From the first letter to fluent reading

What is the Dal method?

The Dal method (Decodable Arabic Language) is a phonics program for reading in Arabic. It takes a child from phonemic awareness to fluent, independent reading, and is the publisher's own system for teaching the 34 Arabic sounds.

It builds on the "science of reading": research in cognitive psychology, neuroscience and linguistics on how the brain learns to read, with its five parts: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.

Dal was founded by Dr. Asmaa Emara, who holds a PhD and an MA in curricula and teaching methods and has more than twenty years of experience.

Why the Dal method?

Arabic brings its own challenges, and a random approach or visual memorizing alone doesn't last. The Dal method builds a solid foundation of sounds so a child reads with confidence and independence.

• Letters change shape: Practice telling letter shapes apart and linking each sound to how it is written.
• Vowel marks: Short vowels come first, then sounds in order of how easy and common they are.
• Spoken vs written Arabic: Decodable texts use only the sounds a child has learned, so they read real words early.

How does a child learn with the Dal method?

• Sounds: Children practise hearing and breaking down sounds before reading, which strengthens the sound-symbol link.
• Picture stories: Dal Stories are four books with Dandoun and his family on the "Planet of Stories", covering all 34 Arabic sounds.
• Activities: Transparent Dal Treasure cards for building and splitting words, with a self-check mark, and writing practice in the Read, Write and Color set.
• Play: Games and movement: every letter has a motion that links sound, shape and movement.
• Interaction: Dandoun family puppets turn each story into a show your child performs, and the sliding card in "Whose Rope?" shows how one letter changes a word.
• Audio: "Sounds and Vowels" has 31 songs for the Arabic sounds, played by scanning a QR code on each page.

What's in the Dal method

• Sounds and Vowels: The starting point: a song for every sound to build phonemic awareness.
• Dal Stories + The Monsters and the Lens: Four story books and stick puppets covering the 34 sounds.
• Dal Treasure: 65 transparent letter cards for blending and reading words, with a wipe-clean pen for vowel marks.
• Whose Rope?: A beginner book with a sliding card for swapping letters.
• Read, Write and Color with Dandoun: Four books of pre-writing and writing letters with vowel marks.
• Dandoun: Two, Three: An activity booklet for counting, with the same characters.
• Dal Phonics bundle: Sounds and Vowels, Dal Stories, Dal Treasure and Read, Write and Color together.

Who is it for?

• Parents: Songs, stories and activities for home, for children aged about 3 to 7 depending on the product.
• Teachers: A clear, practical framework that links the research to classroom practice.
• Nurseries and kindergartens: Songs, puppets and cards suit group work in the pre-school years.
• Schools and institutions: A program grounded in the science of reading, with educational consultations from Dr. Asmaa Emara.

How to use the Dal method

The method moves through three stages: getting ready to read, starting to read, then reading more widely.

• At home: Start each day with a song from "Sounds and Vowels", read the story for that sound, and finish with a short Dal Treasure activity.
• In class: Introduce the sound with its song and movement, act out the story with the puppets, then have children build words with the cards.
• Moving on: Move to the next stage once your child has mastered the current one; the placement quiz below helps.

Frequently asked questions