Notes from the house.
Short pieces from our mentors on language, scripture and the habits that make study stick.
Why we teach the alphabet slowly
Most beginners' courses rush the letters in a fortnight. We take six weeks, and the students who stay with us read more confidently a year later. Here is the reasoning.
Read the pieceMore from our mentors
Reading without vowels, sooner than you think
The moment unvowelled text stops being frightening, and the three habits that get you there.
ReadWhat tajwīd is actually for
Not decoration, and not difficulty for its own sake — a short defence of careful recitation.
ReadThe poems our grandparents knew by heart
A season of memorised verse, and why we still open every cultural series with poetry.
ReadVolunteering as a mentor: an honest account
What the first term is really like, from someone who nearly gave up in week three.
ReadFive verbs that unlock everyday speech
Learn these before you learn the grammar that explains them. Yes, really.
ReadA year in the children's programme
Forty children, one Saturday morning room, and what we changed after the first term.
ReadWould you like to write for us?
Mentors and students both write here. If you have something to say about learning Arabic, we would like to read it.