List of Hebrew Study Resources (compiled by Dr. Nitza Krohn, Assistant Professor of Hebrew) Learning the alphabet and basic decoding, writing, and reading skills:
http://www.stanford.edu/class/hebrew/letters/index.html http://hebrewverb.hul.huji.ac.il/newtest/pre_abc.html http://hebrew-multimedia.huji.ac.il/steps/index.htm Any beginner-lev beginner-level el textbook (see below) below) also also teaches the the alphabet. alphabet. Textbooks: •
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The two volumes of Ivrit Min Ha’hatchala ( ), which we use in our program, are geared for levels Alef and Bet. Written in Israel, this textbook is used in many colleges and universities in the United States (as well as in language programs in Israel). The book is accompanied by CDs covering a large portion of the written text. It is available on Amazon, Israel Connection (http://www.myhebrewbooks.com ), and Sefer Israel (http://shop.seferisrael.com/ ). Another book at the beginner level is The Routledge Introductory Course in ( ), by Giore Etzion. This is Modern Hebrew: Hebrew in Israel ( excellent for self-study of basic first-year Hebrew, since it is accompanied by a website and everything can be read and listened to simultaneously. The grammatical explanations (in English) are excellent, and there are verb tables and solutions for the exercises. However, it is mostly dialogue-style (brief reading selections from the newspaper are found toward the end) and, in contrast to Ivrit Min Ha’hatchala , does not have anything in classical Hebrew. ( ) borrows in its approach from Ivrit Min Brandeis Modern Hebrew ( Ha’hatchala (with an eye toward the US student), and is another acceptable alternative for first-year Hebrew. It too is accompanied by a CD. ( ) is old-fashioned, but it contains a review of verb and noun HaYesod ( morphology with English explanations and tables; the texts are all vocalized (pointed), therefore the transition to unvoweled texts may pose a challenge. It has exercises of translation from Hebrew to English. Level Gimel textbooks: , Level Dalet textbooks: " , " ,
Internet Resources (Commercial): •
http://eteacherhebrew.com is an online study program with Hebrew University teachers that offers a sequence of six courses, each with 19 units and lasting 30 weeks (eight months). It takes 48 months to finish the sequence, but it may be possible to accelerate by meeting twice a week. Students are accepted according to a placement test. The class has about six students, who see and talk to each other (you would need a webcam, microphone, and speaker on your 1
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computer). Students maintain e-mail contact with the teacher during the week. Lessons are recorded and can therefore be reviewed; there is a textbook that follows the lessons and homework. For more information, contact the program directly. HebrewPodcasts.com has three levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Although the material is delivered through dialogues (audio only), the vocabulary is sophisticated and the topics are not trivial, covering a wide variety of Israel and Jewish themes. You can sample some of it free to get a feel for the materials. Hebrew College in Boston has an online program. I am not familiar with it.
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Online resources for listening and viewing are available at the Stanford University and University of Texas at Austin Hebrew sites: http://www.stanford.edu/class/hebrew/mmedia/index.html (has videos for beginners, with grammar instruction modules) and http://www.laits.utexas.edu/hebrew/ Prepositions practice site: http://www.mkmhaifa.co.il/ulpanim/tempEx/MilotYahas/index.htm Exercises and additional readings supplementing Hebrew from Scratch textbooks http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/hebrew/old/index.html
Easy Reading Books : •
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Gesher series (check the online catalogues of Israel Connection and Sefer Israel) ) is an anthology of folktales accompanied by a Sipur ve-Od Sipur ( CD; suitable for second-semester Hebrew
Learners’ Newspapers:
(Yanshuf [Owl ])—see its products at http://www.hebrewtoday.com The Jerusalem Post has a monthly insert for learners of Hebrew at three levels (with glossaries, but no audio). For information about subscriptions, contact
[email protected] . Ulpan-Or has an electronic newspaper, E-tone, on three difficulty levels. Consult its site for subscription fees and a sample: http://www.ulpanor.com/osc/product_info.php?products_id=17 .
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For those wishing to develop listening skills , there are three excellent resources (all available at Israel Connection and Sefer Israel): •
for beginners is a CD accompanied by a book with vocabulary lists, comprehension questions, and scripts of the dialogue. 2
, for intermediate and advanced students, is a series of books with
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(Daily Life in Israel ; Academon, 2012) is for high beginner to intermediate students. You can listen to and view a collection of authentic clips grouped by location (in the market, at the gym, etc.), recorded and filmed in Israel and accompanied by pre- and post-viewing comprehension worksheets. A new, highly professional, intermediate-level listening comprehension program is : http://hebrew-courses.com/hebrew.aspx .
Grammar Books Easing into Modern Hebrew Grammar, by Shoval and Cohen-Freedman (Magnes, 2012), comes in two volumes, and covers in a graded manner all grammar topics for the beginner and intermediate levels. The style is readable, user-friendly, and free of linguistic jargon. The book includes exercises and solutions. Highly recommended. An excellent and concise grammar book (readable and user friendly) is Glinert’s Modern Hebrew: An Essential Grammar (Routledge), now in its third edition. Advanced learners who need to access academic Hebrew can use Krohn, Reading Academic Hebrew: An Advanced Learner’s Handbook (Brill, 2011). •
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The verb system is covered in all beginner textbooks in a functional manner—that is, with emphasis on verb usage rather than pointing rules and the creation of forms from roots. Some books that focus on the formal aspects of the verb system are: •
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A Reference Grammar of Modern Hebrew , by Coffin and Bolozky (Cambridge, 2005) 501 Hebrew Verbs (Bolozky)
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(Verb Tables), by and , by , a classic and luckily still in print
To suggest an update to this guide, please email
[email protected].
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