This course is designed to take you through the Hebrew language step-by-step. Therefore, we’re calling the course Hebrew by Steps.
Each step will be composed of several pieces:
Step צַעַד
A step is a major division of the program. It is composed of several phases, a conversational dialog, vocabulary and other useful information.
Phase שָׁלָב
A phase is part of a step that introduces a new topic that should be learned in order to progress through the program. Phases will often be accompanied by some sort of assignment and should be finished completely before moving on.
Aside הֶעָרָה
An aside is additional or supplemental information that is included in order to provide a bigger picture of what’s going on with the language. It can add grammatical or theoretical information that isn’t exactly necessary to learn in order to move through the program, but it might be helpful if you’re having trouble understanding something in the lesson.
Vocabulary עוֹצַר מִלִּים
The vocabulary section will include a list of words that you should learn to cover the Step Talk and to progress through the program. As with all language programs, vocabulary is cumulative.
Assignment שִׁעוּרֵי בַּיִת
Each assignment is aimed at
Step Talk שִׂיחָה
This course will be called Hebrew by Steps (in Hebrew: עִבְרִית בִּשְׁלָבִיםIvrit Bi-Shlavim) and will be composed of steps, which are production levels intended to bring students to a certain level of facility with the language.
Each step will be divided into phases (smaller steps with specific information leading to the mastery of the material in the step) and asides (supplemental information intended to complete the understanding of the material). Each step begins with a structured example conversation (Step Talk) for reading and acting out, which demonstrates clearly the topics to be introduced. The Step Talk will be accompanied by an audio track. Additionally, vocabulary will be provided at the beginning of each step along with pronunciation help.
In addition to pages written for the individual steps and their phases, supplementary site pages will be written to include a glossary, paradigm tables and a lexicon (collection of vocabulary terms). The grammar glossary will give simple definitions of grammatical terms used on the site. The paradigm tables will include complete verb charts for model and common verbs. The lexicon will include all of the vocabulary words given on the site’s examples and assignments.
Assignments will be posted as necessary at the end of a phase. Students should be careful to complete the assignment before moving on to the next phrase.
Pardon Our Appearance [עִמָּכֶם הַסְּלִיחָה]
Please, pardon our appearance as we work to build this site. It is, after all, a work in progress, begun only on ! I (Jason) am working hard to get it together as soon as I can, but it is certainly a large task, so please be patient. I hope you enjoy what you find as the site is coming together.
Why Learn Hebrew?
Why would someone today want to learn the Hebrew language? There are actually a lot of reasons that you could come up with.
To visit the State of Israel. One might want to visit Israel, and any time you visit a foreign country, it is certainly considerate to try and learn some travel vocabulary before arriving. One of our goals here will be to help you learn some travel vocabulary as preparation for going to the State of Israel. This will include short lessons on greetings, numbers, question words for the market, ways to ask for help and directions, et cetera.
To read the Jewish Scriptures. The Jewish Scriptures, also known as the Hebrew Bible or the Tanach (תָּנָ״ךְ), are written in the ancient Hebrew language (called “the language of Canaan” [שְׂפַת כְּנַעַן] or “Judahite” [יְהוּדִית] in the Bible itself). Every year, tons of Jews and Christians take up the challenge of learning Hebrew in order to have access to the text of the Bible in ways that one cannot access it in English translation.
To successfully immigrate to Israel. For those who immigrate to the State of Israel (called עוֹלִיםolim “ones who ascend”), the best success can be had only by learning to interact in the Hebrew language.
To create deeper connections with Israelis. Whether we’re talking about Israeli friends or lovers, the deepest connections can be formed with them by communicating in their language. Israelis can be found all over the world, and you will make them feel welcome where you are by learning to speak some simple Hebrew expressions.
To recite Jewish prayer. Programs like NJOP’s Read Hebrew America and Canada have been constructed in such a way as to introduce North Americans to the basic principles of reading the Hebrew alphabet. The ultimate goal? To help facilitate use of the Jewish prayer book (siddur) and Bible in religious contexts.
Whatever your purpose in learning Hebrew, whether it is one of the above or something else that inspires you, we hope to provide you with some tools that will assist you in the process of learning/acquiring the language.
Step 1: Sounds and Letters
Objectives:
Learn the Alefbet Song.
Learn to recognize and write the Hebrew letters.
Learn how to pronounce the sounds of חḥet, כḵaf and רresh.
Before we go forward with this, we would like to make a few general comments about the alphabet and learning to read Hebrew:
Hebrew is read from right to left. This may seem backwards, but you must remember that Hebrew isn’t written like English. However, when we write Hebrew words in English letters, we still use English convention and write left-to-right.
Hebrew has 22 consonants. By contrast, English has 26 letters: both consonants and vowels. This means that there will be sounds represented in the Hebrew alphabet that don’t exist in English. Conversely, there are sounds in English that are not (naturally) represented in Hebrew, though we have work-arounds for some of these.
Hebrew vowels are not regularly written. Hebrew has vowels. Although people like to say otherwise, it is true. There is actually a really complicated system of vowels in Hebrew. For all intents and purposes, however, we only need to be aware that Hebrew has five vowel sounds (excluding diphthongs), much like Spanish. And like Spanish, the vowels are pure. We will not be covering the full vowel system until we get to reading the letters. Just be aware that what you’re learning in this lesson is only consonants.
Don’t get caught up on the letters. Too many times, students get so caught up on learning the letters of the alphabet and how to pronounce them that they never really get into learning words, phrases, sentences, communication! We recommend that you spend a week at most learning the alphabet. This can be done easily, as we will show you.