Teaching the Pharyngeal ’Ayn in Arabic: A Practical Guide for L1 English Speakers

‘Ali or Ali? The unique ʿAyn (ع) poses a persistent challenge for English-speaking learners of Arabic. This article outlines an integrated approach to teaching the challenging Arabic consonant ʿAyn (ع) to L1 English speakers. Emphasizing listening discrimination and controlled production, the guide details training techniques using minimal pairs and controlled repetition drills that address the common tendency of substituting ʿAyn with the much easier and familiar glottal stop Hamza (ء).