we've both learned that the slow way.

If a story made you smile, or a sentence gave you trouble, write to us — we answer everything, eventually.