The sound of baa

ب

Press the lips together and let a little air pop them open. That is ب. It is the same start as the English word “book”, without a puff of extra air.

The dot is part of the letter. One dot below is ب. Two dots above, in a later lesson, is ت. Three dots above is ث. The body of the letter looks the same, so the dots are how you tell them apart.