Learn about some tricky letters in the Arabic language
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| Simon: Hello, and welcome to the Pronunciation Series at ArabicPod101.com, where we studyArabic in a fun, educational format! |
| Hala: So, brush up on the Arabic that you started learning long ago, or start learning today. |
| Simon: Thanks for being here with us for this lesson. Hala, what are we looking at in this lesson? |
| Hala: Today we will be talking about some tricky letters, but hopefully after this we’re done… |
| Simon: Nothing is going to be tricky anymore! |
| Hala: But before we start, Simon, can you please summarize what we have done in the first two lessons? |
| Simon: For sure, we covered the four dark letters, and the four letters that resemble them in a softer tone! |
| Hala: Which were “sa, ṣa”, “da, ḍ”, “ta, ṭa”, and finally “za, ẓa” |
| Simon: Hala, I see you’re improving! |
| Hala: ( laughing ), thank you Simon, that’s very kind of you! |
| Simon: Now moving to today’s lesson, which letters are we going to cover ? |
| Hala: That would be “ʾlif” , “ḥ”, “ʿ” and “ha” |
| Simon: I don’t see what exactly do you mean when you say they are tricky! |
| Hala: The sounds produced are similar to each other, with small differences. |
| Simon: And now you’re kidding, come on, I didn’t hear one bit of similarity in all of them! |
| Hala: That’s because I was saying the names of the letters, lets try now with the sound of each one, which are “ʾa”, “ḥa” , “ʿa” and “ha” |
| Simon: Ok, you proved your point, but can you give it to us in words? |
| Hala: “ʾalam”, “ḥalam”, “ʿalam” and “halum” |
| Simon: And these are all real words? |
| Hala: Lucky for us, yes! |
| Simon: Ok, lets take them two by two |
| Hala: The first 2 are “ʾalam” and “ʿalam, as you can see, the first one is more like ( a ) as in ( apple ), the second one is a different sound, it comes from the throat, you actually feel your cords moving when you pronounce this one. |
| Simon: Is there any easy way to be able to do it? |
| Hala: Well, sorry about this guys, I know its not a very friendly image, but I’m afraid it’s the only one to make it closer! |
| Simon: I’m ready! And I’m sure our listeners are too! |
| Hala: Well, think of the sound you make when you’re about to vomit (ʿʿʿ), and that’s the one we’re looking for! |
| Simon: Well, at least I know I wont confuse it from now on with the “ʾ “ of ( apple). |
| Hala: Another two words in which to see the difference are “ʿibar” and “ʾibar”. |
| Simon: “ʿibar” and “ʾibar” |
| Hala: Yes, but try to pronounce the second as we explained, “ʿibar” and “ʾibar.” |
| Simon: “ʿibar” and “ʾibar.” |
| Hala: Much better! |
| Simon: Ok, I’m starting it get the hang of it, how about another one before we move to the second set of letters? |
| Hala: Hmmm, let me think… Okay “saʿal” and “saʾal.” |
| Simon: “saʿal” and “saʾal.” |
| Hala: Great job Simon, Ok moving on, we have “ḥa” and “ha.” |
| Simon: The difference is not very clear to me I’m afraid. |
| Hala: “ḥa”, “ha”, let me put it in words to make it more clear “ḥallh”, “hallh.” |
| Simon: What’s the trick to get this one correct? |
| Hala: Well, we have the “ha” which is the same as the “H” in English, so that’s easy, as for the “ḥ”, its called in Arabic a hollow letter, because of the way we pronounce it, think of it as a “chilly” letter, it’s the exact sound ( making the sound ). |
| Simon: That makes it more clear, so lets test it, more words please! |
| Hala: “hama” and “ḥama” |
| Simon: “hama” and “ḥama” |
| Hala: niiiiiice, ok, please try repeating these 2 words “ḥammām”, “hammām” |
| Simon: Please repeat it slowly again. |
| Hala: “ḥammām”, “hammām” |
| Simon: Now its my turn, “ḥammām”, “hammām” |
| Hala: Wonderful Simon, the thing you have to remember is, by mixing up the sounds, its not a matter of making the word sound strange but understandable, you will actually end up with a complete different word! |
| Simon: Will pay attention to that for sure from now on! |
| Hala: That just about does it for today. |
| Simon: Premium members, use the review track to perfect your pronunciation. |
| Hala: Available in the premium section of the website, |
| Simon: the learning center |
| Hala: and through iTunes via the premium feed, |
| Simon: the Review Track gives you vocabulary and phrases followed by a short pause so you can repeat the words aloud. |
| Hala: The best way to get good fast! |
| Simon: Bye! |
Comments
HideHi Aishah,
عفوا!
