“Keefak” a new app that teaches you how to speak “Lebanese”

“Keefkoun? Ca va?” So us Lebanese, we cannot be but special! And at Belle Beirut, with the help of some of our dedicated readers (thank you Jana Kattar), we love spotting and highlighting Lebanese initiatives and achievements! Here’s what Keefak is all about.

“You have a spouse or a Lebanese acquaintance, and you’ve been lost in translation when she/he speaks in Lebanese, especially with family or on the phone with his/her mother in law! And you are so eager to speak this language …
Or it may be your Lebanese origins that lead you to take courses in Lebanese dialect, to reconnect with them, or just to share with family when you visit the Land of Cedars.
But you may also be one of those people who are passionate about Lebanon, who knew about it through a friend, a private or professional trip, a book or a documentary. And you are curious about this dialect…”

“Keefak” is a first of a kind application on the market, designed to teach Lebanese descents, foreign Lebanese relatives and foreign expats in the Middle East the Lebanese dialect of Arabic.
This informative, interactive and very user-friendly app was successfully launched on January 19th 2012 and has endorsed so far more than 6.000 users worldwide, making it among the most successful apps “made in Lebanon”.

The application is currently available in 4 versions, namely French, English, Portuguese and Spanish, while German language is still under development.
Keefak can be downloaded in both light and paid versions from the App Store and Google Play, while availability for Windows phones will soon be made possible.

Behind “Keefak” stands a small group of dedicated and passionate Lebanese expatriates sharing the same vision to reconnect 15 million Lebanese descents established mainly in Europe, North America, Latin America and Australia with their parents or grandparents’ mother tongue and hence the Lebanese culture, as well as foreigners and tourists visiting the region.

The idea flourished when Hadi El Khoury, a young Lebanese entrepreneur currently working and residing in France for more than ten years, became father. Despite the fact that he has left Lebanon to complete his studies and pursue his career in information security, Mr. El Khoury is keen on maintaining strong bonds with his country of origins and doing the best he can to give back to Lebanon what it has given him. His main concern was to teach his daughter born and raised in France the Lebanese dialect.

Thus, with the help of his brother Mr. Joseph El Khoury, a software engineer who is the app architect and IOS developer, Mr. Rawad Rahmé who is an android developer and the valuable input of a linguist Mr. le Professeur Antoine Fleyfel (Maitre de Conference en Theologie et Philisophie a l’Universite catholique de Lille): “Keefak” was born.

“Keefak”, suitable for adults and kids, and currently made of 16 courses including vocabulary, text, grammar and exercises, is in constant evolution and regularly updated with new features, courses or even special courses such as the one developed for Valentine’s occasion.
Furthermore, a child friendly and interactive game-centric version of “Keefak” is currently under development featuring 4 cartoon characters, and is expected to be launched in May 2013.

“Keefak” enabling child and adult to develop their day to day conversational Lebanese Arabic, is however not limited to this purpose and works in both ways, allowing arab-spoken individuals to learn foreign languages. Consequently, it introduces not only Lebanese diaspora or foreigners to the Lebanese dialect but allow Lebanese citizens, and Arab people in general, to explore aforementioned available languages.

This one of a kind, pure Lebanese application, was and is still being talked about and highlighted through the media and social media whether nationally such as in the “Daily Star”, L’Orient Le Jour”, or internationally whether through “Brazil Arab News Agency” or “Forbes Magazine” which cited it as “ the most innovative and exciting application”.

In short, at Belle Beirut we totally love it; and call upon our readers abroad or those who have friends and cousins out of the country to share this applications with them, and make sure they’re forever bound to our all famous Lebanese dialect!
Because we’re not only special, we also Lebanese!

You may also check KEEFAK through the below links:

– Website: www.keefaktheapp.com

– Facebook Page: facebook.com/keefaktheapp

– Twitter Account: @KeefakTheApp

Patricia I. Issa
@PatriciaIssa961