The last letters and reading signs

Now you can read whole phrases: go word by word from right to left. In this course the last letter of every word is read with no vowel, even inside a phrase, and no sukun is written on it: أَنَا مِن مِصْر is ʾanā min miṣr. The little word الْ (al) means “the” and is written joined to the next word. After a word that ends in a consonant you say al: كَيْف الْحَال is kayf al-ḥāl; after a word that ends in a vowel the a is dropped: مَعَ السَّلَامَة is maʿa s-salāma. Before some letters, such as س, the ل of al is not heard; the next letter is doubled instead, and a shadda shows it: السَّلَام is as-salām. A question ends with the mark ؟. Read slowly first, then faster, and press Listen to check.