ummm...what?!

I've been off and on studying the arabic alphabet for about a year. You really can't off and on study ANYTHING well for a year especially the arabic alphabet. So, really, what I've been doing is going over and over the basics trying to gain a basic understanding of word structure and letter formation and the shapes of the letters. There are 29 letters in the Arabic alphabet, and for 8 of them there is no sound in the English language that is even equivalent to the sound that this letter makes. That baffles me... and kind of discourages this beginner.

The other thing that makes learning the alphabet seem insurmountable is that the letter changes depending on it's location. Like, if it is at the end of a word it looks different than if it is in the middle or at the beginning, so you have to be able to recognize the basic structure of the letter before you can even begin trying to connect it to another letter to form a word. My previous language learning experience has not proved to be of any value yet because I've always had some kind of framework for understanding 'Oh, that's like this thing is in English.' Not so with Arabic. But, I'm eager to start learning Kurdish and hope that at least being able to recognize letters when I get there - even if I have no idea what word it is forming, will help me adjust more smoothly.

Did I mention that you read and write right to left? I will certainly count it a miracle and mercy of God if I can master the alphabet before we leave for Iraq - that is my goal anyway. I'll let you know how it's going, don't expect me to write you letter in Arabic or anything, but I might be able to write the alphabet for you!