Learning to speak Arabic: where to start

Arabic is spoken by hundreds of millions of people across many countries, and more and more people want to learn it for work, family, travel or faith. But it can be hard to know where to start: a new alphabet, new sounds, and the question everyone asks first.

Standard Arabic or a dialect?

Arabic has a standard form (Modern Standard Arabic, used in the news, books and formal settings) and spoken dialects that change from country to country. Which one to start with depends on your goal:

• For work, study, reading and formal writing, Standard Arabic gives you a strong base.
• If you want to live or work in a particular country, or chat with people there, you'll also want that region's spoken Arabic.

What matters most is that your lessons are built around your goal.

The alphabet is less scary than it looks

The Arabic alphabet has 28 letters and is written right to left. Most learners can read simple words within a few weeks. Don't let the script hold you back from speaking: you can start with spoken phrases on day one.

Starting to speak

• Learn greetings and introductions. Greetings in Arabic culture are long and warm, and knowing them makes first conversations much easier.
• Practise the sounds out loud. Some sounds from the throat feel strange at first, but they settle with regular repetition.
• Practise little and often. A few sentences every day beat one long session a week.

Arabic at Bean

Arabic lessons at Bean are one-to-one and focused on speaking. Your teacher plans lessons around your goal, with no fixed coursebook.

At Bean you start by having a 30-minute lesson with two different teachers, then choose the one you feel most comfortable with. This first step is 150 TL; it is credited to your first invoice if you continue, and refunded if you're not happy. Lessons are live and one-to-one on Google Meet, can be 30, 45 or 60 minutes, and each month you only pay for the lessons you've had.

Meet our Arabic teachers or try the free speaking test first.