Study the individual letters of the Arabic alphabet. Learn to recognize and identify the letters in their individual form and learn their names. The website BBC Languages features a chart of the Arabic language with accompanying sound so you can hear the proper pronunciation of the letters. Use flashcards or a chart to test your memorization. Once you have memorized the letters, practice writing them.
Learn the different forms of the letters. The Arabic letters change shape depending on where they appear in a word. The website Omniglot features a brief history and overview of the Arabic language, as well as a chart of the various forms of the letters. Most Arabic letters will have four forms; isolated, initial, medial and final. This means that the letter is written differently depending on whether the word begins or ends with the letter or if the letter is between other letters. The "isolated" form appears when representing the letter on its own rather than in a word. Practice the different forms of the letters on their own then start to copy vocabulary words. Learning the forms of the letters in the context of written words will help you learn them faster.
Learn the short vowels. The sounds of short vowels are indicated with small marks above and below the Arabic letters as a learning aid for beginning Arabic students. Each mark has its own vowel sound, which will be explained along with the alphabet in Arabic learning materials. In standard written Arabic only the "long vowels" are written. Marks representing the sounds of the short vowels will allow you to better sound out new words. As you become proficient in reading and writing, you will phase out the use of the short vowels. Intermediate and advanced learning materials will not include written short vowels. As you advance, you can recognize the words and their pronunciation without needing to sound out each word, as you did when learning to read and write in your first language.