Environmental Issues

Talking about the planet

Arabic is written right to left, and this module gives you the core words to talk about the environment. You will learn five key terms, from بيئة (bee'a), the environment, to عمل تطوعي ('amal tatawwu'i), voluntary work, then practise recognising them before writing about an environmental issue in English.

The five words you need

Learn these five environmental terms. Arabic reads right to left:

Match each word to its meaning

What bee'a means in Arabic

What does the Arabic word بيئة (bee'a) mean in English?

• The environment
• Drinking water
• Global warming
• Voluntary work

A word for the exam

احتباس حراري (ihtibaas haraari), global warming, is one of the biggest environmental issues, and on this course it is Higher-tier vocabulary. It is worth learning even at Foundation, because you can then recognise it in reading and listening. Notice it is two words: literally a kind of "trapping" and "thermal".

Which are about the environment?

Select the TWO Arabic words that are about the environment.

• موارد طبيعية (mawaarid tabee'iyya)
• مياه الشرب (miyaah ash-shurb)
• بيت (bayt)
• تذكرة (tadhkira)

Problems and actions

Some environmental words name problems; others name what we can do to help.

Environment words in Arabic

The Arabic word for the environment is _____. Water that is safe to drink is called _____. Using less and reusing more protects our _____. The problem of the planet heating up is _____. Helping your community without pay is _____.

Spot the environment words

Tap the TWO Arabic words that are about the environment.

• بيئة (bee'a)
• بيت (bayt)
• عمل تطوعي ('amal tatawwu'i)
• عائلة ('aila)
• تذكرة (tadhkira)

Choose the right word

Which Arabic word means 'drinking water'?

• مياه الشرب (miyaah ash-shurb)
• بيئة (bee'a)
• احتباس حراري (ihtibaas haraari)
• بيت (bayt)

Writing about the environment

You can now recognise the five key words. In the exam you might write about an environmental issue, and you can weave these terms in. A strong answer names a problem (such as احتباس حراري, global warming, or wasting مياه الشرب, drinking water) and a solution (such as عمل تطوعي, voluntary work, or protecting موارد طبيعية, natural resources).

Arabic puts the little words after the noun

The environment words become sentences without any word for "is". Arabic simply puts the two parts side by side: - مياه الشرب مورد طبيعي = "drinking water is a natural resource". Two noun pairs placed together. Nothing at all stands for "is". - الاحتباس الحراري مشكلة في العالم = "global warming is a problem in the world". The same pattern, with في (fi - in) added. مشكلة (mushkila) means "a problem", and العالم (al-alam) means "the world". Note that الحراري follows الاحتباس, because Arabic puts a describing word after the noun.

Arabic has no word for "is"

Arabic has no word for "is". Which of these says "drinking water is a natural resource"?

• مياه الشرب مورد طبيعي (miyah al-shurb mawrid tabii)
• مياه الشرب تكون مورد طبيعي (miyah al-shurb takun mawrid tabii)
• مورد طبيعي مياه الشرب (mawrid tabii miyah al-shurb)
• الاحتباس الحراري مشكلة (al-ihtibas al-harari mushkila)

Help the environment

Three ways to help the environment. Choose the best action each time.

• You want to protect مياه الشرب (drinking water) in your town. What helps?
• احتباس حراري (global warming) is made worse by which of these?
• You want to do عمل تطوعي (voluntary work) for the environment. What fits?

Write about an issue, in Arabic

Name what this module taught you about IN ARABIC, then add ONE sentence in English saying why it matters. Write the Arabic in script - the transliteration in brackets is a reading aid only.

• Name the topic: بيئة (bia - the environment) or مياه الشرب (miyaah ash-shurb - drinking water)
• For the top marks, use the Higher-tier term: احتباس حراري (ihtibaas haraari - global warming)
• Name an action people take: عمل تطوعي (amal tatawwui - voluntary work)
• Then, in English only, say why this issue matters