Elie from Aïn Ikrine, Lebanon, is a native speaker of Lebanese, considers himself near-native in French, but does not feel as comfortable speaking Arabic. Yes, Lebanese is a dialect of Arabic - and yet it's quite a different language.

We talk about French, Christians in Lebanon, diverse dialects, aggressive sounds, how to chat and write poetry in Arabic, roots and patterns, words and numbers, Lebanese christmas traditions, and giant metal Santa Clauses.

Music:

Meen – Min L Manjam 3al Marreekh (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Jonathan Coulton – Chiron Beta Prime (CC BY-NC 3.0)