Help needed with Phonics (Attention Teachers)!

[Globalpeace]

Asslamo Allaikum,

I am not a trained teacher but have been around and teaching in Islamic Schools (Islamic subjects) for a number of years; but have hit a problem with my own daughter (3 ½).

We have taught her A,B,C,D while the school curriculum teaches Aa, Baa, Kaa etc… I teach older kids so during teaching don’t have a problem as older kids also spell with A, B, C, D; actually most of my work is practical i.e. Salah, Wudhu etc.

I am familiar with the practise because Arabic is sort of taught in Phonics (Alif, Baa, Taa) since time immemorial.

Problem is that both of us (me & the Mrs) were taught A, B, C, D and not synthetic phonics. Can someone please recommend some resources that we can use to first learn the stuff ourselves and then have a 3 ½ year old unlearn and then relearn the alphabets?

How do you guys rate http://www.syntheticphonics.com/ ? or any other sites/resources?

I will be asking the same question from other teachers as well locally. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Globalpeace]

Asslamo Allaikum,

I thought we were the only couple with this problem...Asking around a lot of other people do as well (Amazing)...

Admins please free to move the dicsussion into a different room if its inappropriate here

 

[alhamdulillah]

Bismillah,

Wa'alaikum'Assalam wa'Rahmatullahi wa'Barakatuh

All praise is due to Allah ALONE!

Dear member, i would personally recommend the 'JOLLY PHONICS' series. They are the best books (for phonics) in the market (if you wish to go by books). Teachers tend to use them and even parents enjoy working through them with their children.

try it on the net click link:
http://www.jollylearning.co.uk/

JOLLY has an audio section also, your daughter might enjoy that, Allahu A'lam.

see this also:
http://www.phonicsontheweb.com/

The link you sent seems ok, however; i'd go with 'JOLLY PHONICS' as my first choice. It may also be worth popping into a bookstore i.e. WHSmith, Waterstones, Ottakars etc; and browse through the 'Teacher's resource' section.

I pray this helps Insha'Allah.

Your thread is fine here, no need to move it anywhere Bi'idhnillah.

I leave you in Allah's Care

Wasalam

 

[Globalpeace]

Asslamo Allaikum,

Jazakullah Khairun

P.S: There are lots of people (Muslim & Non-Muslim) who I have spoken to have similar problems & everyone tells me to ignore her & she will be fine at School and I have thanked them for their advice (but won't practise it) because I intend to get this right.

 

[alhamdulillah]

Bismillah,

Wa'alaikum'Assalam

wa Barak'Allahu Fik.

For sure, we should appreciate peoples advice...but dear member, children may go to school alright; we must remember that the 'Primary Education' comes from the parents - Subhan'Allah!

My due respect to all those who adviced, but i think 'ignoring' this subject is not the best thing.

My advice to you would be to start of with some decent flash cards - Besides JOLLY, you can get other brilliant brands Masha'Allah (try popping into Early Learning Center). This can serve as a simple game you can play with your little one (and its fun too - mithaal yani/for example - when your daughter makes the 'ssss' sound for the letter 'S', be enthusiastic lol - 'S' for Snake, 'sssss...') ... children love expressions Masha'Allah. :muslim_child:

So yes, children will pick up a lot from nursery/school no doubt Insha'Allah, but by having a little session with your child will create an interest in her. And when children express things like 'i like this game' or 'can we play that game again' ... this clearly shows that they took interest in what was being taught (through the game) and Allah knows best!

You can also build a conversation (randomly) with the child ... e.g. when you are sitting in the living room ... point at the furnitures for example and say to your daughter 'Can you tell me what this is?' if she replies 'Sofa' ... welldone! Furthermore, ask her if she could make the 'ssss...' sound ... this would be a good practice for Phonics too, Bi'idhnillah ... and you can even ask her things whilst your in the supermarket, etc.

You might be thinking, yes but we first need to get the PHONICS into place, lol ... try the flash cards...see if they work...main thing however is, keep patience Insha'Allah, it will bring about a great virtue Bi'idhnillah

May Allah assist us all and make things easy for us Ameen.

May Allah forgive me if ive said/adviced anything wrong, all Praise is due to Allah ALONE!

