Letters
&
Words

Not only does Arabic look different, it is written from right to left, not left to right like English,

and the letters can have different shapes when they are at the beginning, middle or end of a word.

In the Arabic language the letters are called "al-Huruf".

The letters are also given different sounds by marks that are put above or below them,

and in Arabic these marks are called "al-Harakat",

and we usually learn al-Huruf and al-Harakat together.

As in English, the Arabic letters have names that we use all the time,

so we need to know them, but we hardly ever write them down.

And when we do write the Arabic letters some of them change their shape

depending on whether they join up to the letters that come before them and after them.

Now, for anyone who speaks English, the Arabic letters can sometimes seem very strange,

as some of them have different sounds to any letters that we have in English.

And just like in English, when the Arabic letters are joined together it can change the sound they make.

Which all seems very complicated and difficult.

But humans learn languages best when they are very young,

so in mosques all around the world you can find young children easily reading the Qur'an in Arabic,

and even having competitions to see who reads out loud in the best and most beautiful way.

Here you can see the Arabic letters, and hear their names.

See how the letters take different shapes when they fit together.

Listen to the different sounds the Arabic letters make.

Here you can find out how the letters work together in different ways.

Here you can see how to practice perfect writing.