I grew up in Sydney hearing my parents speak Arabic but could never respond. I always changed the subject when relatives spoke to me. After 6 lessons on Arabix, I had my first real conversation with my grandmother. She cried. I cried. It was the best phone call of my life.

The dialect makes everything. I spent months on apps that taught Gulf Arabic — my Lebanese family doesn't even recognize that accent. My Arabix teacher speaks exactly like my teta. For the first time, I actually understood what was being said at family dinner and I could respond.

I almost didn't book because I was scared of being judged for how little I knew. My teacher made it completely safe from minute one. She said 'most of my students start exactly where you are.' Three months later, I called my uncle in Beirut and we talked for an hour — in Arabic.