13.Difficulties of the script. For students accustomed only to the Latin alphabet some difficulties immediately present themselves. First, the Arabic script is written from right to left – though this problem sounds more alarming than it really is. Secondly, it is a cursive script, i.e. there is still no special “print” or “inscription” form, in which the individual letters stand detached. (In consequence, Arabic printing and typing is somewhat cumbersome; but even though every effort is made there to reproduce the cursive, written hand, a keen-eyed student will often notice minute breaks between the letters, which are imposed by practical, mechanical limitations; a more important result, both in writing and machine reproduction, is that most of the letters necessarily undergo various distortions of shape according to their position in a word and the shape of the letters to which they are connected.) Thirdly, several of the letters, representing quite different sounds, are identical in shape, being distinguished only by one, two or three dots (or points) placed above or below them. Fourthly, there are, and have long been, in use several different styles of script: while they vary only in minor details, they often appear disconcertingly different to the learner when he first meets them. The script used in this course will be either a “neutral”, clear hand (much too clear for use in ordinary fast writing) or the standard typeface found on most typewriters.