Arabic Reading and Writing Made Easy – ARB 011

© Islamic Online University

Is l a m i c
Online
University
Diploma Section

Study Guide

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 Arabic Reading and Writing Made Easy – ARB 011
© Islamic Online University

Module 1

Key Terms/Concepts:

 Consonants
 Vowels
 Diphthongs
 Who are the Arabs?
 Arabic Alphabet: The Arabic Alphabet is the second most
widely used alphabetic writing system in the world.
 Arabic consonants: ‫ن‬ ‫س‬ ‫ر‬ ‫د‬
 The Arabic ‫ د‬is pronounced like “d ” in the English word
“deed”.
 The Arabic ‫ ر‬is pronounced like “r ” in English. Yet, the
letter ‫ ر‬is quite different from “r ”.
 The Arabic ‫ س‬corresponds to the high-pitched “s” in
English like in “see” except that the tip of the tongue in
Arabic is in contact with the upper teeth.
 The Arabic ‫ ن‬is pronounced like “n” in the English word
“none”.
 Long vowels: ‫ي‬ ‫و‬ ‫ا‬
 Short vowels
 Sukoon

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Module 2

Key Terms/Concepts:

 Arabic consonants: ‫م‬ ‫ك‬ ‫ت‬ ‫ب‬

 The letter ‫ ب‬is equivalent to the consonant “ b ” in English,
and it is written with a single stroke.
 The letter ‫ ت‬is pronounced like the English “ t ” in “ tea ”
and it has two dots above it.
 The letter ‫ ك‬is pronounced like the English consonant “k ”
and is written in two strokes.
 The letter ‫ م‬is pronounced like the consonant “ m ” in
English and is written in a single stroke.

Module 3

Key Terms/Concepts:

 Arabic consonants: ‫خ‬ ‫ش‬ ‫ف‬

 The Arabic ‫ ف‬corresponds to “ f ” in English
 The Arabic ‫ ش‬is pronounced like the “ sh ”in the English
word “shop”. It is written with the addition of three dots.
 The Arabic letter ‫ خ‬does not have an English equivalent.
 Double consonants: Shaddah

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Module 4

Key Terms/Concepts:

 Arabic consonants: ‫ي أ‬ ‫و‬ ‫ل‬

 The letter ‫ ل‬is a connector and is equivalent to “ l ” in
English. There is only one difference between them.
 The letter ‫ و‬which acts as the long vowel “ oo ”, is a non-
connecting consonant equivalent to “ w ” in “why”.
 The letter ‫ ي‬which acts as the long vowel “ ee ”, is a
connecting consonant equivalent to “ y ” in “yet”.
 Hamzah ‫ ء‬is not a letter of the alphabet but a sign
indicating a consonant sound known in English as the
“glottal ” stop. It is always written with alif as its seat.
 Diphthong “ ay ”
 Diphthong “ aw ”
 Connecting: Hamzah
 Nunation: Tanween

Module 5

Key Terms/Concepts:

 Arabic consonants: ‫ع‬ ‫ق‬ ‫ط‬ ‫ز‬

 The consonant ‫ ز‬is equivalent to the English “ z ” in
“zeal”.
 The consonant ‫ ط‬is similar to ‫ ت‬in that for both letters the
tip of the tongue touches the back of the upper teeth. In the
case of ‫ ط‬, a larger area of the upper surface of the tongue
makes contact with the gum ridge behind the upper teeth.
The tongue is tensed, its back raised and its middle
lowered. The resulting sound of ‫ ط‬is heavy and deep. The
letter is not aspirated.
 The consonant ‫ ق‬is similar to ‫ ك‬except that ‫ ق‬is
pronounced with the tongue tense, the back raised and the
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 Arabic Reading and Writing Made Easy – ARB 011
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middle lowered. The ‫ ق‬is not aspirated. In pronouncing ‫ق‬

the back of the tongue touches the uvula giving the letter a
slight popping sound.
 The Arabic consonant ‫ ع‬has no English equivalent.

Module 6

Key Terms/Concepts:

 Arabic consonants: ‫ى‬ ‫ص‬ ‫ح‬

 The consonant ‫ ح‬does not exist in English.
 The Arabic ‫ ص‬is similar to ‫ س‬in terms of the general
placement of the tongue, but ‫ ص‬is said with back part of
the tongue tensed and raised, and the middle of the tongue
lowered.
 Many Arabic words ending with the long vowel aa ‫ى‬
have a yaa without dots to represent the alif which is
known as alif maqsoorah (shortened alif ). Alif maqsoorah is
pronounced in the same way as an alif.
 Sun and Moon Letters

Module 7

Key Terms/Concepts:

 Arabic consonants: ‫ة‬ ‫ج‬ ‫ذ‬

 The letter ‫ ذ‬is the same as the English “ th ” in words like
“that” and “weather”.
 The letter ‫ ج‬should be pronounced like the English “ j ” in
“judge”.
 The letter ‫ ة‬represents the sound “ t ” in exactly the same
way as ‫ت‬.
 Taa Marbootah

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Module 8

Key Terms/Concepts:

 Arabic consonants: ‫غ‬ ‫ض‬ ‫ث‬ ‫ظ‬

 The letter ‫ ظ‬has no English equivalent.
 The letter ‫ ث‬is pronounced exactly like the “ th ” in the
English words like “thin” and “three”.
 The letter ‫ ض‬has no English equivalent.
 The letter ‫ غ‬has no English equivalent.
 General Review

Module 9

Key Terms/Concepts:
 Videos
 Audios

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Miscellaneous Arabic Reading

Key Terms/Concepts:

Arabic Reading Supplement:

 Selections from an Arabic grade 3 Reader

Jameelah Bouhayrid ُ ‫َجميلةُ بو َحيْرد‬

Electricity ‫ال َكهر َبا ُء‬
Sports Day ‫ي‬
ٌ ‫اض‬ِ ‫يَ ْو ٌم ِري‬
Mount Hafeet ‫َجبَ ُل َحفيت‬
Young Hereos ‫َار‬
ُ ‫الصغ‬ ِ ‫طا ُل‬ َ ‫األب‬

 25 Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

 Selections from the Qur’aan

Soorah El-Baqarah ‫سورة البَ َقرة‬ ُ

Soorah Al-Feel ‫سورة ال ِفيل‬ُ
Soorah Al-Quraysh ‫سورة قُريش‬ ُ
Soorah Al-Maaoon ‫عون‬ ُ ‫سورة ال َما‬ ُ
Soorah Al-Kawthar ‫سورة ال َكوثَر‬ ُ
Soorah Al-Kaafiroon ُ ‫سورة ال َك‬
‫افرون‬ ُ
Soorah An-Nasr ‫سورة النَصر‬ ً
Soorah Al-Masad ‫سد‬ َ ‫سورة ال َم‬ ُ
Soorah At-Tawheed َ
‫اإلخَلص‬ ‫سورة‬ ُ
Soorah Al-Falaq ‫سورة الفَلَق‬ ُ
Soorah An-Naas ‫سورة النَاس‬ ُ

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