Arabic Sounds and Reading · Beginner-friendly practice

Arabic Vowels Practice: Build the Sound

Listen, spot the vowel and build what you hear. Explore short and long vowels, sukūn, shaddah, tanwīn and simple words.

Practise Arabic vowels with audio

Build the Sound is a free Arabic listening and reading game with native-speaker recordings. Practise short and long vowels, sukoon, shaddah, tanween and simple words. Each round has eight questions and no timer.

How to play

  1. Choose a sound studio and the letters you want to practise.
  2. Listen to the recording. Select the sound, vowel mark or letter sequence requested by the question.
  3. Replay the audio or use a hint, then check the feedback. Review sounds you missed after the round.

What are fatha, kasra and damma?

These are Arabic short vowel marks, often called harakat: fatha gives a short “a”, kasra a short “i” and damma a short “u”. Compare بَ بِ بُ. Long vowels last longer and commonly use Alif, Waaw or Yaa.

What do sukoon, shaddah and tanween mean?

Sukoon (sukūn) marks the absence of a vowel after a consonant. Shaddah marks a doubled consonant. Tanween (tanwīn) adds an “n” sound to a final short vowel in connected pronunciation. The studios let you practise these distinctions by listening.

Begin with the Arabic letters and pronunciation lessons, then explore Dot Detective’s alphabet quiz and Letter Linkers’ joining puzzles.