Frequently asked questions
What is Arabic All The Time?
Arabic All The Time is a comprehensible input video library for Levantine Arabic (Shami) and Modern Standard Arabic (Fusha). The videos are leveled from absolute beginner to advanced, with a new one every day, and every one is made so you understand it from your very first minute: picture talks, stories, history, daily life, culture. You watch, you understand, and your brain picks up the vocabulary, the grammar and the pronunciation the way it picked up your first language. No grammar drills, no vocabulary lists, no translation.
What is comprehensible input?
Comprehensible input is Arabic you can understand even though you don't know all the words, because the pictures, the context and the way it's spoken carry the meaning. That's how every human acquired their first language, and it's how adults acquire a second one. Stephen Krashen spent four decades documenting it. Every video here is built to be understood at a specific level, so you're always getting Arabic you can follow.
How much does it cost?
You can start free with a selection of videos, no card needed. Premium is $24.99 a month, or $179.88 a year, which works out to $14.99 a month. Premium unlocks the full library, every level and both varieties, with a new video every day. Cancel anytime. If you love the platform and money is a real barrier, write to us. Crosstalk with the founder starts with a free 30-minute first session, then $45 per 50 minutes or $400 for ten.
Where can I watch?
On any device with a browser: computer, phone or tablet. There's no separate app yet. See "Is there an app?" below for how to put the site on your home screen. Offline downloads for Premium members are on the roadmap.
Is Arabic All The Time suitable for complete beginners with no prior knowledge of Arabic?
Yes. That's who the (A1) Beginner level is for. The first videos use pictures, gestures and a few words at a time, so you understand them with zero Arabic. Start there, watch daily, and move up when the videos start feeling easy.
How does Arabic All The Time compare to other Arabic learning platforms?
Most platforms teach you about Arabic: grammar rules, word lists, exercises. We give you Arabic you can understand, hours of it, leveled so it's always within reach, and let your brain do what it did with your first language. There are no flashcards and no lessons to complete, only videos to watch. It feels less like studying because it isn't, and what it produces is someone who understands real Arabic, which is the part every other approach skips.
Can I cancel my subscription?
Yes, anytime, from your account. No fees, no emails to send. You keep full access until the end of the period you paid for, the month or the year.
Who built Arabic All The Time?
I did. My name is Hasan Alhamwi. I'm a former engineering consultant from Syria who learned Spanish through comprehensible input, went looking for the same thing in Arabic, my native language, and couldn't find it. So I built it, with a team from Syria. Arabic All The Time is bootstrapped and independent.
Do you have enough hours of video for the whole roadmap?
Not yet, and no library in any language holds the whole road. The roadmap is the road to Arabic, not the size of the library. The hours come from four places: the library, which grows by a video every day; crosstalk, which is live Arabic at exactly your level; native content, which opens up somewhere between 500 and 1,000 hours; and any Arabic you understand anywhere. You can see exactly how many videos and hours exist at each level by filtering the library. The full answer: arabicallthetime.com/blog/how-to-get-2500-hours-arabic-input
Is there an app?
Not yet. It's on the roadmap, and building the video library comes first. The site works almost exactly like an app once it's on your home screen, and it keeps you logged in. On iPhone: open arabicallthetime.com in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen, and log in once from there. On Android: open it in Chrome, tap the three dots, then Add to Home Screen.
What's the difference between Modern Standard Arabic and Arabic dialects?
Arabic is one language with two registers. Modern Standard Arabic (Fusha) is the written and formal one: news, books, school, speeches, religion. Every Arab understands it and almost nobody speaks it at home. The spoken varieties, usually called dialects, are what people actually use in daily life, and they differ by region: Levantine, Egyptian, Gulf, Maghrebi. They share the same roots, so each one you understand makes the next one easier. Which to start with depends on what you want Arabic for.
Will I learn Modern Standard Arabic or a spoken variety?
Both are here. Most beginners start with Levantine, because that's where the beginner-friendly content is and it's the closest spoken variety to MSA. If your goal is media, books or formal Arabic, start with MSA. Egyptian is next on the roadmap, no date yet. Whichever you pick, the hours carry over to the other far more than people expect.
Can I learn without knowing the Arabic alphabet?
Yes. Listening comes first. The alphabet is far easier once the sounds of Arabic are in your ear, and learners who read before they can hear tend to pronounce Arabic the way it's spelled rather than the way it's said. Every video has a transcript for when you're ready.
Can this help me understand the Quran?
It helps, and it isn't a substitute. The Quran is Classical Arabic, and Modern Standard Arabic is its direct descendant: the same roots, most of the same grammar, a great deal of shared vocabulary. Hundreds of hours of MSA input build the ear and the feel for the language that make Quranic study go far faster. If understanding the Quran is your specific goal, pair this with dedicated Quranic Arabic study.
Is this right for heritage speakers?
Yes, and you'll move fast. If you grew up hearing Arabic at home, you probably understand far more than you can say, and the understanding is the hard part. Start higher than (A1) Beginner and adjust. Listening rebuilds the gaps in private, with nobody putting you on the spot. Then give speaking its own short block of practice, because it won't start by itself: your brain always takes the easier path, which is why you understand your parents and answer in English. At some point you remove the easier option. Crosstalk is the gentlest place to do that.
I understand a lot, but I still can't hold a basic conversation. Is something wrong with me?
No. That's what the middle of the road feels like, and it's where most people write to me from. Understanding and speaking are two different skills built two different ways. Input builds the understanding. Speaking practice gives you access to it, and it needs its own short, deliberate block once you have enough input behind you. Think of Arabs and Modern Standard Arabic: almost every educated Arab has thousands of hours of it and understands it completely, and most can't speak it comfortably because they were never made to. A week or two of having to, and they're fine. The understanding was there all along.
