Ali plays with his toy dinosaurs while Hawra watches TV in their apartment. At home, Shrouq and Mohammed try to only speak English with their children. The kids’ speaking has improved so greatly, they often correct their parents. While Shrouq plays with Ali he will often exclaim, “No. Don’t say this this way. It’s wrong! Say it like this. It is not English at all.” Shrouq and Mohammed moved their family to the United States for a few years to study at Ohio University before returning to their home in Saudi Arabia.

Fatimah leans on Shrouq outside the Islamic Center. She just began learning English a few weeks ago when she started preschool with Hawra. Although Fatimah is more shy than her siblings, she is becoming increasingly talkative as she learns English.

Shrouq and Mohammed are greeted by Hawra at a luncheon at her preschool. Hawra, like Ali, is bold and will try talking to anyone, even if she doesn't know the correct words in English.

While their children are at school and Mohammed works on his homework, Shrouq breaks the silence. “Mohammed, it’s too quiet.” With four small children, they rarely have a quiet moment in their apartment.

Ali read a poem he wrote to his classmates and parents at a poetry party in school. As Shrouq and Mohammed listened, their faces were beaming and after the party some of the first words out of their mouths were how proud of him they were. Ali, a first grader, has a knack for school. Mohammed proudly describes how smart his son is when Ali is out of hearing range. One of his teachers, Casey McDonald, remembers playing a math game called ‘Brains versus Calculators.’ Ali beat them with his brain by quickly shouting, “100,” in answer to 76 + 24.

Mohammed and Fatimah check out a room in a house they are thinking about renting. Recently, Shrouq and Mohammed decided to look for a house closer to campus that will give their family more room than their apartment.

Mohammed and Shrouq go over a list of things that need to be bought and fixed before they can move into their new home.

Fatimah and Hawra explore the second floor of the home their parents are planning to rent. It is smaller than their home in Saudi Arabia, but will give them much more room than their apartment.