Wasalam

 

[Karima]

Asalamualikum,

I have been studying Arabic, with my 'mother' language as English. I have had the most difficult time with 'th's' 'dth's', etc. Do the actual sound of the letters have something to do with how they are expressed in a word?

I have been doing this for a month...have the Arabic Alphabet mastered, but have difficulty writing an Arabic word properly, because of the various ways the 't's are spoken....a lot of 'tha' 'thoo' 'thu'....zthu', etc.

When 'vowels' are common in English, this is part of the actual sound of the letter, and not a separate letter used in Arabic. What is a good way for me to write Arabic correctly, when I still have a hard time telling the difference in the th's zth's dths'...etc.

I have to 'see' the Arabic spoken, to understand how I am to write the word. Sometimes, this is even a huge challenge. Are there any suggestions?

Salam

 

[Globalpeace]

Asslamo Allaikum Sister,

Are these confusing you?

ت ط
ذ ظ ض
The sound has to do with how they are spelled...I would like to suggest something to you.

1) Learn to read the Qur'aan with Tajweed (pronounciation) first and the letters will clear themselves

2) Then learn to copy some words while reading from the qur'aan

3) Writing will become easy for you.

4) Speaking and comprehension can never be gathered without actually hearing people speak & when you visit Middle-East, you realise that people have accents (just like English) so you have to be aware of it.

Steps 1,2 & then 3 should help you Insha'Allah.

Asalamualikum,

I have been studying Arabic, with my 'mother' language as English. I have had the most difficult time with 'th's' 'dth's', etc. Do the actual sound of the letters have something to do with how they are expressed in a word?

I have been doing this for a month...have the Arabic Alphabet mastered, but have difficulty writing an Arabic word properly, because of the various ways the 't's are spoken....a lot of 'tha' 'thoo' 'thu'....zthu', etc.

When 'vowels' are common in English, this is part of the actual sound of the letter, and not a separate letter used in Arabic. What is a good way for me to write Arabic correctly, when I still have a hard time telling the difference in the th's zth's dths'...etc.

I have to 'see' the Arabic spoken, to understand how I am to write the word. Sometimes, this is even a huge challenge. Are there any suggestions?

Salam

 

[Karima]

Walykumsalam,

Learn to read the Qur'aan with Tajweed (pronounciation) first and the letters will clear themselves

For sure, I know when I read out loud, and then hear my Arabic teacher read the same thing, I sound like a clown. Sorry, to make this comparison, but I cannot help but laugh at my horrible pronounciations....when I hear it so beautifully spoken from an Arabic.

It is really important for me to hear it from someone, or I will not go far, in this, alone. Allah has helped me get the first steps of this thousand mile journey, of learning Arabic.

You were right on track with the ت ط
ذ ظ ض! Alhamdulillah for your understanding!

There are others which are more silent, that I have 'guessed' in writing correctly, but do not have it down pat, yet....the Ayn, Ghayn, ones....(I cannot find the font for this as you can do).

Also, not only in learning the Alphabet in Arabic, but my next and continuing challenge will be in the words and their meaning. For the time, I want to master the Alphabet, so I can take the steps to read the Qur'an.

I have so much to internalize, just in basic words as 'door' 'dad' etc.

It is a nice feeling to see an Arabic word, and be able to 'somewhat' pronounce it....however, not having a clue to what I just said.

Alhamdulillah for enjoying this challenge. If this was not for a good reason to learn, I would quit....but I feel a hunger in learning this.

Salam

 

[Globalpeace]

Keep on Truckin!

Asslamo Allaikum Sister,

Learning any new language can be hard…Try French if your mother tongue is English & try to pronounce the “Ja” sound particularly when it is pronounced differently in South & North of France (Da!)

Don’t worry about sounding like a clown because I have been trying to learn English all my life & I not only sound but also write like a clown.

The important things is to “Keep on Truckin!” You will get better Insha’Allah its just a matter of time. I recommend trying to read “Tajweed” before trying to write as you will a tremendous improvement in writing once you have got the reading covered.

I ask many Brothers/Sisters to also practise Tajweed with a tape and I recommend Shaykh Hudaifi at http://quran.mangga.com/quran_mp3_hudhaifi.html

The reason I recommend Shaykh Hudaifi rather then Shaykh Shuraim or Shaykh Sudais is because the former reads slower & you can follow it with him.

