does anyone know of any Hebrew resources besides online study? Like with a book and/or worktext? Thanks!
Tina
resources for hebrew?
(10 posts) (5 voices)-
TinaSC
MemberPosted 3 years ago # Report Post -
Mum In Zion
MemberShalom Tina, Are you looking for Biblical Hebrew or Modern Hebrew?
I can't help you much with the Biblical Hebrew, but I'm sure there are others out there who can :-)
For Modern Hebrew I am using Learn Hebrew with Sarah and David ( http://www.sarahdavid.com/ ) It is explained simply (in English) and my kids (ages 8 & 6) have learned all their aleph bet and can read and write many words. We have been using it inconsistently (not recommended :-)) for about 6 months. I am hoping to be more consistent when we start our new school year in August.
When we started I just printed worksheets and flashcards for each letter from http://www.akhlah.com/
A friend of mine uses workbooks etc from Berhman House http://www.behrmanhouse.com/
This website has quite a few links for both Modern and Biblical Hebrew... some of them may be of interest to you.
http://homepages.tesco.net/~littlebears/hebrew.htm
For myself I use Rosetta Stone Hebrew. It has been good for me, but my kids have not enjoyed it so I will wait and try again with them in a year or so.
I should mention that we live in Israel, so we do hear the language everyday which helps with pronunciation but because we live/work in a predominantly English speaking environment, our kids have not picked up the language as quickly as I thought they might. They understand quite a lot but don't have confidence to speak it. All in good time :-)
I hope you find some of that helpful.
Blessings,
Michelle
Posted 3 years ago # Report Post -
Rachel
MemberBoker Tov, Tina!(Good morning)
We use the modern Hebrew Behrman House workbooks. http://behrman.powerwebbook.com/catalog.cfm?CatPos=354I can't recommend them enough. We have used them from the beginning so my dd has is in her 3rd year and my son in his 4th. They also offer wonderful customer service. I talked to them about developing materials for the homeschool market and the guy I talked to said they were in the process. They also have adult resources. My only frustration is the lack of available Hebrew Readers. Maybe they don't exist...We have our prayer books and I found a dual-language student Tanakh at First Fruits of Zion that they can use later; http://ffoz.com/index.php?target=products&product_id=272 but other than a couple of things at the site, I can't find any anywhere. There's an Israeli Bookstore online, from NY, but I'd like what they use in Israel to teach, (kind of the equivalent of our English readers here) but can't locate any.
The order we used is:
Let's Disover the ALef Bet; Shalom Alef Bet; Shalom Alef Bet; Shalom Uvrachah (has a CD-rom with it) and Shalom Ivrit Level 1, with the prayer companion (we are Messianic Jews, so I want the Prayer companion) and music CD. I didn't have to use any teacher's guide until the last one. There's also another cd-rom that's part of a different series (Alef Bet Quest) since it's fun reinforcement and he hears Isreali pronunciations' also a Script (Hebrew cursive) writing book; since one doesn't write in the block style, just reads it, I want them to be able to write in the script, too.
A side resource they enjoy for identifying regular, everyda items is "Let's Learn Hebrew Picture Dictionary"http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Learn-Hebrew-Picture-Dictionary/dp/0071408258/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272195881&sr=8-1-spell
I am interested in Rosetta Stone later, as it doesn't go into proper grammer and such, but since they aren't immersed in it daily, that's how I would provide it. Another immersion opportunity is with a narrated Hebrew BIble (MP3) and products that are the Psalms read in Hebrew (Psalms of the Heart and Psamls CDs). Those will be be future purchases for me.
We are also interested in Biblical Hebrew, as I want my children to be able to read and study the original texts (I see my son being able to do this the most) but I'm sorry I don't have any resources to offer in that area.
Shalom!
Rachel
Posted 3 years ago # Report Post -
Rachel
MemberI just remembered a resource a friend of mine uses for adult Biblical Hebrew, I don't know if it can be used for children:
The First Hebrew Primer by Ethelyn Simon.
In my loooking this morning, I found some children's books in Hebrew and transliterated, which is great. It's
http://www.ekspublishing.com/biblicalhebrew
You have to ask yourself the purpose and end game for Hebrew study; just like with Latin, Ecclessiastical or Classic, what's the purpose? Do you want your children to communicate to Hebrew speaking Jews and know the modern language? Do want them to be able to read and study the Biblical Texts? How about just Hebrew prayer knowledge? Or all three, as in our case?
HTH,
Rachel
Posted 3 years ago # Report Post -
Thank you for the great list. My husband has been slowly teaching our children Hebrew, but we want something a bit more structured now. I do have a question, which I hope is not offensive, but which of the programs mentioned is the least religious? We want our kids to speak modern Hebrew and read the Bible (Biblical Hebrew) but we are not Jewish. While we have no problem learning about the culture and religion I'd prefer a program that didn't focus exclusively on it. It would be fine with us if we studied a few prayers here and there and learned religious words, but I'd rather it wasn't the only way they learned. I hope that makes sense and doesn't sound awful.
