What is Arabic?

Arabic is a language that people use to talk and write, just like how you might use English at school or home.

Imagine you have a big box of toys, each toy has its own name in Arabic. For example, the word for "cat" in Arabic is كَتَّاب, which sounds like "kattab." So when you see a cat, instead of saying “cat,” you might say “كَتَّاب.”

Arabic has letters that look different from English letters. Think of them like puzzle pieces, each piece makes a sound. When you put the pieces together in certain ways, they form words, and words make sentences.

For example:

• The letter ب (bāʾ) sounds like "b."
• The letter ا (alif) sounds like "a."
• Together, بَيْت means “house”, just like how you might say “house” when you go home after school.

Arabic is written from right to left, like how you might write on a piece of paper with your right hand. So if you’re writing the word for “dog,” which is كَلْب, you start at the right side and move to the left, just like you count numbers from 1 to 10!