Short answer
Start with the Arabic letters and their sounds using a primer like the Noorani Qaida, learn the vowel marks, then learn basic tajweed (the rules of pronunciation) with a teacher who listens to you. Read a little every day, listen to a good reciter, and keep a teacher checking you until your reading is sound.
Learning to recite enough of the Quran correctly for salah is fard on every Muslim, and avoiding clear mistakes that change letters or meaning is obligatory. Learning the finer points of tajweed is recommended, and having experts in it is a communal duty.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The Quran is learned by hearing and repeating. The Prophet ﷺ learned it from Jibril, and the Companions learned it from his mouth. So the best way is with a teacher, in person or online. A step-by-step path:
- Letters: learn the 28 letters, their shapes and where each sound comes from (makharij). See the Arabic alphabet.
- Vowels and joining: fatha, kasra, damma, sukun, shadda and tanween, then joined words. The Noorani Qaida lessons take you through these in order.
- Basic tajweed: long vowels (madd), noon and meem rules, qalqalah and stopping. See tajweed rules.
- Read to a teacher: start with Juz Amma, the short surahs you use in salah. Have each surah checked.
- Listen and follow: listen to one clear reciter while following the text. The recitation tool lets you check yourself.
- Daily habit: ten to fifteen minutes a day beats an hour once a week.
Adults often feel shy starting late. The Prophet ﷺ promised a double reward to the one who stumbles through the Quran with difficulty, so every hard minute counts. Avoid relying on transliteration for long: see reading in transliteration.
For the manners of reading, see etiquette of reading the Quran, and for how much tajweed is required, is tajweed compulsory.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Muzzammil 73:4
أَوْ زِدْ عَلَيْهِ وَرَتِّلِ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ تَرْتِيلًا ﴿٤﴾
Or add to it, and recite the Qur'an with measured recitation.
Allah commands recitation with care and measure (tartil).
Sahih Muslim 798
Sahih... الماهر بالقرآن مع السفرة الكرام البررة ...
"The one skilled in the Quran is with the noble and righteous scribes, and the one who stumbles over it with difficulty has two rewards."
Encourages learners who find reading hard.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5000
Sahih... أخذت من في رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بضعا وسبعين سورة ...
"Ibn Mas'ud said: I took seventy-odd surahs directly from the mouth of the Messenger of Allah."
The Quran is learned by hearing it from a teacher.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Muqaddima al-Jazariyya (Ibn al-Jazari), Section on tajweed. The classic poem stating that applying tajweed is necessary.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Salah, chapter on the errors of the reciter. Which mistakes in letters and vowels affect the prayer.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.