Very few Arabic speakers arrive at English truly from zero — most have years of school English, song lyrics and app menus behind them. That head start is real, but it often comes with gaps that never got fixed: dropping "is" and "are" ("She teacher" instead of "She is a teacher", because Arabic says هي معلمة with no verb), mixing up "p" and "b" because Arabic has no separate p sound, or guessing spelling from pronunciation when English spelling often does not follow it. A1 is roughly 100 guided hours from zero (a public estimate; your own pace will vary, and if you already know some English the placement test will skip what you have genuinely mastered). Asagno's A1 path still teaches the fundamentals from the ground up — the verb "to be", the present simple, basic word order, questions with do and does, everyday vocabulary for shopping, transport, family and work — always with an Arabic explanation and native-speed audio next to the English, and short checks that show what you can actually produce, not just what looks familiar on the page.
What you'll learn
- The verb "to be" (am/is/are) — the word Arabic sentences often do without, and English never does
- Basic word order (subject – verb – object) and questions with do/does: "Do you work here?"
- The present simple for routines and facts, including the -s on he/she/it: "She works", not "She work"
- Sounds Arabic does not separate: p/b, v/f, and short vs long vowels (ship/sheep, live/leave)
- Numbers, times, dates, and short dialogues for shops, transport and introducing yourself
Two A1 patterns worth getting exactly right
"My name is Omar. I am from Egypt and I work in a hotel." — Three sentences, three verbs (is, am, work). In Arabic the first two need no verb at all (اسمي عمر. أنا من مصر), which is exactly why "I from Egypt" is one of the most common early mistakes.
"Excuse me, where is the bus stop, please?" — One of the first questions worth memorising exactly, word for word: "Excuse me" to get attention, "please" at the end to sound polite rather than abrupt.
Frequently asked questions
I already know some English. Do I really need A1?
Maybe not all of it. The placement test decides where you start, and even inside A1 the review system moves quickly past words and patterns you answer correctly. What it will not skip is a pattern you get wrong consistently — like a missing "is" — because those habits are much harder to fix at B1.
Why is English spelling so hard to predict?
Arabic spelling mostly follows pronunciation; English spelling often does not ("though", "through" and "tough" all end differently in sound). That is why every word in Asagno comes with audio, and why A1 teaches the common spelling patterns rather than expecting you to guess.
What comes after A1?
A2, which adds the past simple, comparisons and longer everyday exchanges — see the English B1 page for what comes after that.