Learn all 28 Arabic letters — click any letter to hear it, then write or spell!
The Arabic alphabet (الأبجدية العربية) consists of 28 letters, all of which are consonants. Arabic is written and read from right to left, and short vowels are usually shown as small marks (harakat) above or below the letters rather than as separate characters. The script is cursive — most letters connect to the following letter — and each letter changes shape depending on its position in a word. Arabic is the language of the Quran and is spoken by over 400 million people worldwide, making it one of the most important languages for children to begin learning.
The 28 letters in order: ا ب ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ك ل م ن ه و ي. Many letters share the same base shape and are distinguished only by dots — for example ب ت ث all share one shape with 1, 2, or 3 dots. Grouping letters by shape family makes learning much faster.
Each Arabic letter has up to 4 forms: isolated, initial (start of word), medial (middle), and final (end). For example, ب is the isolated form, but looks like بـ / ـبـ / ـب when connected. Most children learn the isolated form first before moving to connected writing.
Arabic has several sounds with no English equivalent. ع (ayn) — a voiced pharyngeal sound from deep in the throat. غ (ghayn) — like a French 'r'. ح (ha) — a breathy 'h'. خ (kha) — like the 'ch' in loch. ق (qaf) — a deep 'k'. These take practice but are achievable with regular listening and repetition.
Start with alef, ba, ta, tha — these four alone cover 4 sounds and introduce the dot system. Group letters by shape family. Listen to each letter's sound with our activity and repeat out loud. Practise short daily sessions (10–15 min) rather than long, infrequent ones. Tracing and writing each letter reinforces memory.