READING:

Focus on these:

• 1.) Review of all letters of alphabet (maximum 1 hour)

  • When reviewing, do them in isolation as well as how they are in the beginning, middle, and end in terms of connections.

• 2.) First lesson of 0B, part 2 (1 hour)

  • Basic three-letter fathah only past tense (eg: ضرب - فتح etc)

    • كتب

    • خلق

    • نصر

    • فتح

    • ضرب

    • جعل

    • رزق

    • سأل

    • ذهب

    • قتل

• The above are additional verbs just to practice reading. They are simple Quranic verbs and ONLY thoe with fathah are included to keep it easy.

  • Meanings for these are helpful but NOT required to learn. Focus is on reading them, NOT meaning.

• Just start off with these. Basic only. 

• NOT focusing on conjugations. Only هو form. Just practice reading them. And ONLY on past-tense. And ONLY fathah-only.

Writing:

• Write out the same verbs as above

• Categories the verbs below as such:

  • Those who connect on both sides

  • Those that do not connect on the left side.

  The Ten Verbs

  1. كَتَبَ (kataba) — "he wrote"

  Start on the right with ك (kaf) — draw a shape like a backwards capital L with a little squiggle inside. Connect to ت (ta) — a small bowl with two dots on top. Connect to ب (ba) — a small bowl with one dot underneath. Add a fatha above each letter.

  Memory tip: The verb for "writing" is one of the first verbs every Arabic student learns!

  2. خَلَقَ (khalaqa) — "he created"

  Start with خ (kha) — like a teardrop or curl with one dot on top. Connect to ل (lam) — a tall vertical line that curves at the bottom, like a candy cane. Connect to ق (qaf) — a deep bowl that dips below the line, with two dots on top.

  Watch out: The ق drops below the writing line — give it room!

  3. نَصَرَ (nasara) — "he helped"

  Start with ن (nun) — a deep round bowl with one dot on top. Connect to ص (sad) — an oval shape followed by a little tooth. Then ر (ra) — a curve that swoops below the line.

  Important: ص connects forward, but ر is one of those "loner" letters — nothing connects after it.

  4. فَتَحَ (fataha) — "he opened"

  Start with ف (fa) — a small loop with one dot on top. Connect to ت (ta) — small bowl with two dots on top. Connect to ح(ha) — looks like a little curve or a smile, no dots.

  5. ضَرَبَ (daraba) — "he struck / set forth"

  Start with ض (dad) — an oval with a little tooth, with one dot on top. Then ر (ra) — that swooping curve below the line. Then ب (ba) — a bowl with one dot underneath.

  Remember: After ر, you lift your pen! Start ب fresh because ر doesn't connect forward.

  6. جَعَلَ (ja'ala) — "he made / placed"

  Start with ج (jim) — a curve with one dot inside or below. Connect to ع (ayn) — a special letter shaped like a little eye or curl. Connect to ل (lam) — that tall candy-cane shape.

  Fun fact: ع is one of Arabic's most special sounds — it doesn't exist in English!

  7. رَزَقَ (razaqa) — "he provided"

  Start with ر (ra) — the swooping curve. Lift your pen! Now start ز (zay) fresh — same swoop, but with one dot on top. Lift your pen again! Start ق (qaf) — that deep bowl with two dots on top.

  This one is tricky! Both ر and ز are "loners" — you have to lift your pen between every letter. The word looks like three separate pieces.

  8. سَأَلَ (sa'ala) — "he asked"

  Start with س (sin) — three little teeth followed by a bowl. On top of the next letter, you'll see ء (hamza) — a small symbol that looks like a tiny "2." Then ل (lam) — the candy-cane shape.

  Note: The hamza is a special Arabic mark that represents a quick catch in your throat — like the sound between "uh-oh."

  9. ذَهَبَ (dhahaba) — "he went / took away"

  Start with ذ (dhal) — a shape like a check mark with one dot on top. Lift your pen! Start ه (ha) — a small round shape. Connect to ب (ba) — bowl with one dot underneath.

  Watch out: ذ is another "loner" — no connecting after it!

  10. قَتَلَ (qatala) — "he killed"

  Start with ق (qaf) — deep bowl with two dots on top. Connect to ت (ta) — small bowl with two dots on top. Connect to ل(lam) — candy-cane shape.

Vocab:

• Change vocab list to the list of verbs given above

Thus far, you’ve focused primarily on letters, their pronounciation, connections, as well as various markings and lengthening through vowels. The emphasis going forward will be on words. We will start with simple words and then expand to longer words. Simple words are normally three letters, given most Arabic words have a three-letter root.

In this lesson, we will practice reading words with past-tense verbs that are in singular masculine form, given these are quite basic. The first letter will always be fathah, and the last letter will always be fathah. The middle letter can be a fathah (as we will cover in Lesson 1), or a kasrah (which we will be practiced in Lesson 2).

Past tense Verbs with 3 Fathah in the middle (add more verbs to practice reading, preferably from 1A). note to students that they don’t need to learn the vocabulary, make meaning light gray

Read many verbs with fatha in middle root to practice basic word reading. selective ones highlight meaning.

One of the most exciting parts of learning Arabic are learning the patterns. These patterns will be studied extensively thoughout the Fawakih journey, and assist in learning vocabulary and unlocking meanings from various combination of letters. Whereas you have focused thus far in your journey on letters, we will be focusing more on combining letters and forming words going forward.

The first pattern we want to introduce you to is the doer pattern. It is a simple pattern which you may have come across before, and you also probably know someone named after one of these patterns (for example, “Khalid”, “Sajid,” “Shakir,” among others)! Can you think of other names that follow this pattern?

In this pattern, you add an alif after the first of the three letters of a root word. This makes the first letter slightly long, as it is a madd (elongation). Read the words below and try to formulate them with other root combinations.

We will be covering the Names of Allah more fully in a future lesson, but here are some examples of the Names of Allah that follow the doer pattern. Please use these to practice your reading! You do not need to memorize this vocabulary, but they are helpful to familiarize yourself with these Names and notice them when you are reading the Quran.