Writing That Joins Up

Arabic is not written in letters sitting next to each other. It is one continuous line, and every letter changes shape depending on where in that line it lands - a shape for the start of a word, one for the middle, one for the end. English has a weak version every child has met, the difference between printing and joined-up writing; here it is not a style, it is the system. And then six letters refuse to join forwards, so words break in the middle for a reason you can learn.