Rating: 
Summary: Best Arabic alphabet resource I've ever seen
Review: After browsing, borrowing & buying, numerous resources to learn Arabic, this is truly the best that I've ever seen! Several of the advantages are a font large enough to differentiate the letters and symbols, clear explanations of the letters, and individual discussion of the letters with practice recognition. The best feature by far is that there are step-by-step illustrations of how to write each letter rather than simply assuming that you can look at the letter and figure it out yourself. It's just like learning penmanship as a kid...with lines and all. They show you how to do it so you can succeed!! I've never seen another Arabic book for adults that did that.The book is small and older, but by far the best book for learning the basics before going on to things like vocabulary & grammar. If you are truly new to Arabic, start with this book for real success!
Rating:
Summary: Best Arabic alphabet resource I've ever seen
Review: After browsing, borrowing & buying, numerous resources to learn Arabic, this is truly the best that I've ever seen! Several of the advantages are a font large enough to differentiate the letters and symbols, clear explanations of the letters, and individual discussion of the letters with practice recognition. The best feature by far is that there are step-by-step illustrations of how to write each letter rather than simply assuming that you can look at the letter and figure it out yourself. It's just like learning penmanship as a kid...with lines and all. They show you how to do it so you can succeed!! I've never seen another Arabic book for adults that did that. The book is small and older, but by far the best book for learning the basics before going on to things like vocabulary & grammar. If you are truly new to Arabic, start with this book for real success!
Rating:
Summary: Learned the basics in record time..Unbelievable results!
Review: Being an American Muslim, I am fascinated with the Arabic language, because it is the language that the the Holy Quran was revealed in. So it was important to me that I learn it, so I would not have to totally depend on the translations of others. I had tried several Arabic classes , but ususally, something would happen, for one reason or another, I couldn't finish the class, or the class would discontinue. Then I stumbled upon this book, and within a month I was reading and writing and working on my vocabulary and grammar. I learned in my spare time at my own pace, with excellent results. I highly recommend it. As saalmu alaikum, Dhafir
Rating:
Summary: Superb on several accounts
Review: First, the Arabic text is large and the print quality good, making it easy to distinguish double dots from dashes, loops from blips and so forth. Also, all the Arabic is vowelled, which should be obvious for a beginners' book but is frequently omitted. The authors show you the direction the pen should trace in forming the letters and do it on a horizontal line. The pronunciation tips are extremely helpful, particularly for several of the letters without an English equivalent. I found that the first chapter, a brief introduction to the structure of Arabic, did indeed help "reduce the sense of strangeness" about the language. The style of the writing and overall presentation of the book have the knack of making it all seem easy. Clearly, this book was written by experienced and masterful teachers. My only complaint is that there is no accompanying tape, which means the only practice the book gives you is to copy out the few sample words provided for each letter and the short Koran verse at the end. A tape and workbook would make this complete.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely well written, very logical approach, great book.
Review: For those of you in a rush, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK. Now here are my reasons... I am an American Muslim who is able to speak Arabic, but could use improvement in my reading/writing skills. Initially I read another book called "Arabic for the English Speaking Student" and each chapter seemed like a crash course in something. That book was rich in content, but lacked somewhat in its approach. This book is extremely well written, extremely smooth in its transition from one topic to another and very logical in its introduction of rules/letters. The book helped me TREMENDOUSLY. A lot of the grammer rules that I previously did not quite comprehend were immediately demystified by this book. Techniques of how to write the Arabic letters neatly were explained very well. So many other ways this book shines. Regardless of skill level, this book is an excellent starting point for someone who wants to read/write Arabic such as The Holy Quran, intellectual Arabic newspapers, etc. After mastering its content, this book becomes an excellent reference. I agree with some of the other reviews that call for multimedia content to complement this book. Highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: the BEST!
Review: For those struggling to learn Arabic letters and pronunciation, this is the best. This book has the best pronunciation guide for Arabic I've read, and I have a good collection of beginner's books. I would also recommend "Easy Steps in Arabic Handwriting" Workbooks 1 and II. If you can't get them here, try your local Islamic bookstore/grocery (about $4.25 each). After these 3 small books, my handwriting in Arabic is better than most educated native speakers. Khan's book on Arabic Scripts is also valuable if you want to learn calligraphy. If only the grammar were this easy....
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: Good book for learning the basics of the arabic script. Took me no time to learn.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Way to Learn Arabic!!
Review: Have you wanted to learn Arabic, but didn't have the time, or the alphabet seemed hard?? Fear not, this book can help you with your goal!! This book gives you some linguistic info on Arabic, and then, you practice the letters, and while you're doing that, you can learn some basic Arabic vocabulary and grammar. Then, at the end, some writing tips and a portion of the Muslim prayer in Arabic script to help you practice your reading. This helped me start to learn the language, you can also use the Eurotalk Arabic Talk Now! software to build more vocabulary, and then move on to Teach Yourself Arabic!! Good Luck on learning Arabic!!
Rating:
Summary: Great beginner's guide
Review: I am attempting to teach myself Arabic, and I must say that this book was an excellent introduction to learning how to read and write Arabic script. Yes, there are some misprints, but nothing that will hold someone back from getting a basic education on understanding scripts. While other introductory books spend about 2 pages on how scripts are written, this one spends a relatively significant amount of time on each letter along with the nearly-unheard practice of including vowels, dipthongs, and other rules of the language that are typically not included in beginner's guide. This is a great first book for anyone beginning to teach themselves Arabic.
Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: I bought this book because I was curious about the language. I learned the alphabet in less than a week. This book is very easy to read and understand. I had no previous knowledge of the language or alphabet. Definitely a must for anyone wanting to learn the arabic alphabet!
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