Hebrew: A Language Course Level One [Paperback]

Bella Bergman (Author, Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Hebrew

Product Details

• Paperback: 243 pages
• Publisher: Behrman House (July 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874413311
• ISBN-13: 978-0874413311
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #21 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Hebrew > Instruction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great - glad I found it, October 4, 2003

By 

Eclectic reader "softarch" (california) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hebrew: A Language Course Level One (Paperback)

This book rates a 5 not because it is perfect (more on that in a moment) but because its strengths so greatly outweigh its weaknesses. I am a non-Jewish adult self-studying to read the Hebrew scriptures. I tried "Basics of Biblical Hebrew" with its workbook and found it sorely lacking - so much so that I almost gave up on learning Hebrew. Then I found this book and I'm back on track and loving every minute.

Who should use it:
* Beginning students (classroom or self-study) who either already have learned the alef-beth or have a teacher to help them get started. There is a primer by the same authors, but I didn't buy it because I've learned the basics while trying to work through BBH.

What's good:
* Gets you reading full sentences and paragraphs from page 1 - that's the best way to learn a language. I know this as one who has self-learned German, Latin, and Chinese plus taught English as a second language. The book mentioned above (BBH) teaches grammatical rules and vocabulary lists for chapter after chapter before presenting any natural reading.
* While not purely focused on "Biblical" Hebrew, it teaches you what you need to know to start reading real Hebrew, which applies to both Biblical and Modern Hebrew.
* The glossary system (1 for prerequisite words, 1 for chapter vocabulary, and 1 for Jewish cultural words and phrases) is terrific once I figured out how to use it.
* Value: 1 low price for combined workbook and textbook
* It's fun and interesting

What could be better:
* Poor introduction - mostly spent praising the book. It would be much better to explain how to use the book. For example, I like the glossary system as mentioned above, but it took me quite a while to discover it on my own.
* The book is published in the USA and claims to be directed at an American audience, but it is a non-standard size for US books. This matters because I don't want to write in the book, so I make copies for my own use. A combination workbook/textbook like this should be either bigger (so 1 page fits 8 1/2 x 11) or smaller so that 2 facing pages fit.
* The first page of the first lesson begins with several words that are not in the glossaries - proper nouns, etc. Help a beginner out a little, especially since the glossaries are not explained well.

That's my experience - overall extremely satisfied.

72 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Level one course?, January 9, 2004

By 

T. C Gerlach "pootiboo" (Altoona, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hebrew: A Language Course Level One (Paperback)

After reading the glowing reviews on this book, I thought it would be a great introductory text for learning Hebrew. However, when I opened the book I was sorely disappointed. Chapter one starts out with a story written in Hebrew. If I knew Hebrew, I wouldn't need this book. But the author assumes you know 150 Hebrew words including: father, eats, mother, says, I, you, please, school, son, morning, chalk, garden, window, etc. It's common practice in language books to skip over words that are obvious cognates, but since Hebrew has no relationship with English, the only cognates are those words that have become a part of our language due to religion such as seraph and hallelujah. This is the only level one language book I've ever seen that makes such large assumptions about the readers knowledge of a language.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the most pedagogically astute work in Hebrew instruction!, July 21, 1999

By 

Rabbi Jason van Leeuwen ([e-mail]) (Orange County, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hebrew: A Language Course Level One (Paperback)

Ora Band and Bella Bergman have shattered the rules of Hebrew instruction with this ground breaking work. The "Shelabim," in the vernacular, works with all sides of the brain to ensure total absorption of grammar, language and usage. One can use this text for young and older adults, teens and younger kids with equal ease. Students will come away from this work really having learned something. I used this text on a college level, and the students learned a great deal without feeling they had overly exerted themselves. this is a measure of how finely attuned this work is to the way people actually think.