The 2 popular Imam of Haram i.e. Shaykh Shuraim or Shaykh Sudais can be hard for a beginner to follow.

Try the above MP3’s Insha’allah.

Walykumsalam,



For sure, I know when I read out loud, and then hear my Arabic teacher read the same thing, I sound like a clown. Sorry, to make this comparison, but I cannot help but laugh at my horrible pronounciations....when I hear it so beautifully spoken from an Arabic.

It is really important for me to hear it from someone, or I will not go far, in this, alone. Allah has helped me get the first steps of this thousand mile journey, of learning Arabic.

You were right on track with the ت ط
ذ ظ ض! Alhamdulillah for your understanding!

There are others which are more silent, that I have 'guessed' in writing correctly, but do not have it down pat, yet....the Ayn, Ghayn, ones....(I cannot find the font for this as you can do).

Also, not only in learning the Alphabet in Arabic, but my next and continuing challenge will be in the words and their meaning. For the time, I want to master the Alphabet, so I can take the steps to read the Qur'an.

I have so much to internalize, just in basic words as 'door' 'dad' etc.

It is a nice feeling to see an Arabic word, and be able to 'somewhat' pronounce it....however, not having a clue to what I just said.

Alhamdulillah for enjoying this challenge. If this was not for a good reason to learn, I would quit....but I feel a hunger in learning this.

Salam

 

[seekingtruth2]

asalaamu alaikom waramatullahe,
hey about this reading writing and speaking arabic thing...... Im curious.... why when a word is spelled alhumdullilah is it pronounced humdulah? I have found this same phenomenon in many words and this is what Im having a hard time with..... I am learning to speak arabic but the speaking of it and the reading and writing of it seems to be in 2 seperate languages!!!! can anybody tell me why???? my husband just says its because arabic is his language and that the same is true for english also but Im not so sure...... can anybody tell me if what he is saying is correct????? Keeping in mind of course we are americans (not the UK, not sure ya'll actually speak english... lol.... sorry had to throw in some humor!!!! no offence please!)

 

[Globalpeace]

Hey Watch It!

Asslamo Allaikum,

The language is actually called "English" thats because it originated & spoken correctly in "England"....Do you see the similarities...

 

[Globalpeace]

Who's the Boss of the House?

Asslamo Allaikum Sister,

There are broadly 2 kinds of Arabic:

1) Modern Standard Arabic: Accents and usage of the words are different depending on where its spoken, similar to English spoken in England (the original, the best, the purest I must add) to something sounding like English spoken in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. In the modern times there have been attempts to standardise at least written modern Arabic and its called “Modern Standard Arabic”, you hear it on most News channels (Al-Jazeera, MBC & others) and you can read it in most Arabic language newspapers; however spoken Arabic remains divergent and people speak with accents etc.

2) Classical “Fussha” Arabic: This is the classic purer form of Arabic which closely resembles (almost same) as the language of the Qur’aan & the Hadeeth. Most people interested in Islam actually learn “Fussha” Arabic but if you ever visit a country where Arabic is spoken & try to speak it (like Egypt with the utmost respect) you will be shocked.

You may want to ask your husband to speak to you in “Fussha” & then the confusion will go away OR you can learn “Modern Standard Arabic” & then you will understand the media & so on.

To understand Accents I am afraid you will have to go to the specific country and listen and get familiar with the sounds.

By the way, to pronounce “Alhum do lillah” as “Humdo-lillah” is neither slang nor classical; its just laz_ _ _ _ _ .

Sound like you need to put your foot down in your house Sister and get him straight!

asalaamu alaikom waramatullahe,
hey about this reading writing and speaking arabic thing...... Im curious.... why when a word is spelled alhumdullilah is it pronounced humdulah? I have found this same phenomenon in many words and this is what Im having a hard time with..... I am learning to speak arabic but the speaking of it and the reading and writing of it seems to be in 2 seperate languages!!!! can anybody tell me why???? my husband just says its because arabic is his language and that the same is true for english also but Im not so sure...... can anybody tell me if what he is saying is correct????? Keeping in mind of course we are americans (not the UK, not sure ya'll actually speak english... lol.... sorry had to throw in some humor!!!! no offence please!)