
In general, each Arabic letter has four forms, each used for a specific position of the letter in a given word. One of the more challenging elements of learning the Arabic alphabet is that the form of individual letters may need to change, according to their specific placement in a word. This is because there are many similarities between Arabic and English letter forms. And while there are some different styles to the formation of some of those letters, overall the styling is consistent.Īrabic writing may seem daunting at first, but getting a firm handle on Arabic letters is actually fairly straightforward. The Arabic alphabet consists of 28 letters, all of which are consonants. It compares your voice to that of native and non-native speakers, providing feedback and helping you improve your ability to speak and understand Arabic. Also, because pronunciation can be one of the trickier aspects of learning Arabic for beginners, a patented speech recognition engine called TruAccent is incorporated into every Arabic lesson. Rosetta Stone focuses on teaching Modern Standard Arabic, used as the official written and spoken language in over 25 countries. That's why it's crucial to learn phrases in context rather than relying on strict rules to decipher sentence order. Word order also isn't as essential in Arabic as it is in other languages, but it's important to note that it's a VSO language in which often the verb (or a nominal element) precedes the subject or object in a sentence. Today, it's much more likely to be used as part of an outline or list as a kind of shorthand.īeyond individual letters and numbers, Arabic grammar has a couple of perplexing quirks, like the dropping of vowels entirely from words, that may leave you puzzled. Before the numerals of the modern standard version of Arabic were developed in the 19th century, abjad was used to represent numerals. That said, with so many different dialects and varieties of spoken Arabic, it can be difficult to know where to start.īefore beginning to communicate in Arabic, you'll need to learn some of the nuances of Classical Arabic like the abjad, a system where the different letters, specifically consonants, represent numbers. Rosetta Stone is here to dispel that myth and reassure you that with the right approach and a quality language learning program, you can build your confidence and begin speaking Arabic, from day one.īecause of Arabic's wide use across the Middle East and throughout many other nations, learning to speak the language can be especially helpful for those who work in government, business, or those who want to travel with a feeling of confidence.

So, while Modern Standard Arabic is in high demand, you may have hesitated to learn it because it has a serious reputation for being inaccessible to foreigners.

Arabic is often seen as particularly challenging. Often languages that are thought of as difficult are just misunderstood by natives of western languages.
