Rating: 
Summary: Well written,easy to follow
Review: This book is a great introduction to the written Arabic. With a little study I easily learned how to read and recognize some basic Arabic. The structure of the language is fascinating. Highly reccomended for the curious.
Rating: 
Summary: Better for Calligraphy
Review: This book is distinct from Teach Yourself Beginner's Arabic Script (by John Mace) in a number of ways. On the one hand, it clearly shows proper letter formation for those who want their letters to be calligraphic. On the other hand, it presents little or nothing on ordinary Arabic handwriting per se, a negligible vocabulary, and essentially nothing on grammar. My recommendation is that the reader get both books. But, if the budget provides for only one book on Arabic, then Mace's book is probably to be preferred.
Rating:
Summary: The only Arabic alphabet book you will ever need
Review: This book takes about one or two days to finish, but teaches you everything you need to know about the alphabet. It teaches you all the forms of the letters of course; isolated, final, medial, and initial. And don't forget about vowels, they are just as important. At the end of the book it gives you the first chapter of the Holy Koran to read in Arabic (don't worry, its only a few lines) and it gives you the transliteration and translation. This book is informative and fun. 5 stars.
The reason I wanted to learn the Arabic alphabet was to better understand the people of the Middle East. The first way you can understand a person is by learning a little bit of their language. 'As-salamu alaykum.
Rating:
Summary: Beginner's Necessity
Review: This book was very helpful. It very methodically leads the reader through the alphabet, both recognizing and writing, and the initial description of the language is clear and illuminating. Although I learned Russian fluently as a (young) adult, Arabic is proving to be a challenge; it would be much more difficult if I had to rely on inexact transliterations using the Latin alphabet. I recommend it in addition to a full course with audio (Alif Baa is good to train your ear, and Al-Kitaab is well laid out). By itself, as another reviewer noted, it lacks without audio. But the sooner you master the alphabet, the easier to memorize new vocabulary and pronounce new words.
Rating:
Summary: Elegant, and highly recommended.
Review: This book was was what taught me to read and write Arabic phonetically. It really worked, it worked fast, and everyone else I know who's used this book recommends it. If you need to learn the Arabic alphabet, you won't find a cheaper, easier way than with this book.
Rating:
Summary: VERY Good!
Review: This is a very good book on getting you started in the task of learning to read and write Arabic. Of course this isn't the end, you have to use other resources, but a GREAT start!
Rating:
Summary: A SUPER SPRINGBOARD TO SERIOUS SELF-DIRECTED STUDY OF ARABIC
Review: This work has its deficiencies. First, it includes no audio supplement, and thus must rely upon written description alone as a guide to the proper pronunciation of the various Arabic letters. In the case of those Arabic letters that have no equivalent in our alphabet, such description is quite insufficient: audio demonstration is indispensable. Second, the work does contain a small number of what are at best unexplained departures from already-introduced conventions, if not outright oversights or errors. I've found myself asking on occasion, "Why has this word been written in THIS way, when the previously-established practice would suggest that it should be written otherwise?"So, then, why am I inclined to submit a RAVE review of this work? Simply put, each of these deficiencies is curiously mitigated for anyone who is SERIOUS about beginning a self-directed study of Arabic; and, for such a person, this work will likely be the least expensive springboard to such a study. Indeed, it is surely the absence of any audio supplement that accounts for the books low cost; and, since any grammar / vocabulary text that is selected as a sequel will need to be supplemented with some audio material, any residual vagueness on matters of pronounciation is sure to be eliminated sooner rather than later. Moreover, while a book without anomalies / oversights / errors is better in the abstract than one that has them, the presence of such can be used to gauge your own diligence in using the book for self-instruction: if you DON'T notice the "OOPSes," then you haven't been learning as well as you should. Finally, although the work's principal focus is on the writing of Arabic letters, you will (if you use the book well) get a good deal more out of it. You will get a brief introduction to the logic of the language -- but only enough of one to explain why the system of notation includes the variety of marks that it does. Even more, you will also come away with a vocabulary of about 170 expressions. However, in order to do this, you will have to impose your own drills on yourself: the book it not a workbook -- it contains much instruction, much demonstration, but virtually no exercises. In short, if you make proper use of this cheap little "baby book" -- master the alphabet, make some flashcards and acquire the vocabulary -- you'll then have both the ability and the confidence to tackle even the most technical of grammar texts. LAUNCH YOUR COURSE OF STUDY WITH THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Very Good place to start, but don't stop here.