While my husband is fluent I am not. I need a program that I can learn along with the kids and one that I can teach them myself. He's had a lot of success reading regular children's books to them and throwing in a Hebrew word here and there. They have learned quite a bit that way.
Thanks so much for the great resources you've listed.
Heather
Posted 3 years ago # Report Post -
Mum In Zion
MemberHi Heather,
The "Learn Hebrew with Sarah and David" program is not overtly religious. It does cover some things like Shabbat but you don't learn prayers as part of the beginner course.
From looking at the Behrman House site, they have much more "religious" material to choose from.
We are not Jewish, but we do Shabbat every Friday night and the children have learned the basic prayers/blessings by just listening to my husband (who is fluent) and myself.
I also use BYKI Hebrew (Before you know it) to get words or phrases to practice during the day. For example, you can do days of the week, colours, numbers, greetings.... Then I slot them into our day - In Math they count beans (or whatever!) using Hebrew rather than English. When they do the calendar they have to do the Day of the Week & Month in Hebrew and English. One day a week I get them to dress according to a colour word ("Get dressed in something adom (red)". Just a few examples of how I try to make the new language practical and not just bookwork.
Blessings,
Michelle
Posted 3 years ago # Report Post -
Rachel
MemberHeather,
It's not an offensive question.
Behrman House teaches symbols, traditions and culture through the books. It's basic stuff, not overtly religious, but it's our lifestyle, too so it's reinforcement for my children. Learning Hebew will enrich your Christain walk, as you learn the context and lifestyle of The Messiah and how he lived. There are a couple of other choices with a Christian or Messianic bent which may be a better fit and I am familiar with by name, but not used personally:
Hebrew for Christians:http://www.hebrew4christians.com/
Easy Hebrew, the homeschool version; has been HIGHLY recommended and recommended by the Old Schoolhouse: http://homeschool.easyhebrew.com/
Hebrew World:http://www.hebrewworld.com/hebrewworld.html
I hope that helps some. May you be Blessed in your endeavor!
Shalom,
Rachel
Posted 3 years ago # Report Post -
Oh no! More resources to look at! I'm only kidding - I really appreciate both Rachel's and Mum in Zion's responses. I'm very excited to get started. And a little nervous. I've tried a few times to learn on my own, but my brain doesn't seem to work for Hebrew. I speak portuguese fairly well and learned french and spanish without problem, but Hebrew just made my head spin. I hope that by using a children's program with my kids I can figure it out.
Does anyone know of good places to buy Hebrew books or movies? I try to buy a few each Christmas but they are so hard to find. And so expensive. I did find Curious George in Hebrew as well as Chronicles of Narnia. No movies and not many other kid books.
Thanks much.
Heather
Posted 3 years ago # Report Post -
labellavita
Memberwe use Behrman House and I love their resources. My DH and I use those along with our children and also use The First Hebrew Primer: The Adult Beginner's Path to Biblical Hebrew, although I will say that it moved quite fast for us in the beginning and we had to repeat chapters to get it all. I would love to use this w/ our children but they are still young (9 & 7) and The First Hebrew Primer really gets too deep into grammar and such for their age, so we'll use it w/ them in the future.
My family attends a Messianic Jewish congregation and everyone is encouraged to learn biblical Hebrew and biblical Greek, from 3-93, so we all know that we know what our bibles say. In our classes, adults use the children's primers too, Behrman House has some really good ones, and I wouldn't feel bad about using them either. Hebrew is totally different and has a totally different alphabet, it is not the same thing as learning Italian or Spanish.
Like Rachel said, define your goals. For my family, knowing what the inspired Word of God says, without having to go through the opinion of a translator is paramount to us, so we are learning Biblical Hebrew. We are open to Modern Hebrew, but its not on the radar right now. And as for learning some of the Hebrew prayers, they are beautiful, and its so nice to learn the prayers that our Messiah would have said when He broke bread... its good stuff. ;-)
Oh, and as for Hebrew movies, we don't own any. I don't know the ages of your children, but there are Hebrew videos out there, a friend of mine has several of the Shalom Sesame (Hebrew version of Sesame Street) that she said was a fun way to learn Hebrew, she and her 9 yr old enjoyed them along w/ her 3 yr old.
HTH,
Ginnie
Posted 3 years ago # Report Post -
Thanks everyone! We should be ready to start in a week or so. My kids have found an alef bet video on YouTube they love and have watched it many, many times. Time to get my rusty brain in gear and learn this language once and for all.
As we advance I think we'll use the primer called My Husband. Cheap and readily available!!!!!
Heather
Posted 3 years ago # Report Post
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