How does Arabic All The Time work?
Pick the level where you understand most of what's said without straining. Watch every day, for as long as you can keep your attention on it. Don't translate, don't take notes, don't pause to look things up. When the videos at your level start feeling easy, move up. Log your hours on the progress page, including Arabic you understood elsewhere, and follow the roadmap to see what opens up at each stage. Once you have a few hundred hours behind you, add a short block of speaking practice.
How long until I'm fluent?
It depends on hours of input, not calendar time. Patient everyday conversation opens up between 500 and 1,000 hours. Native media, films, podcasts, fast conversation, between 1,700 and 2,500. Thirty minutes a day is about 180 hours a year; an hour a day is 365. The first shift comes early, in your first 75 hours or so, when Arabic stops being noise and starts sounding like words. Native level is a higher bar still, and it comes from years of living in the language, not from any platform. The full roadmap, with honest hour ranges for every level, is at arabicallthetime.com/roadmap. Nobody can promise you a date. The one number that reliably goes up is hours.
Do I need to study grammar?
No. Your brain acquires Arabic grammar from exposure, the same way it acquired the grammar of your first language, which you use perfectly and couldn't explain. Explicit grammar study produces people who know the rules and freeze when they talk. Enough comprehensible input produces people who just say it right.
Will I need to memorize vocabulary?
No. Words stick when you meet them again and again in situations that make their meaning obvious, which is what leveled video does all day. Memorized lists give you words you recognize on a card and can't catch in speech. Watch enough and the vocabulary is simply there.
Can I use subtitles?
Skip English subtitles entirely. They pull your attention off the Arabic and your brain stops doing the work. Every video has an Arabic transcript for when you're ready to read, and for beginners the pictures and the context are the subtitles.
What if I don't understand everything?
You're not supposed to. Comprehensible input works when you understand most of it, not all of it. Follow the overall meaning and let the rest wash over you; the gaps close by themselves over the hours. If you're straining to follow, go down a level. If you're bored, go up.
Can I listen passively in the background?
It counts for less than you'd hope. Acquisition happens when your attention is on the meaning, so background audio while you work builds familiarity with the sound of Arabic and not much else. Count the hours you actually watched. Passive listening is a bonus on top, not the engine.
When will I start speaking Arabic?
Some speech shows up on its own: words, short phrases, the odd sentence. Full conversation doesn't. It takes its own short block of deliberate practice, and the right time for it is after a few hundred hours of input, when you have enough Arabic to say something with. Starting earlier mostly locks in a foreign accent and translated English sentences, because you're producing sounds you haven't yet heard properly. Do the listening first and the speaking part is short. Crosstalk is where most members start it.
Should I practice reading too?
Reading is valuable but most effective after you've built a strong foundation of listening and comprehension. Starting to read too early can cause your brain to apply native-language pronunciation patterns to Arabic text. Focus first on absorbing Arabic sounds and rhythm. Add reading once you're comfortable with listening.
What level should I start at?
Lower than you think. Comprehensible input works best when you understand most of what you hear. If you're straining, the content is too hard, and straining doesn't speed anything up. Zero Arabic: start at (A1) Beginner. Some background: try Beginner or Intermediate and adjust in the first week.
I already know some Arabic. Will this be too basic for me?
No. The library runs from Super Beginner to Advanced. If you've studied Arabic before, start at Intermediate and see how it feels. Most people who studied for years find they understand far less spoken Arabic than they expected, and this is exactly what fixes that.
Can Arabic All The Time prepare me for travel in Arabic-speaking countries?
It depends when you're going. If the trip is in six weeks, memorize some phrases, use a translator and enjoy yourself. Input is an investment in understanding, and a holiday doesn't need that. If you have a year or more, this is the preparation that matters: you'll arrive understanding what people say around you, and that changes the whole trip.
How will I know if I'm making progress?
Track hours, not feelings. Progress in acquisition is invisible day to day and obvious month to month: videos that used to be hard become easy, you catch words in the background of a conversation, you stop noticing that you're understanding. Log your hours on the progress page, including Arabic you understood outside the platform, and check the roadmap for what to expect at your current band. Every hundred hours, go back to a video you found hard and notice how it feels now.
Can I use Arabic All The Time with other methods or formal courses?
Yes, as long as input stays the core. Classes, textbooks and apps don't hurt much as a side dish; they just don't produce understanding, and if they take the hours you'd have spent listening, they cost you. Keep most of your time on video you can follow, add crosstalk when you're ready to speak, and use the rest as a supplement if you enjoy it.
Can I suggest video topics?
Yes, and I read every one. There's a dedicated channel for it in our Discord. Post your idea there, and if it fits the level and the series we're working on, it gets made.
What should I do if I lose motivation or feel overwhelmed?
Go easier, not harder. Both usually mean you've drifted above your level, so drop down to videos that feel comfortable, rebuild the momentum, and move up again later. Open your progress page and look at the hours. They're all still there, and every one of them did something. And if you're really stuck, book a crosstalk session with me. The first 30 minutes are free, and hearing yourself understand live Arabic for half an hour fixes more than any pep talk. Book here: calendar.app.google/dgMPJTTTgYuG3Vgd9
Are there live sessions or any speaking practice available?
Yes. I run one-on-one crosstalk sessions: you speak English, I speak Arabic, and we understand each other through context, drawings and gestures. No grammar, no corrections, no pressure to perform. It's live comprehensible input at exactly your level, and once you have enough hours behind you it's also the gentlest way to start speaking. Your first session is free, a 30-minute one. After that, sessions are $45 per 50 minutes, or $400 for ten. Book here: calendar.app.google/dgMPJTTTgYuG3Vgd9
