Hebrew

[HaTikva]

Are there any people here that are non-native Hebrew speakers but somehow managed to learn the language?

I'd love to learn it really, but the problem is few language schools offer Hebrew classes because the demand they have is mainly for other European languages and for languages such as Russian, Chinese, Japanese, ... The demand for Hebrew is low so there are not many language schools offering courses. University may do, but they usually don't accept participation of those not studying full-time at the uni. Synagogues sometimes organise such courses but no shul nearby where I live ...

So how did the others who did learn Hebrew master the language?

 

[Bullitt1987]

At the moment i'm learning russian. But i think in future i will try to learn hebrew too. I like this language, but at the moment i dont know where to learn it, i found courses for so much languages, but not for hebrew.

 

[BC-A]

Are there any people here that are non-native Hebrew speakers but somehow managed to learn the language?

I'd love to learn it really, but the problem is few language schools offer Hebrew classes because the demand they have is mainly for other European languages and for languages such as Russian, Chinese, Japanese, ... The demand for Hebrew is low so there are not many language schools offering courses. University may do, but they usually don't accept participation of those not studying full-time at the uni. Synagogues sometimes organise such courses but no shul nearby where I live ...

So how did the others who did learn Hebrew master the language?

I lived in France in here the Jewish community is big and active. In most big cities you can get lessons by going to one of the local Jewish organisations. You can even study it in some universities.

But the first 3 years I studied at home. The first 6 months, 4 hours a day. With books and internet (you can find some course on line, with videos so you can get the accent and flow of words).

 

[Messiakh]

I tried learning starting from the alphabets through Youtube videos, it was fun for awhile, I was able to relate to some since I already know Arabic, but then I realize I wouldn't benefit much from learning, so I kinda got bored, still love the language though!

 

[Kenneth R.]

Go to the Jewish community eh? Sounds like good advice! I want to learn many languages. I hope I have time!!

 

[HaTikva]

3 years ?? Some people learn Hebrew in an Israeli ulpan in less than a year. Anyways, which sites are decent for learning Hebrew? I saw some language exchange sites but it doesn't seem to work that smoothly with lot of people that are there just to have a chat without seriously wanting to exchange language skills.

PS: I can sing Norra El Norra and the Israeli national anthem, but there my knowledge of Hebrew stops, so let's say I am a beginner ...

 

[Chanakya]

I want to learn Hebrew too, so I shall keep a close tab on this page


I tried verifying how accurate I sing OL's Hebrew songs [Norra El Norra, El Meod Na'ala, Sapari, etc] and the Israeli fellow who was in my school told me I mangled it quite a bit. [The phlegm sounds ]

 

[BC-A]

3 years ?? Some people learn Hebrew in an Israeli ulpan in less than a year.

Yes, but when you live in the country and you are having special heavy courses, it is a bit different than working at home

 

[Ghâshûl]

I've learned biblical hebrew at University, and one of my friends is studying modern hebrew, so we compare things and I try to learn some modern from her, and she learns more about the grammatical side of hebrew from me

Still, I would like to be good enough to actually get by in Israel without having to resort to English, but that would take a lot of time that I don't really have at the moment.

 

[Morticia NL.]

Interesting. I only know the modern Hebrew and it seems to me that is far from the ancient language, since there are so many new words in the modern Hebrew.

 

[Postmodernist]

Hm, I've just realized that modern Boris = Hebrew Borukh = Arabic Barak.

 

[Ghâshûl]

I'd say that most of the words from ancient Hebrew are still used it seems to me, but that they've included a ton of new and imported words, because there's a lot of meanings that can't really be expressed by what remains from back then.
One thing I remember spending some time figuring out was this one: סופרמרקט. I was trying to guess how it was pronounced, until it dawned on me that it wasn't a Hebrew word at all

 

[HaTikva]

Morticia, how did you manage to learn Hebrew? Did you take a course or was it self-instructing? I know a girl from Ireland who learnt Korean on her own, simply through chatting with Koreans on the web, self tutorials and reading online Korean papers. Without any formal teacher she was fluent in Korean in less than a year. So it is certainly possible with some self determination. I also heard Hebrew isn't a very complex language grammatically as soon as one adapts to the different alphabet.


PS: Since I mainly want to learn Hebrew to increase my chances of relocating to Israel and finding a job there, I'd want to learn modern Hebrew. Biblical Hebrew is a nice one to know and such, but it's not extremely useful in modern day Israel so I'd surely want to start off with modern Hebrew.

 

[uncle_wally]

I was about to start a new thread, but I decided to look for an old one to find some information. I´m trying to learn hebrew, and I would love some tips like, where can I download or watch movies in hebrew (subbed in other language, if possibly), or at least the names to look for them; bands or musicians that sing in hebrew (not necessarily metal), etc...
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Miltbrand]

Currently doing a full time Pashto course (30 hours a week). Pashto is a crazy language to learn, I think Hebrew would be a walk in the park compared to this stuff. I'll have to look into it at some point. Next year I think I'll try Spanish in my off time....

 

[HaTikva]

? אתן לוֹמד׳ם ע׳בר׳ת אחשׁב

I completed one year now, but most efford goes to the alphabet the first half year. Or shall I say alphabets, because the hand written Hebrew is different from the typed/printed Hebrew. Right when you think you got the alphabet under control, a second variant is coming ... Also, in some cases there are several options, for example the -u- sound can be either וּ or it can be indicated by placing three dots going downward right below the character , for example שֻׁל. Also, some characters can be written in different ways, for example both שׂ and ס are -s-. In some cases it's not Always clear which variant to use in which case. But generally, after about 5 months I felt confident enough to start writing in Hebrew alphabet, but because so much focus on alphabet is given, you learn not too much vocabulary and grammar the first year.

Now looking for a new teacher, to continue my Hebrew training ...