hebrew course

[Yehoshua]

Just thought I'd pass along a link for everyone who is interested in Modern Hebrew (or other languages). It's a free course created by the US government for the Foreign Service Institute. You can download the PDF book and mp3's for listening. Enjoy! http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/

[ShainaBrina]

Thank you for passing that on!!
Looks great

Blessings
Shaina

[varsity]

I bought these tapes about 9 years ago with the intent to learn modern Hebrew. Unfortunately for me the speech was too rapid for me to follow as a beginner. The approach to presenting grammar was also non-traditional. After using other courses I can now follow the easier dialog with difficulty.

I imagine young people with a knack for learning languages (the sort that goes into foreign service) may do fine with these courses, but I won't recommend them to the typical adult learner. Of course, they are free. So what's to lose trying them? Just don't become discouraged if you find them difficult. There are other courses that are quite different.

[Yehoshua]

I agree. I would not reccomend this for the beginner. This is for someone who already has a grip on grammar and some experience. I'm a forth semester Modern (2nd Biblical) and it's great to augment my other materials. My main problem though has been the lack of interaction with native speakers. I'm supposed to go to Hebrew University this summer for a month long intensive Ulpan, I think that will help.

[varsity]

I agree. I would not reccomend this for the beginner. This is for someone who already has a grip on grammar and some experience. I'm a forth semester Modern (2nd Biblical) and it's great to augment my other materials. My main problem though has been the lack of interaction with native speakers. I'm supposed to go to Hebrew University this summer for a month long intensive Ulpan, I think that will help.

It's great to see someone with your background here. What texts and study materials have you used for modern and Biblical Hebrew? Are you familiar with HaYesod?

[Yehoshua]

For Biblical we are using Lambdin's Introduction to Biblical Hebrew. This book would be terrible for self study, but is the standard for classroom instruction. For modern we are using "Hebrew from Scratch." http://www.amazon.com/Hebrew-Scratch-Textbook-Part-I/dp/B000JCE7R6/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204526873&sr=8-1 There are 2 books, one for each year. This is a very good series, produced in Israel by native speakers, and the CD sets are a must. What I like about the combination of my courses is that I'm learning the grammatical context of biblical and intuitively applying the aspects which pertain to Modern. As with any language one needs a multiplicity of sources. For grammar I use this one: http://www.amazon.com/Reference-Grammar-Modern-Hebrew-Grammars/dp/0521527333/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204527136&sr=1-7 Anyhow, I'm considering studying Akkadian this fall if my schedule will permit. That should be interesting.