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Best resources to learning Hebrew? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| bustthewave Newbie United States Joined 5090 days ago 7 posts - 7 votes | Message 1 of 15 19 December 2010 at 9:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hey, I'm trying to learn modern Hebrew and I'm borrowing a friend's Rosetta Stone, Hebrew version. I'm only on lesson one, unit one, but it feels like a complete waste of time. I know nothing about the language characters, and yet it's asking me to "intuitively" match written words with pictures. I know nothing of the grammar, and yet it's throwing tenses and conjugations at me left and right with no explanation. There are some things I can infer, such that it has gender and how they pluralize but I have nothing to back up my hunches.
I need better learning materials... I'm not looking to spend a lot of money but I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a book (or a rabbi haha) that would teach me construction, grammar, writing... exc. And I'm having a hard time figuring out which books are for modern hebrew versus biblical hebrew (and is there really even a difference?) Thanks guys 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Fizzybubelech Newbie United States Joined 5090 days ago 1 posts - 1 votes Speaks: Modern Hebrew | Message 2 of 15 19 December 2010 at 9:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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dude, rosetta stone is so totally not a waste of time, but your expected to already know the alphabet. Learn that first.
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| Cabaire Senior Member Germany Joined 5600 days ago 725 posts - 1352 votes  | Message 3 of 15 19 December 2010 at 11:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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modern hebrew versus biblical hebrew (and is there really even a difference?)
With my knowledge of Biblical Hebrew and its grammar and vocabulary I found it relatively easy to adapt myself to modern Hebrew. There are of course new coinages of words, the verb changed from an aspect to a tense system and the syntax is very different, but in the whole I treat them as the same language. To say that Modern Hebrew is Yiddish relexified exaggerates the differences enormously. It is more like ancient Greek and Katharevousa. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| bustthewave Newbie United States Joined 5090 days ago 7 posts - 7 votes | Message 4 of 15 20 December 2010 at 12:00am | IP Logged | ||
Oh don't get me wrong, I still see how it would be really useful, but only if I have a working knowledge of the (as you said) alphabet and grammar. So in the meantime I need to find a good resource to supplement it with. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| bustthewave Newbie United States Joined 5090 days ago 7 posts - 7 votes | Message 5 of 15 20 December 2010 at 12:02am | IP Logged | ||
Oh don't get me wrong, I still see how it would be really useful, but only if I have a working knowledge of the (as you said) alphabet and grammar. So in the meantime I need to find a good resource to supplement it with. And thanks cabaire, that was helpful :). i kinda assumed it would be roughly the difference between modern English and Shakespearean English Edited by bustthewave on 20 December 2010 at 12:03am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| JW Hexaglot Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/egw Joined 6123 days ago 1802 posts - 2011 votes 22 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Ancient Greek, French, Biblical Hebrew Studies: Luxembourgish, Dutch, Greek, Italian | Message 6 of 15 20 December 2010 at 12:04am | IP Logged | ||
I would say Modern and Biblical Hebrew are even closer than that--and neither has any relation to Yiddish which is a Germanic language. Yiddish and Hebrew really are only related in that both use the Hebrew Script and both are Jewish languages. However, the similiarities end there. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cabaire Senior Member Germany Joined 5600 days ago 725 posts - 1352 votes | Message 7 of 15 20 December 2010 at 6:04pm | IP Logged | ||
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However, the similiarities end there
I fear, they do not end. Modern Hebrew has the phonological inventory of Yiddish, not Biblical Hebrew. Also the syntax, the formation of calques and the range of the meaning of words are from a European perspective. The extreme position of Horvath and Wexler is according to the "Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world: "The revisionist position defines Israeli as Indo-European; Yiddish relexified, i.e. Yiddish (the revivalists' mother tongue) is the 'substratum', while Hebrew is only the 'superstratum', providing the lexis and the lexicalized morphology." For a more concrete illustration of this thesis, read "Israel Language Policy and Linguistics" by Haiim B Rosén. Among others interesting I found the discussion of בוא and יצא. See http://www.adath-shalom.ca/israel_lang_policy_rosen.htm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| JW Hexaglot Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/egw Joined 6123 days ago 1802 posts - 2011 votes 22 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Ancient Greek, French, Biblical Hebrew Studies: Luxembourgish, Dutch, Greek, Italian | Message 8 of 15 20 December 2010 at 6:55pm | IP Logged | ||
Interesting. I look forward to reading the reference. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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