Saturday, December 27, 2008

The Step by Step Method of Learning Hebrew

By Neal Walters

The Hebrew alphabet consists of only 22 letters, all of which are consonants. Modern Hebrew, as used in Israel today, rarely includes vowels in magazines and newspapers. Students always begin learning with the vowels, but eventually they learn to read common words without them.

In Hebrew, vowels are called Nikud, and they are printed above or below the 22 letters. For example, the CHOLAM is a small dot written in the upper left position over a consonant. On the other hand, a CHIRIQ is a single dot written under a letter, and has a short "EE" sound.

In the software tutorial "At Home with Hebrew", letters are taught in pairs. Each lesson teaches a pair of letters, and introduces a new vowels or two. In this way, the student is not overwhelmed with too much information too fast.

So for example, the exercises in the first lesson, if they were in English letters, would have your pronouncing practice syllables like this: BAHBAH BABEH BEHBAH, VAHBAH, BAHVAH, BEHVAH, VEHBAH, BAHB, BAHV.

Lesson number 2 then teaches two more letters (Gimmel and Dalet). In order not to overwhelm the student with too much new information at once, the new letters are rehearsed with vowels from the prior lesson. The syllables presented might include: DEHG, GEHD, DAHG, GAHD, DEHGAH, DEHDEH, DEHGEH, GAHGEH.

Step by step, one or two more vowels are introduced. For example, the TZEREH, which can be pronounced like "EH" sound. The same consonants are then mixed with the new vowel sounds: For example: DEH, GEH, BEH.

Towards the end of a lesson, the student is reviewed on letters from prior lessons, as well as letters from the current lesson. This makes sure that the learner retains information from prior lessons. So now, the student could try to pronounce syllables like: BEEGEE, BOOGOO, DOODAHD, VOODOO, BEEVAH, and so on.

When a new letter is introduced, such as the letter "Dalet", the program shows other letters that a beginner might easily get confused. For example, Dalet and Resh are confused often confused by beginners. The program explains the subtle differences, for example, how Dalet has a sharp corner that overlaps at the top, and how Resh is curved.

By the end of the 13th lesson, the student will have learned all 22 letters and all the nikudot (vowels). Even though the student may not know the meaning of a word, he should be able to pronounce any printed Hebrew word. At this point, the student is ready to move on to vocabulary. - 16928

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