Getting to know the Arabic layout

Before you start

On the standard Arabic (101) keyboard each letter has a fixed physical key. The letters ب and ت sit on the F and J keys, which have small bumps you can feel. They are your anchors: everything else is reached from there.

Arabic is written from right to left, but your hands work exactly as they do in English: the same fingers, the same rows, the same posture. If you already know the English home row, your fingers are in the right place.

• 💡Rest your fingers on ش س ي ب and ت ن م ك — your index fingers sit on ب and ت (the F and J bumps).
• 💡Press the space bar lightly with your thumb.