Lesson # 1 : The Arabic Alphabet
red: sound of the letter in English
blue: name of the letter in Arabic
REMEMBER: Arabic is read from RIGHT TO LEFT, so the order of the alphabet is alif, baa, taa, thaa, jeem, Haa, khaa, dal, etc.
NOTE: Arabic letters generally exist in groups of similar looking letters. It is the dots above and below that differentiate them!
No equivalent in English: H, kh, Suh, Dh, Tta, thaa, gh, q
There are only 30 letters in Arabic, and no upper or lower case!
The Arabic alphabet :
Arabic Alphabet:
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Arabic is a cursive-only script, which is to say that Arabic cannot be written with unconnected, separated letters as English usually is (i.e. block letters/non-cursive), therefore all letters must be connected together in general. This is the only aspect of Arabic that makes it look complicated. Fortunately, it isn't. Just keep your eye open for the core part of the letter, and the dots!
The following is what Arabic letters look like, read from RIGHT TO LEFT, when they stand on their own, appear as the first letter of a word, appear as the middle letter, or appear as the last letter in a word. Remember, cursive English is just like Arabic in that the shapes of letters change somewhat from that of stand-alone block letter upper case/lower case equivalents.
Note: don't be deterred by what appears to be a large number of letters to be learned. In practice, the only difference between the shapes in the stand-alone, beginning, middle, and final positions is the omission of the "flourish" which is the swoopy little curved part of the letter either to the left or to the bottom. Keep your eye on the upper and/or right part of the letter AND the dots, and you'll be fine!
Note: it's very important to remember which part of the letter falls above, on, or below the center line of writing.
REMEMBER: read from RIGHT to LEFT.
red: sound of the letter in English
blue: name of the letter in Arabic
REMEMBER: Arabic is read from RIGHT TO LEFT, so the order of the alphabet is alif, baa, taa, thaa, jeem, Haa, khaa, dal, etc.
NOTE: Arabic letters generally exist in groups of similar looking letters. It is the dots above and below that differentiate them!
No equivalent in English: H, kh, Suh, Dh, Tta, thaa, gh, q
There are only 30 letters in Arabic, and no upper or lower case!
The Arabic alphabet :
Arabic Alphabet:
________________________________________________________________
Arabic is a cursive-only script, which is to say that Arabic cannot be written with unconnected, separated letters as English usually is (i.e. block letters/non-cursive), therefore all letters must be connected together in general. This is the only aspect of Arabic that makes it look complicated. Fortunately, it isn't. Just keep your eye open for the core part of the letter, and the dots!
The following is what Arabic letters look like, read from RIGHT TO LEFT, when they stand on their own, appear as the first letter of a word, appear as the middle letter, or appear as the last letter in a word. Remember, cursive English is just like Arabic in that the shapes of letters change somewhat from that of stand-alone block letter upper case/lower case equivalents.
Note: don't be deterred by what appears to be a large number of letters to be learned. In practice, the only difference between the shapes in the stand-alone, beginning, middle, and final positions is the omission of the "flourish" which is the swoopy little curved part of the letter either to the left or to the bottom. Keep your eye on the upper and/or right part of the letter AND the dots, and you'll be fine!
Note: it's very important to remember which part of the letter falls above, on, or below the center line of writing.
REMEMBER: read from RIGHT to LEFT.
This song helps the learner get familiar with Arabic Alphabet and pronunciation in general.
Complementary Material :
NB : If you need more explanation on the Arabic alphabet just click HERE !!!
NB : A well-explained, MUST-STUDY, supplementary lesson on Arabic Vowels, i.e.,
(Fat7a, Damma, Kassra, and Sukoon) can be found HERE !!!
Questions on Arabic alphabet (worksheet)
NB : If you need more explanation on the Arabic alphabet just click HERE !!!
NB : A well-explained, MUST-STUDY, supplementary lesson on Arabic Vowels, i.e.,
(Fat7a, Damma, Kassra, and Sukoon) can be found HERE !!!
Questions on Arabic alphabet (worksheet)
At the end of the first lesson, I leave you with a chart for The Arabic Alphabet with an example word, to help you attach the letter to an animal or an object in order to facilitate the memorizing process. The letter is highlighted in red color in the beginning of each example word. Again remember to read from RIGHT to LEF
NB: It is highly recommended to see the example words for every letter in its beginning, middle and final positions. This also helps you to learn new words. So, please visit the following link: http://www.languageguide.org/im/alpha/ar/
Note: the letters a, d, th, r, z, and w are never connected to the following letter on the left.
The following letter would be written in its beginning form. = walad (boy). Remember, short vowels are not written in Arabic. Another example: = shareek (partner). The short vowel a is not written but the long ee is written as a y.
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The following illustration shows you what a computer keyboard looks like in Arabic. The letters in red are the [shift] functions and represent the various forms of the letter alif + hamza and l + alif + hamza, plus the other vowels and diacritical and/or grammatical marks usually reserved for children's books, classical works, or the Quran. Modern Standard Arabic omits these symbols as the reader is expected to already know them.
Note: the letters a, d, th, r, z, and w are never connected to the following letter on the left.
The following letter would be written in its beginning form. = walad (boy). Remember, short vowels are not written in Arabic. Another example: = shareek (partner). The short vowel a is not written but the long ee is written as a y.
____________________________________________________________________________
The following illustration shows you what a computer keyboard looks like in Arabic. The letters in red are the [shift] functions and represent the various forms of the letter alif + hamza and l + alif + hamza, plus the other vowels and diacritical and/or grammatical marks usually reserved for children's books, classical works, or the Quran. Modern Standard Arabic omits these symbols as the reader is expected to already know them.
