Learn how to perfect your Arabic pronunciation
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Arabic Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this series, you'll master Arabic pronunciation. Proper pronunciation is essential in Arabic, and in this series, you'll learn it in a fast, comprehensive, and easy way. |
| In this first lesson, you'll learn about the building blocks of the Arabic pronunciation system that will help you in future lessons. |
| Arabic uses an abjad writing system where each symbol is codified as a consonant. All 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet are consonants. There are no letters that represent vowels in Arabic. This does not mean that the Arabic language lacks vowels altogether though, because vowel sounds do exist but they are just implied. |
| Consider this English example. See if you can guess the sentence. |
| Even without the vowels, it's very likely that you figured out that the correct reading of this sentence is 'He went to the park.' This is similar to what it's like to read in Arabic. |
| But be careful not to fall into a very common trap: as you're learning to *speak* correctly, you shouldn't concern yourself with all the letters. That's right – forget them! You care about the *sounds* of Arabic and here they are: |
| There are 28 consonant sounds, and 6 vowel sounds. Each symbol that you see here, represents a single sound determined by the IPA, which is a standardized way to represent sounds *without* the baggage that's often involved with traditional letters. By using all of these sounds, you can form every single word in Arabic. |
| Still seem complicated? Well, how about this: of the 28 consonant sounds in Arabic, you *already know* 19 of the original sounds. That's right, if you're a native English speaker, then you already make these sounds every day! |
| You can also ignore all of the vowel sounds for the same reason. |
| The only thing standing between you and Perfect Arabic Pronunciation are 9 new consonant sounds. You can handle that! |
| Now let me introduce (host name), who will be helping you to master these new sounds. |
| "Hello, I'm (host name)" in Arabic |
| (host name) will be giving you native pronunciation examples for you to imitate. But for this first lesson, just sit back and listen to the unique sounds of Arabic: |
| حتى |
| رد |
| صوت |
| ضوء |
| طول |
| ظل |
| قوي |
| غالي |
| عالي |
| In the next lesson, we'll look at the top 5 pronunciation mistakes Arabic learners make. You'll want to make sure not to fall into these common traps. |
| After that, we'll start going through the vowels and consonants of Arabic. This is your chance to learn how to correctly say all of the words you just heard. |
| We'll finish up the series by covering some special topics that will really make your Arabic sound natural! |
| To wrap up this lesson, here's a question for you. |
| Why is it important to spend time on learning proper pronunciation, even if you're already an advanced speaker? |
| The answer... |
| You will be understood, and this will help you build more confidence as you communicate in Arabic. As beginners, you're creating a strong foundation to build on. And for more advanced students, this is your chance to improve your accent and lose any bad habits you may have picked up. |
| What is the hardest part of Arabic pronunciation? Tell us about it in the comments. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Arabic Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
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