I saw Arabic script for the first time when I was ten years old, on the wrapper of a Kit Kat bar. I didn't understand a word of it, but I couldn't stop looking at it. I asked every adult and teacher I could find the same question: how do you actually learn to read something like this?
I didn't get a good answer for another twenty years.
I'm a comic book artist by trade, from Dublin, Ireland, now living in Spain. Telling stories through pictures is what I do for a living, so when I finally sat down to learn a language properly, I gravitated toward the same idea: turn abstract symbols into something you can see and remember, not just a list to memorise.
I tried Japanese first. That became the Dr. Moku method, and it worked well enough that I moved on to the language that had stuck with me since childhood. Learning Arabic was harder. I have learning difficulties that make rote memorisation genuinely difficult for me, and the standard approach of flashcards and repetition never got the alphabet to stick. So I built the system I actually needed: one that ties every letter's shape and sound to an image you won't forget.
That system is what Arabic Quick is built on.
Why it's free
I spent years looking for a resource like this and couldn't find one. Arabic Quick exists because I wanted it to exist when I was starting out, and I'd rather other people have it than have them hunt for it the way I did. The core alphabet course on this site is free to use and always will be, with no ads running alongside the lessons.
We also sell a couple of paid products for anyone who wants to go further: the Arabic Quick workbook, the Arabic Alphanoidz book, and the Arabic Alphanoidz app. But those are there for people who want more, never a condition for using the site itself.
If you're staring at Arabic script the way I once stared at that Kit Kat wrapper, this site is for you.
Bob Byrne
Founder, Arabic Quick