Content

• Steps
• Tips
• Warnings

Hebrew (עִבְרִית) is the official language of the State of Israel, as well as a sacred language in Judaism.

Acquaintance even with the basics of Hebrew will tell you a lot about the words, faith and culture of the Jewish people, will acquaint you with its many thousands of years of history. Learning Hebrew will also allow you to understand the basic principles behind ancient and modern Semitic languages, such as Arabic, Maltese, Aramaic, Syriac, Amharic, not to mention the Hebrew-derived Yiddish and Ladino.

This article will show you how to start learning Hebrew.

Steps

1. 1 Sign up for a Hebrew course. It is not so important what the format is: classes with a tutor, attending a language school or an elective at the university. The important thing is that all of this will strengthen your intention to learn the language. If you live in Israel, you can enroll in “ulpan” or “ulpanim” language courses, where you will live and breathe Hebrew, Hebrew and again Hebrew.
2. 2 Immerse yourself in the culture of Israel and the Jewish people. Listen to Israeli radio, watch Israeli movies, read Israeli books - but, of course, if it's all in Hebrew.
3. 3 Get books for children in Hebrew. Many Disney works have been translated into Hebrew, although Israeli literature itself has something to offer children!
   • Children's books can be bought at any bookstore in Israel.
   • Community Jewish centers often have a library of contemporary and classical works for readers of all ages.
4. 4 Learn to pronounce the guttural sound [r] and the “hat” sound (as in German “bach”). In the modern phonetic system, these two sounds are almost the main ones, while they are not in the English language.
5. 5 In Hebrew, nouns and verbs have two genders, masculine and feminine. Like other Semitic and many European languages, Hebrew has a gender grammatical category applicable to subjects and objects. As a rule, masculine words have no endings, and feminine words end in "it" or "ah".
6. 6 Learn basic Hebrew words (note that the notation ’kh’ and ’ch’ is the Latin transliteration of the sound “h”)
   • Yom Huledet Sameach - Happy Birthday
   • Chaim - Life
   • Beseder - Good
   • Sebaba - Cool - Gorgeous
   • Boker tov - Good morning
   • Yom tov- Good afternoon
   • Mazal tov - Congratulations
   • Ima - Mom
   • Abba - Dad
   • Ma shlomech? How are you (asking the woman)?
   • Ma shlomcha? How are you (asking the man)?
   • Shalom - Hello / bye / world
   • Ma nishma - How are you? (uni-gender appeal)
   • Korim li _ ’- My name is (literally," they call me ")
   • Ani ben (number) - I am (number of years) years old (if we are a man)
   • Ani bat (number) - To me (number of years) (if you are a woman)
   • Ha Ivrit sheli lo kol kakh tova - I do not speak Hebrew well
   • Ani meh ___ - I'm from ___
   • Todah (rabah) - Thank you (big)
   • bevakasha - Please / not at all
   • Eich korim lekha / lakh? - What is your name? (uni-gender appeal)
   • Eifo ata gar? / Eifo at garah? - Where do you live? (uni-gender appeal)
   • Eich omrim (word you are trying to say) beh'Ivrit? - How do you say (word) in Hebrew?
7. 7 Learn the rules for using the singular and plural. The plural of masculine words usually ends with "im", and feminine plurals usually end with "ot". The plural of verbs ends in “oo”. However, there are irregular verbs in Hebrew, which as soon as they are not formed ... they will have to be memorized:
   • ekhad (m.r.), akhat (female)
   • shnayim (m), shtayim (f) [’ay’ pronounced like “ay”]
   • shlosha (m), shalosh (f)
   • arba'ah (m), arbah (f)
   • khamisha (m), khamesh (f)
   • shisha (m), shesh (f)
   • shiv'ah (m), sheva (f)
   • shmon'ah (m), shmonay (f)
   • tish'ah (m), tesha (f)
   • asarah (m), eser (f)
8. 8 Hebrew is a language with a developed verb paradigm. In this he is similar to Russian and not similar to English. Each form of the verb in Hebrew depends on who is being spoken about, as well as on the time in which the action takes place. Let's take an example of the verb "Ochel", that is, "Is":
   • (I) ate: achalti
   • (You are singular, m.r.): achalta
   • (You are singular, f): achalt
   • (He): achal
   • (She): achla
   • (You are plural, even if there is only one man in the group): achaltem
   • (You are plural, f.e., if there are no men in the group): achalten
   • (They): achlu
9. 9 Learn the rules of conjugation. Use special dictionaries for this and don't worry - this is where many Hebrew learners make mistakes, so you are not alone.

Tips

• There are many resources on the Internet that will be useful to students of Hebrew. See what works best for you!
• It's impossible to learn a language in a day; you need to be single-minded to get things done. Practice, regular and constant language practice is the road to success.
• A good dictionary will come in handy.
• A pen pal can help you a lot with your Hebrew study.
• Be sure to buy a dictionary of Hebrew verbs. Without this - nowhere. Many of those who have not yet managed to learn Hebrew to a fluent level need such a dictionary. The more often you look there, the better you memorize the verbs. In addition, such dictionaries always have context, which is important.
• Surround yourself with Hebrew media content.

Warnings

• Don't confuse Hebrew and Yiddish. Yiddish is a dialect of European Jews mixed with German. Yiddish took a lot from Hebrew and Aramaic, but is not genetically related to them.