Customer Reviews

Hebrew: A Language Course: Level 1 Teacher's Edition

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I was Bar Mitzvah 37 years ago and had not studied since then. I wanted to be able to speak Hebrew, and to understand the Siddur. Studying with a tutor and using this book was a terrific start. It is entertaining and warm. While you learn, the stories in each unit will heighten your mood. Then you can go ahead to Level 2, and it get's better.
I doubt that there is any better way to learn Hebrew for one who vaguely remembered the aleph-bet.

Of course I'd prefer to have my yeshiva students study Hebrew language 4 hours a day--but in the real world in the USA, in most of the right of center yeshivot you're lucky if they learn Heberw at all. I have 3 hours a week with my students, and their limudei kodesh classes are not "ivrit be-ivrit."
Ora Band's book is perfect for such students: It is systematic; it explains grammar concepts in English; it is 100% appropriate --no bikini clad babes (a la Hebrew from Scratch) --although I must say that my boys got a naughty chuckle out of the drawing on page 30)--and one book leads into another.

I have found it useful to test the boys using the GWU Hebrew placement test(downloadable). if they score more than 40 out of 88 on that test, I give them the "final Exam" available in Ora Band's Teacher's Edition. Based on that final, I can pinpont at what stage they need to start in her book. The lowest scoring students start at ch. 1 and the other students get supplementary work until the rest of the class catches up with them.

Band's book gives useful vocabulary, and it doesn't make the error of giving too much information too soon.
Suggestions: a cassette tape of audio cd would be a nice compliment to this series, as well as teacher's editions for the 2nd and 3rd volumes.

This book has been very helpful. My Hebrew teacher also liked it and told me it would be a great book for me to study parallel to the material she adopted. However, you must buy and learn everything that is in the primer of this same series before starting to use the level one.

I love this book. It was perfect for me. But if you don't already have a basic Hebrew vocabulary, use a different book. If you have a good background in basic nouns and verbs, this book is wonderful.

This book assumes that students aren't in an ulpan or other immersive environment, which is good because I'm not and most American students aren't. It takes it slowly with lots of exercises. The other thing I really like about this series is that it uses examples from Jewish culture, the Bible and other Jewish writings. It goes beyond teaching language to teach culture.

Hebrew is far from English. This book is far from what we would call level one. In this book, many examples start with the number zero (then the number one). Same is true here. If you donot know any Hebrew.. Purchase "The First Hebrew Primer" (donot forget the answer book) (level zero) first, THEN move on to this book (level 1).

Reasons for not perfect: This book assumes a classroom situation (with a knowledgeable teacher). Multiple glossaries make word definitions hard to locate and many words arenot defined. The "Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language" supplies answers even when internet dictionaries fail. This book needs a better glossary, appendixes and an answer sheet, but I have seen nothing better to continue AFTER "The First Hebrew Primer".

This book is worth getting for the readings alone. They are interesting, varied and engaging despite the limited vocabulary that could be used at this point. I think the intended audience is high school and college students, but the readings are entirely appropriate for a bright eight- or nine-year-old.

The rest -- the instruction per se and the exercises -- are all right, nothing remarkable but not bad either. The grammar is presented adequately but not encyclopedically; there's certainly enough there for the self-teaching student to figure out the readings.

Everything I've just said also goes for level 2.