Eight Steps for the Beginning Hebrew Student
Filed Under Home-Schooling |
Any student of Hebrew must begin his or her adventure by learning the letters and vowels. This includes being able to sound out, or pronounce written words. Most students begin with the “printed” or “book” style Hebrew, and learn cursive later. While most of Europe and the Americas uses the Latin alphabet, Hebrew is entirely different, consisting of 22 letters and vowels that are written as special symbols above and below the letters.
Believe it or not, students don’t learn Hebrew for the same reasons, and you, too, should examine your goals. Is your goal to learn to read the Hebrew scriptures, or is it to talk to your cousin in Israel? Or maybe you are trying to learn to pray the traditional prayers in Hebrew.
To learn Biblical Hebrew, a great way to start is with the “Top 400 Words of the Hebrew Bible”. These words are included with the “At Home with Hebrew” software tutorial, and are also sold on audio-CDs, so the stduent can learn in the car.
Let’s compare Modern and Biblical Hebrew. The verb systems are very similar, but Hebrew tends use the perfect and imperfect (past and future) where as Modern Hebrew uses those and a lot of the present tense. Nouns are similar, but Biblical Hebrew might talk about chariots, kings, and prophets, modern Hebrew might talk about plains, trains, and automobiles.
Students should also beware homonyms. For example, the word “ATAH” can mean “you” or “now”, depending on how it is spelled in Hebrew. One is spelled with an “AYIN” and the other with an “ALEPH”; both are letters are treated as silent letters to the beginner student. Our software tutorial shares some of the words that are mostly commonly confused by beginners.
Learning numbers is another challenge. Hebrew has both masculine and feminine numbers, so the student must learn to count to 10 two different ways! A good way to enforce numbers is telling time, or doing simple math problems in Hebrew.
Children can begin learning Hebrew as young as three years of age. Why not let them learn Hebrew at the same time they learn their English letters? Children enjoy using software programs that have interactive 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.
Related posts:
- Hebrew Dictionary
- The Birth of “At Home with Hebrew”
- The Method Behind “At Home with Hebrew”
- The Creation of “At Home With Hebrew”
- Improve Your Hebrew with Online Videos
- Learn Hebrew - It’s Easier Than You Think
- What Are Some Of Steps You Have To Implement Before Beginning Homeschooling Programs For Your Children
