Learn Arabic, one spoken sentence at a time
Arabic is often described as one language with many voices: Modern Standard Arabic for news, books and formal speech, and regional dialects for everyday life. Bliss teaches simple Modern Standard Arabic — the version understood across the Arab world — with transliteration on every line, so the script never stops you from speaking.
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What makes Arabic worth it — and what makes it hard
Official in more than 20 countries
Arabic is an official language across North Africa and the Middle East and one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Modern Standard Arabic is the shared written and formal standard across all of them.
The key to a vast culture
Poetry, history, religion, music and cuisine: Arabic opens a culture that spans centuries and continents. Even basic Arabic changes how people receive you when you travel.
Sounds English does not have
Letters like ع (ʿayn), ح (ḥā’) and ق (qāf) are made deeper in the throat than any English sound. They are learnable — but only by listening and being corrected.
A tutor you talk to, focused on what trips Arabic learners up
In every language, your Bliss tutor explains in the language you already speak, has you say the Arabic out loud, and corrects the sentence you just said. For Arabic specifically:
Transliteration after every Arabic line
Every Arabic phrase your tutor gives you comes with its transliteration, so you can speak before you can read the right-to-left script.
Modern Standard Arabic, kept simple
Bliss teaches Modern Standard Arabic (fuṣḥā) in a simple, conversational form — not a regional dialect. It is the version you will see in writing and hear in the news across the Arab world.
Explained in your own language
Arabic builds words from three-letter roots — k-t-b gives kitāb (book) and kātib (writer). Your tutor explains patterns like this in the language you already speak, as they come up.
Bliss recommends Alex for Arabic: calm, methodical and patient, a good match for a new script and new sounds. Any of the other seven Bliss tutors can teach Arabic too.
Arabic phrases for your first week
Ten phrases in Modern Standard Arabic, with transliteration. Arabic reads right to left.
- مرحبا marḥaban Hello
- السلام عليكم as-salāmu ʿalaykum Peace be upon you (greeting) The reply is "wa ʿalaykumu s-salām".
- شكرا shukran Thank you
- من فضلك min faḍlik Please Said to a man; to a woman, "min faḍliki".
- كم الثمن؟ kam ath-thaman? How much is it?
- لا أفهم lā afham I don’t understand
- أين الحمام؟ ayna al-ḥammām? Where is the bathroom?
- أنا أتعلم العربية anā ataʿallam al-ʿarabiyya I’m learning Arabic
- مع السلامة maʿa s-salāma Goodbye Literally "with safety".
- إن شاء الله in shāʾa llāh God willing Used constantly about anything in the future, by people of every faith.
Learning Arabic with Bliss: questions, answered
Does Bliss teach Modern Standard Arabic or a dialect?
Modern Standard Arabic, in a simple conversational form. It is understood across the Arab world and is the base for reading and formal speech. Dialects such as Egyptian or Levantine are not the focus.
Do I need to read the Arabic script to start?
No. Every Arabic line comes with a transliteration, so you can practise speaking from day one and learn the alphabet in parallel.
How long does it take to learn Arabic?
The US Foreign Service Institute places Arabic in its hardest group for English speakers, at about 88 weeks of full-time study for professional proficiency. Greetings and everyday phrases come much sooner.
Who teaches Arabic in Bliss?
Bliss recommends Alex, a patient bilingual tutor. You can choose any of the eight tutors for Arabic and switch whenever you want.
Learning more than one language?
Bliss teaches ten languages with the same tutors. Switch language whenever you want — no second app, no restart.
Start speaking Arabic today
Download Bliss free on the App Store, pick Arabic, and say your first sentence to Alex.