Question

Assalaamu alaikum.  Could you please give some pointers to someone who has trouble differentiating between the sound of the letter  and the letter  .  May Allah reward you for your site and help.

Also I would like to say thank you for the download about The Manners of the Seekers of knowledge and Students of the Qur'an.  May Allah reward you for this valuable information.

 Answer

Wa alaikum assalaam wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuh.  May Allah reward you for your beneficial questions.

The differentiating between the sound and therefore the pronunciation of the letters  and  is something that non-Arabs have a considerable amount of difficulty with.  The two letters have the same characteristics, but have different articulation points, and that is what changes the sound.  The  comes from the middle of the throat, and has a more "windier" sound than the deeper sounding , which comes from the deepest part of the throat. 

Listening to the Qur'an recited by known reciters and trying to differentiate each   and  by following with one's copy of the Qur'an and looking for each of the two letters and listening carefully to differentiate the two sounds, will help greatly.  Special notice should be made of the sounds of the two letters when saakin. The ear will develop and soon the student will be able to distinguish between the two letters in sound, which is necessary to pronounce them correctly.

Listening to surah Al-Qiyaamah will especially help develop an ear for the , since every aayah ends with one.  The first and third aayah of al-Faatihah will help with the letter .  

Jazakum Allahu khairan for your comments on the download.  May Allah grant all the Muslims and especially the students of the Qur'an with the proper manners and etiquette when seeking knowledge.