How Do You Pronounce Ayn (ع)?
A squeezed sound from deep in the throat. Nothing like it in English.
The sound, and why English cannot spell it
English has nothing close to ع, and it is usually the hardest letter for English speakers. It is a voiced squeeze of the middle of the throat, the muscles you feel when you gently start to swallow, shaped into a vowel-like sound.
It is not a glottal stop (that is hamza), not a g, and not silence. Try saying "ah" while gently tightening the middle of your throat, the strangled "a" that comes out is close.
It opens some of the most beloved words in the Quran, الْعَالَمِين (al-alamin), عَبْد (abd), and the name عِيسَى (Isa). Patience and imitation win this letter.
The four written forms
Arabic letters change shape by position, alone, at the start, in the middle, and at the end of a word.
Ayn with harakat
The three short vowels: fatha says "a", kasra says "i", damma says "u".
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