Arabic is spoken by hundreds of millions of people in more than twenty countries. Modern Standard Arabic, or MSA, is the form used in books, news and schools everywhere, so it is the Arabic you learn here. Arabic is written and read from right to left, the opposite of English. The alphabet has 28 letters and no capital letters. Most letters join to the next one inside a word, and a letter changes its shape a little depending on where it stands. Short vowels are small marks above or below the letters; in this course we always write them.
ا
ب
ت
ث
ج
ح
خ
د
ذ
ر
ز
س
ش
ص
ض
ط
ظ
ع
غ
ف
ق
ك
ل
م
ن
ه
و
ي
Worked examples
بَيْت
Start at the right edge. The word for “house”, bayt, is read from the right: first ب, then ي, then ت. Press Listen to hear it.
ب
bāʾb
ت
tāʾt
ث
thāʾth
The same shape can be a different letter. One dot below is ب, two dots above is ت, three dots above is ث.
Press the cards to hear the words for right and left. An Arabic page starts on the yamīn side.
Class activity
Arabic hunt. Find Arabic writing at home or on a screen: a package, a sign, a phone app or a video title. Put your finger on the right end of a line and slide it to the left. Pick one letter you like the shape of and draw it.
Practice
1
Look at the word. At which end do you start reading, the right or the left?
At the right end. The first letter is the one on the right (kāf).
2
How many letters does the Arabic alphabet have, and are there capital letters?
28 letters, and no capital letters.
3
Which word means “left”: يَمِين or يَسَار?
يَسَار (yasār).
4
Which of these letters has exactly one dot below it?
ن
ب
ث
The letter ب (bāʾ).
5
Why do the Arabic words in this course carry small marks above and below the letters?
The marks are the short vowels. Beginners need them to read each word correctly.
