I do think the alphabet is the best way to start.

I was born in an all english speaking house with a few relatives that still spoke a smattering of Ruthenian/Ukrainian/Russian (depending on the person). 

I've learned 3 languages since that time (only one am I any good at)  Russian, Latin and Japanese.

We should start with letters and some very basic grammar rules, like i before e, except after c. 

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Assalam alaikum and ramadhan mubarak Sister Hanan,

There are lots and lots of sites on the web for learning Arabic, the one you have posted is useful as it has sounds you can listen to.

For myself, I think that nothing can compare to actually speaking with someone who is an Arabic speaker in order to learn the language properly, but, any additional learning (web, books, tapes, etc.) is all good.

Over all, it is a difficult language to learn and only lots and lots of practice, oral as well as reading and writing are necessary.  The reading and writing part is (in my opinion) much easier than the oral part, there are sounds in Arabic that are very difficult to master for the non-native speaker!

My advice to beginner's, try learning from children's books/tapes/sites, that way you get the very basics needed to advance in the language.  When starting with adult oriented programs it is often far more difficult because they tend to "jump in with both feet" before the basics are taught (for example, learning phrases before you even know about fatha, kasra or dhamma is just confusing!).

Peace, ummziba.