The first goal for a beginning Hebrew student is to learn how to read and pronounce Hebrew words and sentences, even if the the student doesn't understand the meaning. Hebrew does not use the Latin alphabet used by most of the western world. The student must learn how to recognoize and pronounce 22 Hebrew letters and several vowel points, which are written above or below the consonants.
The beginner student must examine his goals. While some students want to learn to read the Hebrew Bible, other students are preparing for a trip to Israel, and need to learn modern Hebrew. Other students might want to learn how to read the sidur (Hebrew prayerbook).
One tool for beginning to learn Biblical Hebrew is to learn the basic vocabulary. You can get list of Hebrew words and their frequency of use, so it makes sense to learn the most popular words first. We offer the "Top 400 Words of the Hebrew Bible" as an audio-product on 4 CDs, or it's also included within our beginner software tutorial.
The Hebrew verb system of the Bible and modern Hebrew are not that different. Modern Hebrew tends to use much more of the present tense, and Biblical Hebrew tends to use more of the past tense. Many nouns overlap, but the subject matter is quite different.
Some students might get some words "mixed-up", because there are several letters in Hebrew that are silent. For example, the word "ET" could be AYIN-TAV (meaning "time"), ALEPH-TAV (pronounced: "AT" meaing "you feminine singular" or "ET the pointer to the direct object , or even ALEPH-TET (pronounced "ET" meaning "pen'). A good tutorial will point out these similarities and differences.
It is also important to learn Hebrew numbers, even though the student must learn both the masculine and feminine forms of the numbers. One of our games involves the computer speaking a phone number, and the student tries to type that number in on a mock-up of a cell phone. Learning to tell time is another way to practice Hebrew numbers.
Children enjoy learning Hebrew through playing games. One of our games is memory-match, where the student turns over two "cards" at a time. If the numbers match, the cards disappear. Even adults love these types of games.
Most students of modern Hebrew must also learn the cursive letters. This is almost like learning a second Hebrew alphabet, because they are quite different from their printed counterparts. The time-tested method of writing the letters over-and-over on lined paper works today as well as it did years ago.
The beginner student must examine his goals. While some students want to learn to read the Hebrew Bible, other students are preparing for a trip to Israel, and need to learn modern Hebrew. Other students might want to learn how to read the sidur (Hebrew prayerbook).
One tool for beginning to learn Biblical Hebrew is to learn the basic vocabulary. You can get list of Hebrew words and their frequency of use, so it makes sense to learn the most popular words first. We offer the "Top 400 Words of the Hebrew Bible" as an audio-product on 4 CDs, or it's also included within our beginner software tutorial.
The Hebrew verb system of the Bible and modern Hebrew are not that different. Modern Hebrew tends to use much more of the present tense, and Biblical Hebrew tends to use more of the past tense. Many nouns overlap, but the subject matter is quite different.
Some students might get some words "mixed-up", because there are several letters in Hebrew that are silent. For example, the word "ET" could be AYIN-TAV (meaning "time"), ALEPH-TAV (pronounced: "AT" meaing "you feminine singular" or "ET the pointer to the direct object , or even ALEPH-TET (pronounced "ET" meaning "pen'). A good tutorial will point out these similarities and differences.
It is also important to learn Hebrew numbers, even though the student must learn both the masculine and feminine forms of the numbers. One of our games involves the computer speaking a phone number, and the student tries to type that number in on a mock-up of a cell phone. Learning to tell time is another way to practice Hebrew numbers.
Children enjoy learning Hebrew through playing games. One of our games is memory-match, where the student turns over two "cards" at a time. If the numbers match, the cards disappear. Even adults love these types of games.
Most students of modern Hebrew must also learn the cursive letters. This is almost like learning a second Hebrew alphabet, because they are quite different from their printed counterparts. The time-tested method of writing the letters over-and-over on lined paper works today as well as it did years ago.
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See "At Home with Hebrew" to view videos of the above features at our Learn Hebrew Alphabet website.
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