#separator:tab #html:false #columns:Front Back ا و ي the three long vowels: aa · oo · ee — These are LONG vowels (aa/oo/ee), held about twice as long as a short vowel. English does not use vowel length to change meaning, so learners clip them; here و is 'oo' (not 'w') and ي is 'ee' (not 'y') in their vowel role. ب ت ث one shape — the dots decide which letter — Same skeleton, different dots: 1 below = b, 2 above = t, 3 above = th. English speakers treat dots as decoration; in Arabic miscounting or misplacing them reads a different consonant and a different word. قَلْب heart (deep Q from the back of the throat — NOT كَلْب kalb, a dog!) — Make the closure at the uvula (where a gargle starts), not at the soft palate where English 'k' sits. A velar /k/ here literally produces كَلْب kalb, 'a dog' — the whole point of the lesson's hook. بَ تَ ثَ نَ يَ the tooth letters with a fatḥa (short "a") — The little stroke above (fatḥa) is a SHORT 'a' like the vowel in 'cat', not the English letter-name — and it is obligatory: without a ḥaraka the consonant has no sound. English speakers tend to ignore the mark and drop the vowel. ثَلاثُ نِقاط: ث three dots: that makes it "thaa" — ث with three dots is the voiceless 'th' of 'think' (never the voiced 'th' of 'this' — that is a different letter, ذ). English speakers who default to 's' or 't' for it are misreading; the dot-count is what separates it from ت (taa) and ب (baa). هٰذا حَرْفُ الياء. This is the letter yāʾ. بَ بِ بُ بْ ba · bi · bu · b(-) — fatḥa a · kasra i · ḍamma u · sukūn (no vowel) — Position = vowel: mark above = a (fatḥa), mark below = i (kasra), the little curl above = u (ḍamma), the small circle = no vowel (sukūn). Retrain the eye to check BELOW the letter, or every 'i' becomes an 'a'. The ḍamma is a short 'u' as in 'put' — do not read it as a 'w' just because it looks like a tiny wāw. بَيْت bayt — a house — The ي here carries a sukūn (no vowel), so it is the glide of the diphthong 'ay' — like English 'eye'/'bite' — not the long 'ee'. English speakers who read it 'beet' have missed the sukūn. بِنْت bint — a girl — This differs from بَيْت bayt by the vowel-mark (kasra 'i' below vs fatḥa 'a' above) plus one letter — concrete proof that skipping the ḥaraka destroys the word. Short 'i' as in 'bin'. جَ حَ خَ ja · ḥa · kha — one body, three dots-positions حَ ḥ = a breathy H forced from deep in the chest (not a plain "h", not "kh") — listen for it خَ kh = the scrape in Scottish "loch" — listen for it لا أَفْهَم. مَرَّة أُخْرى؟ laa AF-ham. MAR-ra UKH-raa — I don't understand. Again? تين teen — figs بَيْتٌ جَميل BAY-tun ja-MEEL — a beautiful house (sounded out slowly) هٰذا حَرْف. هٰذِهِ حَرَكة. HAA-dhaa ḥarf. HAA-dhi-hi ḥa-RA-ka — This is a letter. This is a vowel-mark. ا د ذ ر ز و alif · daal · dhaal · raa · zaay · waaw — the six that never join to the LEFT باب · دار baab · daar — a door · a home (note the gap after the alif / daal) وَرْد · ذَهَب ward · DHA-hab — roses · gold س ش siin · shiin — s (as in sun) · sh (as in ship) — the dots decide صَيْف — سار vs صار ṣayf — summer (ṣ = a HEAVY, dark "s" — feel the vowel drop) طالِب · ظُهْر ṬAA-lib · ẓuhr — a student · noon (ṭ, ẓ = the heavy t, the heavy dh) ع غ ʿayn · ghayn — ʿ = a tight throat-catch · gh = a gargled French R قَلْب ≠ كَلْب qalb ≠ kalb — heart (deep Q) ≠ a dog (plain K) عَيْن · قَلَم ʿayn · QA-lam — an eye · a pen ل م ه laam · miim · haa — l · m · h (a soft, plain breath — not the chest-ḥ, not the scrape-kh) مَرْحَبًا MAR-ḥa-ban — hello صَباحُ الخَيْر ṣa-BAA-ḥul-KHAYR — good morning (lit. "morning of goodness") هٰذا كِتاب. HAA-dhaa ki-TAAB — This is a book. القَمَر al-QA-mar — the moon مَرْحَبًا! هٰذا قَلَم. MAR-ḥa-ban! HAA-dhaa QA-lam — Hello! This is a pen. نور · وَلَد noor · WA-lad — light · a boy (و = long "oo" · و = the consonant "w") بَيْت · فيل bayt · feel — a house (ي = "y") · an elephant (ي = long "ee") كَتَبَ ≠ كاتِب KA-ta-ba ≠ KAA-tib — he wrote ≠ a writer (short "a" vs long "aa" — a different word!) ء hamza — a clean glottal stop — the catch in "uh-oh" أَب · أُمّ ab · umm — father · mother (hamza seated on an alif) ماء maa — water (hamza on the line, after the long "aa")