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
Shukran!
Hi Jano 20,
Thank you very much!
Feel free to leave comments to ask questions or to practice with us!
Keep up the good work! :sunglasses::thumbsup:
Ofelia
Team ArabicPod101.com
Marhaban Nora!
Thank you! I've registrated to all of the 10 websites I :heart: them!!! The lessons are easy to learn the videos are cool and usually fun to watch. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
واو جون
That's a lot of languages! Be sure to check out lessons for other languages we provide, and good luck!
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
مرحبا! اسمي جون. انا من مجرستان. تشرفت بمعرفتك. ادرس الإنجليزية, اللغة العربية, البلغارية, الكانتونية, التشيكية, الدانماركية, الهولندية, الفلبينية, الفنلندية, الفرنسية, ألمانية, العبرية, الهندية, الإيطالية, الكورية, النرويجية, الفارسية, البولندية, الروسية, السواحلية, السويدية, التايلاندية, التركية, الفيتنامية, البرتغالية, اليابانية, الصينية, الأسبانية, الإندونيسية, اليونانية, و الكرواتية. أنا أحب تعلم اللغات. :smile:
Wish me luck with 'em!
جون
:thumbsup:
! مرحبا، نورة
Shukran jazilan for your comment! I'll stay tuned!!! NO way I won't! :wink:
:innocent:
:smile:
:sunglasses:
:thumbsup:
جون
Hi Aleksandra,
Thanks for your kind words :) Also remember that in Arabic, girls can always get away with not pronouncing all the hard letters clearly :innocent::thumbsup:
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
Hi John,
Yeah! So stay tuned :smile:
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
You are the best! Halla, you are very kind, I like you :-) Thank you so much for the standard arabic and also for other podcasts about the egyptian arabic. I was listening to them with pleasure.
For me, having a word with the hard letter in the middle or two hard letters in one word is the hardest to pronounce. Also, we should not stress the hard letters. Cannot imagine pronouncing the whole sentence fluently.
However, fluency comes with training and 99% of the genius is his perspiration ;)
Hi, Nora!
I'M GOONA BE FAMOUS!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye::smile:
جون
مرحباً جون
We're using the name جون for one of the characters in the Beginner S1 lessons 16-25! You're going to be famous :smile:! We will release it in a couple of weeks so stay tuned!
Thank you for your constant support!
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
! مرحبا، نورة
Shukran jazilan for your comment! I didn't know I wrote your name correctly! :sweat_smile:
جون
Hi Jano!
That's awesome! I should be recommending this method to more people then!!
Thank you so much for your feedback! :grin::innocent: It's been a while since I saw my name written in Arabic :sweat_smile: Impressed that you got it right!
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
MANY MANY MANY MANY MANYMANY THANKS! I worked my way to the ح , and I DID IT!!!:smile::smile::smile::smile::smile::smile::smile::smile::smile::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
THX A LOT!
جون
عفوا
I wrote "defniitely" instead of "definitely".
Sorry again!
جون
! مرحبا، نورة
Shukran for the comment! I'll defniititely try it!:smile:
Thanks for the advice!
جون
Hi Jano,
I know what you mean. It might be challenging to pronounce the ح at first. Try to start with an "h" sound and work your way to the ح :D. It's as if you ate something chilli and want to cool your throat. Try it :D
Good luck!
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
Marhaban, team ArabicPod101.com!
I love this series, but I can't pronounce the letter ح correctly :sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob:!
Will native-speakers understand me if I prononce ح differently than ه , but not the VERY correct way???????????? :grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin::grin: