1
Raa and zay
Arabic A1 · Unit 3
GoalRead and write ر (raa) and ز (zay), two letters that never join the next letter.
New words
رَ (ra) · syllable raزَ (za) · syllable zaدَار (dār) · house, homeبَارِد (bārid) · coldخُبْز (khubz) · breadزَيْت (zayt) · oilبُرْج (burj) · towerجَزَر (jazar) · carrots
Explanation
Raa (ر) is a tapped “r”. The tip of the tongue taps once, quickly, on the ridge behind the upper teeth, like the quick tap in the middle of American “butter” or the “r” of Spanish “pero”. It is not the English “r”. Zay (ز) is the “z” of “zoo”, and it is raa with one dot above. Both letters are short and dip a little below the line. They join the letter before them but never the letter after them, like alif, dal and dhal.
رalone
—start
—middle
ـرend
زalone
—start
—middle
ـزend
Worked examples
One tap, not a growl. Press each card and tap your tongue once.
ر
ز
Three food words: bread, oil and carrots. Press each card.
Class activity
Tap and buzz. Tap the tip of your tongue once on the ridge behind your top teeth and say ra, ra, ra, lightly. Then buzz like a bee, “zzz”, and say za. Write ر and ز five times each, and notice that both dip a little below the line.
Practice
1
What is the only difference between ر and ز?
ز has one dot above; ر has no dot.
2
Press Listen. Do you hear r or z at the start?
z. The word is زَارَ (zāra), “he visited”.
3
Read the word aloud and say what it means: بَارِد.
bārid, cold.
4
Why does the letter after ر start a new block?
Raa never joins the letter after it.
5
Which of these letters is zay?
د
ز
ر
The middle one. Zay has one dot above.