Review: Very good if you just want to spell out Arabic signs, know a "little something" about Arabic (for those with an amateur interest in philology or linguistics), or you just think the script looks cool. Also very good as a companion to "Teach Yourself Arabic Script". I've had to put my study of Arabic on hold (unfortunately, but I'm going back to college for linguistics classes). I used both, and think this one should come first. It has some information on ligatures (I think it was one page) and bare minimal information on handwriting (two pages) and grammar (scattered about). However, it fulfils its goal in very little time and space with some good side information. You learn the alphabet, and most importantly, vowels and other markers (the no-vowel and double-consonant markers). Some other books don't bother with these markers since they are not used in normal print or handwriting. I found that I was able to remember pronunciations of vocabulary much more easily if I could add the vowels. There is also a respectable amount of vocabulary. It is mostly geared towards reading the Koran or newspaper. However, since there is almost no grammar, and therefore no grammatical exercises, one must resort to rote memorization (which I found rather difficult) if one wishes to retain any vocabulary.
So, definitely start with this book. However, don't stop here if you want to know more than the basic script. "Teach Yourself Arabic Script" has more information on handwriting forms (some are a bit different), ligatures (common in handwriting), and enough basic grammar to make sense of signs and newspaper headlines.
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: Very good if you just want to spell out Arabic signs, know a "little something" about Arabic (for those with an amateur interest in philology or linguistics), or you just think the script looks cool. Also very good as a companion to "Teach Yourself Arabic Script". I'm using the two books together, and think this one should come first. It has some information on ligatures and bare minimal information on handwriting or grammar. However, it fufils its goal in very little time and space with some good side information.
Rating:
Summary: Great Starter Book
Review: What a great little book. I am totally new to the Arabic language aside from knowing a few words here and there (only how to say them, not read or write them). I cannot afford to take classes right now so I decided to at least attempt to learn the alphabet on my own. Into my first few hours of study I was able to write down the phonetic spelling of the first few simple words and write them in Arabic without looking up the letters until after I was done. I mean -very- simple four or five letter words (without dipthongs or too many vowel marks) but I was very impressed considering I had no prior knowledge of the language. Now mind you, this is not an instant arabic book by any means.. and the script and rules of the language are detailed and oftentimes a little confusing. You will have to read it and re-read it and practice and memorize. But I think that this book puts it in straightforward, easy to understand terms that will help get you well on your way to further study. I'm glad I bought it. The text is large and the book is detailed enough without being too overwhelming. The explanations of how the language works and the patterns within it are very helpful. It has made some sense out of things that were, well, completely foreign to me. ;) The only unfortunate things I can see is that, as another reviewer said, there is no accompanying tape. It would be nice to hear the sounds of the letters and the simple words and phrases they have included in the text. Especially since my High School Spanish seems to be getting in the way of my voicing the proper vowel sounds in Arabic. One can get a general idea though if one has a good vocabulary tape to work with. Also, I've noticed that in their examples of certain letters written -by themselves-, sometimes dots or loops are placed in a certain way. -Then- when you see the same letter used -in- one of the simple end-of-chapter words, it's just EVER so slightly different. It's not too terribly confusing and it's probably just a printing/font issue but it's worth noting. Other than that I'm having a great time practicing my script and memorizing the characters and I can't wait to move forward.
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