It is important to know the Arabic Alphabet in order, not only as a string of notes in a song like the a-b-c song in English, but also great precision a individual points on a number line, so that with relative easy we can look words up rapidly in a dictionary. I know many Arabic students who have been studying Arabic for 6 months full time, and many of them still don't know every letter in the Alphabet in order with easy. That is not a solid foundation for advancing our Mastery of the language. We must start strong to advance steady. Therefor, let us be like wise builders, building our house on knowledge on rock solid mastery rather than on the shifting sands. In order to do this we will need to start by turning the number line from 1 though 31 -- a list we already know -- into icons for our dream scape so that we can then anchor our images of the Arabic Alphabet to those icons. Learn this list of 31 images I am giving you in this post before moving on. Some of them will be easier than others, but they all work the same way. There is a logical associative connection between all of the icons and the number to which we are associating those icons. All of the icons are concrete nouns. You can touch them, taste them, see them and often hear them. Activate your sensory imagination as you go through the list. Visualize the icons. Play with them in your mind. Manipulate them. And then ask yourself a few times why they belong to the number they represent. Then you will own them. Here's the list:
1 = Tree. Why? Because the shape--the trunk of a tree looks like the shape of the number one more than any other number.
2 = Bunny. Why? Because of the first letter, and the multiple pairs of two--B is the 2nd letter in English; a Bunny has 2 buck teeth sticking out of his face, two big ears, two little front paws, and two big back feet. Everything about a Bunny evokes the number 2 more than any other number.
3 = Stool. Why? Because stools--most of them anyway--have three legs. That's what makes them different from chairs.
4 = Throne. Why? Because a throne is a fancy chair with four legs.
5 = Ocean. Why? Because there are only 5 oceans in the world: The Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian, The Arctic, and the Southern Ocean. There is no bigger set of 5 on earth.
6 = Pistol. Why? Because it has six chambers (traditionally) and hold six bullets. Also, if you get killed by one you'll likely be buried 6 feet under the ground.
7 = Dice. Why? Because it's the most common roll for a pair of dice because many numbers combine between 1 and 6 to make 7 (1+6, 2+5, 3+4), and opposite sides of a dice add up to 7. Opposite a 1 is a 6, and so on and so forth.
8 = Ice Cream Cone (two scoops). Why? Because if you have two scoops of ice cream on an ice cream cone it looks like the shape of the number 8.
9 = Cat. Why? Because superstition states that cats have 9 lives, or because of the story of the cat of 9 tails.
10 = Bowling Ball. Why? Because it usually weighs 10 lbs. and it knocks over ten pins.
11 = Goal Post. Why? Because two straight poles sticking up out of the ground side-by-side look like the number 11.
12 = Eggs. Why? Because a dozen come in a pack.
13 = American Flag. Why? Because it has 13 stripes (7 red and 6 white) representing the 13 original states.
14 = Gold. Why? Because 14-karate gold is one of the most common alloys. Gold is measured on a 24 karate scale, each karate representing how many parts out of 24 are made of pure gold. 24 karate gold means that it is pure gold. This is usually undesirable because it is so soft. You can bite into 24 karate gold and leave a bite mark on it. Therefor gold is usually alloyed with other metals for strength so that 18 parts of gold are mixed with 6 parts of another metal to produce 18 karate gold, or 14 parts of gold are mixed with 10 parts of another metal to make 14 karate gold. In the United States, 14 karate gold is the most popular because of it's strength and durability.
15 = Pay Check. Why? Most Americans get a refund of part of their paycheck on April 15th every year--tax day. Also, most Americans get paid on the 15th and the 30th of every month.
16 = Tarantula. Why? Because spiders are cannibalistic, and the biggest spider, the Tarantula mostly eats other 8-legged arachnids. Therefor a Tarantula at meal time is a mess of 16 legs--8 to eat and 8 to eat with.
17 = Airplane. Why? Because in the U.S., you have to be at least 17 years old to get your pilot's license or to join the Air Force.
18 = Voting Booth. Why? Because in the U.S., and some other English speaking countries, you have to be at least 18 years old to vote.
19 = Miniature Gold Club. Why? Because miniature gold usually has 19 holes (the last hole being a bonus round.)
20 = Eye Glasses. Why? Because if you have 20/20 vision you don't need glasses, and if you have less then 20/20 vision, glasses are supposed to correct your vision to 20/20.
21 = A Deck of Cards. Why? Because you have to be at least 21 to gamble in the U.S., you have to get a close as possible to 21 points in a game of Black Jack to win.
22 = A Ballerina. Why? Because she wears a tutu dress with sounds like 2, 2 or 22.
23 = A White Lamb. Why? Because the "w" in white reminds us it is the 23 letter of the English alphabet because of its two points down and 3 points up, and because the famous 23rd Psalm says "the Lord is my shepherd."
24 = A Watch (on military time). Why? Because there are 24 hours in the day.
25 = A Quarter Why? Because it's 25 cents.
26 = A Can of Alphabet Soup. Why? Because there are 26 letters in the English alphabet.
27 = A Euro coin. Why? Because there are 27 member states in the European Union.
28 = Saturn (or February Snow). Why. Because Saturn is on a 28 year cycle in relation to the earth, meaning that 28 years after you are born, Saturn is exactly the same distance from earth as it was on the day you were born. Since this is a little known fact, to reinforce this idea, also think of the 28 days in February, one of the snowiest months in the year, and think of snow. Then note that both snow and Saturn are very cold. Or think of a Saturn car covered in Snow in February.
29 = Full Moon. Why? Because every 29 (and a half) days the moon is full again. The lunar cycle is 29.5 days.
30 = Puckered Lips. Why? Because in the 30 days of June there are lots of proms and weddings, leading to lots of kissing, as in "you may now kiss the bride." June is the most popular month for weddings. Go with this. We need this association for the rounded lips "oo" sound that is at the 30th place in the Arabic Alphabet.
31 = Jack-o-lantern. Why? Because Halloween is October 31st, and what better icon is there for Halloween than a smiling carved pumpkin? (Note, if you were not thinking of a smiling Jack-o-lantern at first, throw that first pumpkin out of your mind and crave a new one in your imagination on your kitchen floor with a big smile. The big smile is important for pronouncing the last letter of the alphabet.)
Test yourself on these 31 images until you know them well. If you miss a few, google images for them, and look at the pictures and imagine yourself touching or smelling or tasting something in the picture as well as seeing it. If you don't remember something right away, that means your sensory modalities were not engaged enough in the thought process. If that still doesn't implant all of these images firmly in your mind, day dream with it in the dream scape some more and have something emotionally provocative take place in your day dream with the image while including yourself in the narrative. That's how neural science works. Do it. And don't change any of the images. You can't change Oceans in number 5 with a Glove for example. They both work as icons for the number 5, that is true, but the icons that were chosen work specifically for the letters we will dream through in the next lesson.
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