Noorani Qaida Lesson 1: The 29 Arabic Letters

Before You Start

The pronunciation notes below are simple English approximations, useful for getting oriented, but not a substitute for hearing each letter correctly. A handful of these letters, particularly ha (ح), kha, ain, ghain, sad, dad, tta and dha, don't have a close English sound at all, so treat the notes as a starting point and lean on a teacher's live demonstration for the actual sound.

The 29 Letters

How to Practise Lesson 1

1. Go through the letters in order first, a few times, until the sequence feels familiar.
2. Then practise out of order. Point to random letters and name them, since real reading never presents letters in a neat sequence.
3. Time yourself occasionally, not to rush, but to notice which letters cause hesitation, those are the ones that need more focus.
4. Say the letter out loud, every time, even in solo practice, since silent recognition and spoken pronunciation are different skills.

A Simple Daily Drill

Write or print the 29 letters on small cards, shuffle them, and go through ten at random each day, saying each one aloud as soon as you see it. Set aside any that cause hesitation and repeat just those a few extra times before finishing. Ten focused minutes like this most days will build recognition faster than a longer, unfocused session once a week.

Signs You're Ready for Lesson 2

• You can name any letter instantly when it's pointed to at random, not just in the memorised sequence.
• You can pronounce the harder letters, ha, ain, qaf, sad, without confusing them with a similar-sounding letter.
• You're consistent across different days, not just accurate once and shaky the next.

For which letters connect and the vowel marks that come next, see our Arabic letters and punctuation guide. If you're curious why some letters sound breathy, our guide to Hams in Tajweed explains it, and our Quran classes for beginners page covers how we support complete starters.

How Mariam Quran Tutor Teaches Lesson 1

In our Noorani Qaida course, Lesson 1 is taught one-to-one with your teacher demonstrating each letter's correct sound live and listening to you repeat it, so the harder letters are corrected immediately rather than practised incorrectly at home. For guidance on pacing and structure beyond Lesson 1, see our guide to teaching Noorani Qaida. You can book a free trial lesson with no card required to see this taught properly from the very first letter.