Common Tajweed Mistakes Children Make (and How to Fix Them)

Quick answer: The most common Tajweed mistakes children make are mixing up similar-sounding letters (such as ح/ه and ع/ء), making heavy letters light or light letters heavy, shortening or stretching the madd, missing the ghunnah, rushing the stops, and adding vowels to letters with a sukoon. Every one of them can be fixed with slow, short daily practice and a teacher who hears and corrects each word live.

By Hafiz Azhar, Quran teacher at Quran Specialist Online. Hifz-ul-Quran, 6-year Alim course, 2-year Tajweed course, 7 years’ teaching experience.

After years of listening to children recite, I hear the same patterns again and again. That’s good news, because it means the fixes are well known too. Here are the mistakes I correct most often, and what you can do at home to help.

1. Mixing up letters that sound alike

The mistake: Saying ه (ha) instead of ح (Ha), ء (hamzah) instead of ع (‘ain), ز instead of ذ, or س instead of ص. Children who speak English at home often merge these because English doesn’t separate them.

Why it matters: Changing a letter can change the meaning of a word.

The fix: Work on one pair at a time. The teacher shows where each letter comes from, whether that’s the middle of the throat, the deepest part, the tongue tip or the teeth, and the child repeats short words that contrast the two sounds.

At home: Five minutes a day on just one pair. Let your child exaggerate the difference at first. Precision comes later.

2. Heavy and light letters (tafkheem and tarqeeq)

The mistake: Saying heavy letters like ص, ض, ط, ظ, ق and خ too lightly, or making light letters such as س and ت heavy because of the letters next to them.

The fix: I teach heavy letters as “full mouth” sounds, with the back of the tongue raised, and light letters as “thin” sounds. Pairs like س/ص and ت/ط make the difference easy to hear.

At home: Ask your child to read a line and then tell you which letters were “full”. It makes them listen to themselves.

3. Getting the madd (lengthening) wrong

The mistake: Cutting long vowels short, or stretching every long vowel the same amount. Children often rush the natural madd, which is two counts, and under-hold the longer madd before a hamzah or a sukoon.

The fix: Count on fingers. Two counts for natural madd, and longer for the extended types, following the rule the teacher is using. At first the counting feels mechanical, but it soon becomes natural.

At home: Pick one ayah, mark the madd letters with a pencil on a practice copy, and read it slowly with finger counts.

4. Missing the ghunnah (nasal sound)

The mistake: Dropping the nasal sound on a noon or meem with a shaddah, or in Ikhfa and Idgham with ghunnah.

The fix: A simple test is to gently pinch the nose. If the sound stops, there’s a ghunnah. The child holds it for about two counts.

At home: Practise Surah An-Nas, which is full of noon and meem, slowly and with the “nose test”.

5. Adding a vowel to a letter with a sukoon

The mistake: Reading a letter with a sukoon as if it had a short vowel after it, so the word comes out longer than it should.

The fix: Sukoon means the sound stops on that letter. For the qalqalah letters (ق ط ب ج د), the child learns the light “bounce” instead of adding a vowel.

At home: Read short words ending in a sukoon and listen for a clean stop.

6. Stopping and starting in the wrong places

The mistake: Taking a breath in the middle of a phrase and then carrying straight on, or stopping where the meaning breaks.

The fix: We teach the main stop signs early and practise stopping on the last word properly and restarting from a sensible place.

At home: Before reading, point out the stop marks together and plan where to breathe.

7. Reading too fast

The mistake: Speed. Most of the mistakes above get worse when children try to finish quickly.

The fix: Accuracy first, then fluency. A slow, correct page is worth more than three rushed ones.

At home: Praise careful reading, not speed. Short, focused sessions work better than long ones.

8. Learning the wrong sound from recordings

The mistake: Children copy a recording but can’t hear their own mistakes, so the error becomes a habit.

The fix: Recordings are useful for listening, but a live teacher has to hear the child read. That’s why our lessons are live and one-to-one: every word your child reads is heard and corrected straight away.

How lessons are set up at Quran Specialist Online

• Live, one-to-one, 30 minutes, on Zoom or MS Teams.
• Parents can sit in on any lesson. It’s the best way to learn the corrections yourself.
• Monthly written progress reports show which mistakes are improving and what to practise next.
• Female teachers are available.
• Manager checks: a QSO manager regularly checks lessons.
• Recording only happens with a parent’s permission.

UK plans are £30, £40, £50 or £60 a month for 2, 3, 4 or 5 classes a week, and every family can start with a 7-day free trial with no card needed.

A simple 10-minute home routine

1. 2 minutes: one letter pair (mistake 1 or 2).
2. 3 minutes: read the teacher’s set lines slowly, with finger counts for madd.
3. 3 minutes: one Tajweed rule from the last lesson (ghunnah, qalqalah or stops).
4. 2 minutes: your child reads one line to you and tells you which rule they used.

Frequently asked questions

At what age should children start Tajweed?
Children can learn correct letter sounds from the very first Qaida lessons. Formal Tajweed rules usually come once they can read joined words. See our guide on what age kids should start Noorani Qaida.

Can I correct my child’s Tajweed if I’m not confident myself?
You can support practice, such as timing, encouragement and listening for clean stops. Leave the correction to the teacher. Sitting in on lessons will help you learn what to listen for.

How long does it take to fix these mistakes?
It depends on the child, how regularly they practise and how many classes they have each week. Most of these mistakes improve steadily with short daily practice and regular correction.

Do you teach Tajweed to adults too?
Yes. Our Tajweed course is for children and adults.

Want a teacher to hear your child read? Book a 7-day free trial, with no card needed. Related: Online Tajweed classes for kids UK, How to choose an online Quran academy, Our teachers.