The Hebrew Language
Hebrew is a Semitic language which uses right-to-left text direction and is spoken by around 7 million people, most of whom are in Israel. Complete Modern Hebrew is based on biblical Hebrew. The letters are square, and many of the words are the same in Arabic. There are 22 letters, the majority of which have an English equivalent. Every noun has a gender although there is no clear system for which nouns are feminine or masculine. One of the few things that Hebrew has in common with English is its history of adopting words from other languages. “Banana,” “bank,” “beer,” “chocolate,” and “coffee” are just a handful of words that are the same in both English and Hebrew.
Complete Modern Hebrew
Complete Modern Hebrew is for people with little-to-no prior knowledge of the language. It comes with two audio CDs and a 288-page paperback book. Its author, Shula Gilboa, is an Israeli native who wrote her PhD thesis on Jewish Education in the Diaspora.
The Chapters
- Writing Hebrew part 1
- Writing Hebrew part 2
- Hello
- A Trip in Israel
- What’s the time?
- At the hotel
- I would like to change some money
- I like it
- At home
- Sorry, it’s a mistake
- Shopping part 1
- Shopping part 2
- Transport
- How do you feel?
- How old are you?
- Holidays
- On the telephone
- It was a great trip!
How to Teach Yourself
There are ample reading, writing, speaking, and review exercises thought the book and CDs. The book and CDs compliment each other. An “I’ll listen while I drive” mindset will leave you unable to read signs and you’ll also miss the crossword puzzles! Furthermore, after chapter six, the Hebrew script is no longer transliterated. Even the dictionary in the back has translations in Hebrew script only.
The Aftermath
If you take your time going through all 18 chapters, you should be at CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) level B1, which means you can deal with most situations you will encounter as either a tourist or business traveler.
Have you used a Teach Yourself product? What is your preferred method of learning another language? Leave a comment below!
I haven’t tried to learn a language with this series, but have tried Rosetta Stone. I pick up bits of languages when I travel. The biggest problem is that even if I can form a question, I am not always able to understand the answer. To me that is the drawback of most of these programs.
Wow, I never thought of learning Hebrew – learning an different alphabet always seemed a bit scary somehow. But it’s true though, now with the Internet everything seems possible. I guess it’s really down to one’s personal motivation, the end to the story. I’m fascinated by myths and so on but have never really come across a reason to learn it. Maybe one day I will. 🙂
xx finja | http://www.effcaa.com
i love learning languages, never thought of hebrew until this post. Have not tried a teach yourself product yet but this post seems convincing to learn a language this way. Also B1 is a decent level for day to day communication. Glad to have come across this article. Thank you
Wow it would be amazing to teach myself another language, think of how useful that would be. What an extensive guide to learning Hebrew as well xx
I’ve never tried to teach myself a language .. although I’m particularly found of Hebrew. In fact .. the only tattoo I have is “Yahweh” written in Hebrew letters. There have only been two people who’ve ever saw it and knew what it meant (or that have commented on it). One a young kid who works at Target .. he said it’s painted on the ceiling of one of the churches in downtown NYC. Another works at the Jimmy John’s carry-out window .. and is student at a nearby bible college.
I never saw myself learning Hebrew but then again, it would be so nice to learn a different language. All languages are different but also somewhat similar and that’s make them easy and difficult to learn at the same time. This sounds like a lovely guide to learning Hebrew though. I like that there are exercises to help review your knowledge too.
A friend is learning and struggling with Hebrew! I am forwarding on this handy post to him x
This is interesting! Learning other language is a bit difficult but this product can help you learn by yourself and no need to go to school for it! Nice review!
I have not used this product before, nor any of the languages programs out there. I took languages classes and talk to the native speakers, that’s how I learn languages. I speak fluently and learning total of six languages. Thank you for the review, though!
I love learning languages although I have not really studied any languages since university. I’ve heard good things about the duolingo app.
Once I tried with Chinese by Chineasy method and I suggest it to everyone! Never tried this brand. Did you? would you actually suggest it?was it good for your brew skils?
Hi Sabrina. If you are willing to take the time to read the book AND listen to the audio, TEACH YOURSELF is ideal.
How amazing – my degree was Modern Languages and I’m fascinated by them. Never tried to learn a non-European language though – getting used to the new characters must be tough but it would be amazing to be able to achieve it!
Seems like a helpful resource to get someone started on learning Hebrew! It also has many exercises in reading, writing, speaking which is would be super important when it comes to picking up a new language. Superb!
While I’ve never thought about learning Hebrew, I would really be into trying this method for fixing my French. I worry though that since I speak it already I would prevent myself from getting better.
I speak several languages but most I learnt when I was younger. The idea of having to learn a completely new language now, especially one as different from the languages I know as Hebrew feels kinda intimidating… So well done for having the discipline to teach yourself a new language!!
I can imagine in Israel they would be so surprised that a foreigner spoke Hebrew! My Spanish and Thai are good but my French is bad, I should try this method for my French before I travel to Africa again.
I like the mix. French, Spanish and………….THAI.
I’ve tried a few without much success. Have you finished the course yet? Did the course help you learn Hebrew?
Yes, you just have to be willing to put in the time.
Interesting product. I have not tried to learn a new language after adolescense. I come accross many people from Israel all the time. So, this might not be a bad idea.
I have never tried out Hebrew. Still struggling with Spanish.
Im currently brushing up on my 4th language, Italian!
Tiana, are you going to Italy soon?
This sounds interesting. But it reminds me of a new product that enables people to converse with each other with a click of a button –I think it’s revolutionary but nothing pays off better than learning the language yourself. Just like this! 🙂
This is awesome. I am going to share this with my gf. She loves Hebrew and the Jewish culture.
I love learning languages, but I don’t have much opportunity to speak any language but English and French. I studied Japanese in college but now it is rusty. Teach Yourself looks good so maybe I could use it to review my Japanese.