Learn Arabic
Arabic, with a hook on every word.
Right to left, and short vowels are unwritten, so the transliteration line is not optional for a beginner.
بيت
bayt
house, home
sounds like bait
A house built entirely out of fishing BAIT, and the smell reaches the next street. Bayt.
Sample hooks
What the first words look like
بيت
bayt
house, home
sounds like bait
A house built entirely out of fishing BAIT, and the smell reaches the next street. Bayt.
كتاب
kitab
book
sounds like kit tab
A book that arrives as a flat-pack KIT with a TAB you pull to open it. Kitab.
ماء
ma
water
sounds like maa
A goat says MAA and water pours out instead of a bleat. Ma is water.
كلب
kalb
dog
sounds like kelp
A dog wrapped head to tail in wet KELP, shaking it off over everyone. Kalb.
شمس
shams
sun
sounds like shams
The sun turns out to be a SHAM, a painted disc someone hung up, and everyone squints anyway. Shams.
قلب
qalb
heart
sounds like culp
A heart that beats out the word CULP, guilty, every time you lie. Qalb.
مدرسة
madrasa
school
sounds like madras
A school where every lesson is taught in a MADRAS curry house, chalk dust in the naan. Madrasa.
سوق
suq
market
sounds like sook
A market where every trader tries to SOOK you in with the same three words. Suq.
يد
yad
hand
sounds like yad
A hand that measures everything in YARDS, thumb to fingertip. Yad.
A story in Arabic
What you will be reading first.
باب المكتبةA1
Tap an underlined word. In the app the same tap also tells you whether that word is already in your collection and when it is next due.
Arabic, specifically
Does the app really run right to left?
Yes. Words, example sentences and the whole story reader run right to left, and the transliteration line is always there because short vowels are unwritten and a beginner cannot do without it.
How many words are loaded for Arabic?
110 to start, chosen by frequency, each with a gloss, a part of speech, an example sentence and a hook. You can import your own list on top at any point.
Is the audio real Arabic?
The audio uses the voices installed on your own device, picked for Arabic and set per sentence. On a modern phone that is good. On some desktops it is only adequate, and recorded native audio is the next content investment.
Start Arabic tonight
Thirty days free, no card. When the trial ends the account drops to the free limits and nothing is deleted.