Spelling question

I found different spellings in Arabic lessons, 

In lesson 1.1, Ahlan wa Shlan is spelled as ا هلا و سهلا
Yet in lesson 1.3, it's spelled as أهلآ وسهلآ

Which one is correct? 

Both are correct. 

Thanks for the reply.

Hi Penny,
both
أهلاً وسهلاً
and
أهلا وسهلا
are correct forms.
Best wishes.

I found the same issue.  I got the answer "wrong" in the writing exercise because I spelled it as ا هلا و سهلا, but the correction algorithm used by the website was expecting the spelling to be أهلآ وسهلآ and it marked those letters as incorrect.

Actually the perfect form is أهلاً وسهلاً but all the other forms that you have mentioned are also correct.
Your concern has been forwarded.

@einman-k-elmasry: أهلآ This is not correct orthography. I'm sure we both know why, but for the record and for others, here is why:

The long wavy line over the alif (ا) looks like this: (آ). This is not the same as alif with a hamza (أ or إ), and not the same as alif with fathatayn (ــاً). It has a separate name and meaning.

It is called Alif madda (ألف مدّة), it is part of the writing system. Alif madda آ is a glottal stop followed by a long /a:/ such as found in words like آية or آمن or القرآن. It does not sound like /an/ and is NOT interchangeable.

Therefore, writing أهلآ doesn't make any sense. It would be pronounced as /ahlʔaa/ or "ahl'aa", which doesn't make any sense.

If you don't write tanween, then أهلا is fine. If you are writing tanween, then أهلاً. If you have no idea what "tanween" is, that's fine, it's a feature of Modern Standard Arabic that appears in few words and phrases (e.g. thank you شكراً) but generally doesn't appear much in Egyptian Arabic.

However, surely the creators of the course already know that, so I don't know why this mistake has persisted so long and in so many places. Guys, fix this!