These letters come in pairs that share a shape. Dal bends like an elbow and says d. Thal has the same shape with one dot on top. It says th, like in this.
رra: no dotزzay: 1 dot on top
Ra and zay
Ra slides down below the line. It says r. Zay has the same shape with one dot on top. It says z, like in zoo.
سseen: no dotsشsheen: 3 dots on top
Seen and sheen
Seen has three little teeth. It says s, like in sun. Sheen has the same teeth with three dots on top. It says sh, like in ship.
سseen: light sصsaad: heavy sضdaad: 1 dot on top
Saad and daad
Saad has a round loop. It is a heavy s, said with a big round mouth. Seen is the light s. Daad looks like saad with one dot on top. It is a heavy d.
شَمْس
Sheen in a word
The word shams means sun. Arabic starts on the right, so sheen comes first. Look for its three dots on top.
1دdal
2ذthal
3رra
4زzay
5سseen
6شsheen
7صsaad
8ضdaad
Plain letter first
The order is dal, thal, ra, zay. Then come seen, sheen, saad, daad. In each pair, the letter without dots comes first.
For parents
Goal: Your child learns eight letters, dal to daad, as four pairs that share a shape.
Each pair has one letter with no dots and one with dots. Ask your child: does it have a dot? How many?
Seen and sheen both have three small teeth. Sheen also has three dots on top and says sh, like in ship.
Saad and seen both say s. Saad is the heavy one, said with a round mouth. Let your child say both and hear the difference.
Away from the screen: Draw seen on a piece of paper. Let your child add three dots on top with stickers or cereal pieces to turn it into sheen.