A child starting from nothing usually reads the Mushaf unaided somewhere between one and two years of steady lessons. The Noorani Qaida takes four to ten months of that. Starting age, lessons per week, whether anyone listens between lessons, and the child's own reading ability in their first language all move the number.
The stages, in order
Letters alone
Recognising each Arabic letter on sight and saying it correctly. Weeks, not months, for most children -- but the letters that sound similar to an English-speaking ear are where the time actually goes.
Letters joined
The same letter looks different at the start, middle and end of a word. This is the first place children stall, and it is normal.
Short vowels and sukoon
Reading two and three letter combinations smoothly. Slow and unglamorous, and the stage that decides everything afterwards.
Words, then lines
The Qaida's later pages. A child who has been rushed here will read fast and wrong, and it shows up two years later.
The Mushaf, with help
Reading real ayat with a teacher correcting as they go. Usually Juz Amma first.
The Mushaf, unaided
Reading a page the child has never seen before, correctly, without being prompted. This is the finish line that parents mean.
What actually changes the timeline
- Starting age
- A six-year-old and a ten-year-old both get there. The ten-year-old usually gets there faster, because they can already decode letters in another language. The six-year-old usually ends up with better pronunciation.
- Lessons a week
- Two is the floor at which a child does not spend the first ten minutes remembering. Three to four is where most of our students sit. Five is not twice as good as three.
- Five minutes between lessons
- A parent listening to the child read the same page once, on a day with no lesson. Nothing else on this list is as cheap or does as much.
- Reading in their own language
- A child who is still struggling to read English or Urdu will take longer with Arabic. Not because of ability -- because decoding any script is one skill being learnt twice.
Why we will not give you one number
Any academy that answers this question with a single confident figure is selling something. The honest version is a range, and the range is wide because children are not uniform.
What we will do is tell you where your child is after the trial, in plain words, and tell you again after two months. If the second answer is not better than the first, something is wrong and it is our job to say so.
Related
How long does Noorani Qaida take?
The first stage, in detail.
Quran for beginners
Where a complete beginner starts.