The Arabic Alphabet: How to Read & Write It

by Nicholas Awde, Putros Samano

Discusses the basics of the Arabic language and provides instruction in the Arabic alphabet.

Genres: Language, Reference, Nonfiction, Islam, Collections, Linguistics

95 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Calla Reviews (كالا) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a perfect reference book for the Arabic alphabet. It is not just about the alphabet but the arabic writing system.I could clearly understand what the author was trying to convey and the hints/tips scattered throughout were succinct and helpful. I would say this is a must have reference for those learning arabic. I really like that the authors included a Koran verse so the readers can see if they have really assimilated the alphabet. I can definitely see myself coming back to this often. Is it worth it? Without a doubt.

[Hajdi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for helping you learn to read and write Arabic letters. You will learn to recognize the letter if it is written individually or at the beginning, middle, and end of a word. It also reviews the vowel symbols. The book does not help with pronunciation, but is a great tool for reading and writing the letters of the Arabic alphabet. This book is a necessity in your language learning toolkit.

[Pete Missingham · Rating 4 out of 5]

The section on handwriting is useful but a little depressing. A larger section on "common" ligatures would have been handy too for those of us who occasionally have to read photos.

[Lauren Rev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reference book for learning the Arabic alphabet. After a brief introduction each letter is addressed individually. Every one is drawn according to a page line by describing its relation to that line and indicating the strokes needed to write it most effectively. The authors then explain the pronunciation of each, supplementing with a description of the mouth and tongue positioning if there is not an English equivalent. Throughout the book there are helpful hints to aid in writing and pronunciation of the letters such as adding the vertical downstroke to the Taa’ or DHaa’ after completing the word it is in, much as we dot our i’s or cross our t’s. They also note, it is better to roll the r too much than too little. At the end is a section of the Koran to transliterate and the Arab States with capitals written in Arabic to test your newfound skills. As expressed in their introduction “The style of the book is light and non-technical: no previous knowledge of grammar or linguistics is assumed. At the same time, we have tried to be meticulous in detail and comprehensive in scope.” They provide this and more. I have ordered a copy for my home library.

[Rominatata · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read in a review that this was one of the best books when you begin learning Arabic. Indeed, it is! I'm a beginner in Arabic and I recommend this book to any who'd like to start learning this beautiful and fascinating language.

The book is obviously written by someone with really good teaching skills. The explanations are straight to the point. The writer understood that the reader may not remember all the rules written out regarding certain letters, so he builds the book up accordingly in such a way that the reader is gradually and regularly reminded of those rules. This happens during exercises, thus making it easy to remember them. Awde also gives a few good memory tricks, too.

The book also teaches the alphabet one by one, not in an alphabetical order, but rather by its level of difficulty, thus making it easy for the student to be very well acquainted with the alphabet in a short number of days.

The book is indeed written by someone who really knows how to teach, without too much explanation that is unnecessary or very difficult to remember. Highly recommended!

[Jenn "JR" · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to make up secret codes when I was a kid - based on the English alphabet - the Arabic alphabet has letters that seem redundant to us, and they leave out things like "p" and "v" (no vampires?? it'd probably be fampeerah or something). This is very detailed - so if you have more interest in learning specifically how the letters change in context, you'll like this book. I'm not quite up to the writing words - just copying them.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hope I don't have to read any hand written arabic any time soon, because that bit at the end of this book was somewhat frightening.

Otherwise this has been a very wonderful introduction to basic reading and writting of the Arabic language, and I feel ready to continue with my language learning.

This book is neat and concise, to the point and helpful.

[Riobhcah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good introduction to the Arabic alphabet. It shows the pen strokes for each letter as well as variations in handwriting.

I'm now reading this book again with an intent to become more serious about studying Arabic. It's a beautiful and challenging language, well worth learning.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very clear guide to the Arabic Alif-Baa.

[Rayad · Rating 4 out of 5]

it has one of the best introductions to teach Arabic..was very helpful as I taught Arabic

[Robert Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Highly recommended for beginners.

[Sarah Thoeny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I've seen to teach reading and writing in Arabic! Simple and logically taught.

