Some of us enjoy playing sports الرِياضة and some of us love to cheer on يُشَجِّع our favorite sports team فريق رياضي. I thought in this post, we’ll look at different types of رِياضة  in Arabic and vocabulary to help us talk about الرِياضة. We’ll also talk about football culture ثَقافة كُرة القَدَم in the Arab World. Finally, we’ll listen to a sports news segment نَشرة رِياضية on Roya News in MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) and answer a few questions.

Vocabulary المُفْرَدات

sport/sports: رِياضة (ج) رِياضات

to play: لَعِبَ

game/match: مُباراة

team: فَريق

national team: مُنْتَخب

club: نادي

coach: مُدَرِّب

to cheer: يُشَجِّع

goal: هَدَف

player/players: لاعِب (ج) لاعِبون

to win:  فازَ

to lose: خَسِرَ

to score: سَجَلَ

football/soccer: كُرة القَدَم

American football: كُرة القَدَم الأمريكية

basketball: كُرة السَّلّة

volleyball: كُرة الطّائرة

tennis: كُرة المَضرب/ تِنِس

skiing: التَزلّج

boxing: المُلاكَمة

running: الرَّكض

weightlifting: رَفع الأثقال

swimming: السِّباحة

✨About you:

هَل تَلْعَب أي رِياضة؟

Do you play any sports?

هَل لَديكَ فَريق رِياضي مُفَضَل؟

Do you have a favorite team?

هَل لَديكَ لاعِب مُفَضَل؟

Do you have a favorite player?

هَل حَضَرْت إحدى مُبارياتهم؟

Have you attended any one of their matches?

✨Football culture in the Arab World

Football is considered the most popular sport رِياضة شَعْبية in Arab countries. Boys tend to grow up playing football outside in the neighborhood الحَيّ and in school. Many people, both men and women have a favorite team that they cheer for and take seriously. There are of course national Arab teams المُنْتَخَبات الوَطَنية العربية that people root for, yet they also obsess over famous sports teams. There are also famous Arab players such as محمد صالح from مصر who plays for Liverpool. Many cafes have a screen for people to watch a football game while having tea, coffee, hookah الشيشة, etc. Especially during World Cup كأس العَالَم season, cafes are packed, and you can hear people cheering late into the night.

هَل أنت مِن مٌشجعي كُرة القَدَم؟

Are you a football fan?

✨Below is a sports news segment by Roya News; a Jordanian news channel.

النشرة الرياضية

After watching the نشرة رياضية, which vocabulary words in the list above did you hear?

عَن ماذا كان المَوضوع الأول؟

What was the first topic about?

ما هي فِرَق كُرة القَدم المَذكورة؟

What football teams are mentioned?

If you’re getting to know an Arabic speaker, sports is always a good topic to discuss with a new acquaintance. I hope this post helps in adding to your sports vocabulary. 😊

Till next week, happy Arabic learning! 😊