[Pachyderm Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

An altogether no-frills guide to helping you read (that is, to discern and recognize letter shapes in initial, medial, and final forms where necessary.) and write (that is, to cleanly copy and closely imitate Arabic handwriting; historically, the Arabic alphabetic script developed as a handwritten one.)
the Arabic alphabet.

An all in one guide. Includes the consonants, vowels, Arabic numerals, and extra diatrics used in the written language, with blank spaces for writing practice.

[Nate Bate · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Arabic Alphabet was recommended to me by a friend, and it is super helpful! Now that I have made my way through it, I plan, at some point in the future, to go through it meticulously. It gives you the basics of pronunciation and it helps you know how to write each letter. I did see some similarities to Biblical Hebrew occasionally.

[Yaotl Altan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to learn the Arabic alphabet and start forming our fist syllables in this language. Even if it's a short book, it explains well the mutations of the consonants dpending on the vocal close to them.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very helpful book for me at this point in my learning. I wish it had more details on ligatures, but it’s good for what it covers.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah it's going to be YEARS until I can read and write in Arabic, let alone speak it, but this was a very helpful introduction and will continue to be a valued resource.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is genuinely so helpful!!!!!!! wow

[En bok i veckan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pedagogiken verkar inte ha varit bättre förr. Författarna får arabiska alfabetet, och språket i allmänhet, att framstå som krångligare än vad det är.

[Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely helpful book. Alphabet mastered.... now for all the rest!

[Liang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've decided to spend the past 3 days going through this book. I was actually using another one a month ago, but stopped because it was over-complicating things. I wanted to be one of those people who can say they learnt how to read Arabic writing on their own, so I was never coming close to giving up.

I saw this particular title at the library, and it looked much better. This book has a really good system for breaking it down for you. Firstly it didn't have that many pages, so it went straight to the point. Not all the characters are introduced to you at once. They allow you to practice 3-4 at a time, and keep adding more as you progress. It even has arrows explaining to you the orders of which line or curve comes first.

By the end of the book, I've realised Arabic isn't that hard at all. But you just need a few solid hours of serious commitment to get it happening. I can't say I am a fast reader yet. I can for the most part, but It still takes time for me to decode some symbols and also remembering how its pronounced. Anyway, it will come with practice. My main purpose of understanding the written Arabic system has now been fulfilled and I can go back to focusing on my other languages. I dunno when I'll start the spoken Arabic yet. This was just a stepping stone.

If you want a quick few-day crash course in Arabic writing, this book is the way to go. Doesn't waste your time with over-complicated nonsense. Fastest is always the most efficient way.

[Matthew Grotheer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book very helpful in learning to read and write the Arabic script. The authors show that while the script can initially look intimidating, it can be learned in a short time through the repetitious writing of it. Writing out the script multiple times (which is what this book shows you how to do) is a quick way to learn how to read it. I would only recommend to also use an audio or video recording of a native speaker pronouncing and explaining the sound of each letter for an English audience. If you do this then you will be set!

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a whole lot of useful information about the Arabic alphabet packed into this very short book. I had never studied Arabic before reading this book, so I just intended to become familiar with the alphabet rather than actually practicing writing the letters. I felt like I kept up with the information for part of the book, but then became overwhelmed as the book went on. This is the type of book that it might be useful to read more than once.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been studying the alphabet alone for a while now and have a pretty solid grasp on it. This helped so much as far as moving from knowing the alphabet to being able to read and write it. I couldn't recommend this book more. Although, I would suggest knowing at least some of the alphabet beforehand.

[Aidah · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're truly a beginner, like me, this book is detailed and crystal-clear in their explanations.

I believe that if ANYONE wants to learn arabic, grab this book FIRST, and a notebook to take down notes, and practice writing the alphabets.

Get the basics right first, to form a good foundation. And that is EXACTLY the motives to this book.

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first-ever book I bought to teach myself Arabic. It made learning the letters completely painless, and increased my intrigue with the language. This little book holds a special place in my heart.

[W.B. Abdullah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book taught me to read and write Arabic during my very first Ramadan (as a Muslim)--I highly recommend it!

[Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent intro to the Arabic alphabet. You'll still need to get your hands on a cd or an individual who can work with you on pronunciation, but this is a fast and easy way to get started.

[Sherry Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great book if you're wanting to learn Arabic script!

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Succinct and straightforward