Customer Reviews

Modern Hebrew I

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those new to the Pimsleur method, you may wonder how or why this audio course is superior to all others. The late Dr. Pimsleur studied intervals of repetition with students learning new languages... rote repetition over and over doesn't always sear new vocabulary and syntax into the brain - but Dr. Pimsleur discovered that repeating certain words and phrases in specific time intervals while learning other new things inbetween the intervals seemed to be the right method for training your brain to think in a new language.

American English is my native language and I didn't grow up hearing Hebrew or any other language at home. I was a late talker and have always had problems discerning sounds, despite my accute hearing. I didn't think an audio course would be worth my while.

All the Pimsleur programs start out the same way - a brief introduction - then you will hear an announcer speak in English, introducing a male and female native speaker of the language. At the beginning of lesson I, you first hear a brief conversation in Hebrew. If like me, you have had no prior foundation in the language, it might as well be gibberish. Then the announcer tells you that at the end of just that 30 minute lesson, you will understand the entire conversation you just heard - and they are not kidding.

I hope that everyone who uses this program will contact Simon & Schuster (the publishers) and beg them to come out with Hebrew II and Hebrew III like they have for Spanish, German & French.

I didn't study with these endlessly - I just had the lessons in the car and when I'd go to lunch during the work day, I'd listen to one lesson in my car. As the lessons progress, they get increasingly more challenging, so I had to listen to some lessons more than once.

After listening several times to all the lessons through the last lesson, lesson #30, I felt confident that I could go to Israel, order food and drinks, ask for directions to the Western Wall or a hotel, have someone fill up my gas tank and even visit with new friends, etc. - all in modern Israeli Hebrew.

I listened to the CD lessons for a few months before enrolling in a Hebrew class in college (which I am still taking) - after 2 months of studying in college, there are very few new words that I've learned in class that weren't already covered in my lessons.

Hearing native speakers speak the language is essential - you get the intonation drilled into your head, which really helps you to speak it with the right accents in the right place and gives you more of a feeling for the language. The announcer explains important things about Israeli culture when necessary and as needed, will explain that a particular verb or other grammatical element is different in some instances (all languages have "irregulars") and why that's the case.

This is like having an Ulpan-to-go. Granted, you won't be ready to run for the Knesset after mastering all 30 lessons, but you will be extremely confident in being able to conduct business and basic conversations in Hebrew. I took Spanish in High School and I feel like I have a much more comprehensive mastery of Hebrew in a couple of months than I ever had in Spanish after 2 years of classroom training.

I reviewed this course a few months ago after nine lessons and promised to review it again when I had finished. Well, life catches up with one and for a variety of reasons I am still not there. I thought I should update my review because of the number of e-mails I was receiving with recurring questions.

The most common question I get is, "How good is your Hebrew after completing the course?" I will get to that soon. First, you should know the context of this course.

Pimsleur Language courses are published by Simon and Schuster Audio. The really popular languages (like Spanish, French and German) have three levels, each with thirty lessons. Hebrew is only available in level one. That is only one third of a "full" course. The publishers have told me (and some of my correspondents) that they have no plans to produce any further Hebrew levels. If you agree, I urge you all to contact Simon and Schuster to let them know that you are interested in Hebrew levels two and three. That way we might eventually get them.

Back to business. The real core question is, "How good will my Hebrew be if I do this course?" Well, first the bad news: If you do all thirty lessons, your Hebrew will still be quite limited. You will be able to confidently communicate in some "everyday" situations such as buying things, asking for directions, introducing yourself, etc. But if you listen to two people having a casual conversation in Hebrew then you may struggle to understand anything much at all.

Now the good news: the course really ingrains the grammar and vocabulary into your mind so that they become quite natural. That is, you are not taught any grammar theory, but you learn to speak with correct grammar by practice. All the sentences are broken down so you know exactly what you are saying. I personally still consider the Pimsleur course to be the best audio course available.

Oh yes, this course is really only for beginners. Okay, so you know "Shalom" and a few other words. If you can hold a sketchy, basic conversation in Hebrew then you might want to look elsewhere. If you cannot, then this course is at your level.

So my conclusion: The Pimsleur Hebrew course is an excellent way to start learning Hebrew. It teaches you enough to survive, but not enough to take part in a lengthy conversation. It gives you a natural confidence to speak what you do know, and it gives you a context for any further study of grammar. It teaches you the basic "nuts and bolts" type sentence structures, so that you can immediately use any new vocabulary you may learn. It also teaches you to read from scratch, provided the vowel markings are shown.

I highly recommend the course as long as you are aware of (and accept) its limitations. You need to be prepared to follow-up this course with quite a lot of further study and actual conversational experience if you are ever to become fluent. This course will give you a really good start, then the rest is up to you.

Thanks for reading. Shalom.

This is the third Pimsleur course I have done (Russian, Eastern Armenian, Hebrew). I can't say enough good things about the Pimsleur system in general. It is all audio, so it is useful for commuters. The repetition of the vocabulary is good. The introduction of grammatical concepts is good, particularly for an all audio system. The speakers are clear, although occasionally, I had to consult a book for spelling. Only present, imperative, and infinitive verb forms are used in level I. The focus is on 1st and 2nd person like all the Pimsleur tapes.

The problems I have found are: 1. Hebrew is only available at Level I, so you will not learn enough to be functional even as a tourist. 2. The course is good for learning syntax and grammar, but does not provide enough vocabulary. Also, in the Hebrew course, some nif'al and hif'il forms are introduced as imperatives or infinitives, and it would have been nice to introduce the present (active participle) as well. 3. The extensive use of imperatives, although grammatically correct, is not so colloquial in Israel, as I discovered living there. Imperfect and infinitives are more common with the exception of a few verbs that are commonly used in the imperative form. This course could give you the wrong impression about the use of the imperative.

Finally, Pimsleur costs too much!

(3/5/04) My earlier review was done over a year ago. I have downgraded my opinion from 5 stars to 3 stars. The Pimsleur set of 30 CDs is too basic - will not really teach you what you need to learn. Since then, I have tried to learn at a synagogue from a teacher using an excellent book with cartoon stories and cassette tapes and have learnt much more. The book is "Haveyeth Ushma" ("Express and Learn") by Judith Case and Paul Anokh but unfortunately is published in Israel - the copy my teacher has is in Russian and Hebrew.

Learning a new language (especially with a non-English script), to the point where you are fluent in it, is very difficult. It takes a lot of persistence, motivation, time, sweat and effort. Most language systems boast that they deliver quick results easily - dont believe it; it is easy to over-estimate your progress (as I perhaps did).
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(Sept 2002)
In trying to learn Hebrew, I have tried out Berlitz' "Language/30", Transparent Language's "Hebrew Now!", and Pimsleur's "Complete Course". I have read good things about "Rosetta Stone Hebrew" and have tried only the demo version which can be downloaded from their website. However I liked Pimsleur better.

Transparent Language and Berlitz both contain phrases to memorize. But both of them essentially want you to memorize sentences and phrases without much help. This is their failing. This is hard and difficult work - and boring.

In contrast, Pimsleur has 2 great principles:

1) like a child playing with building blocks, you learn to logically construct sentences, and in small steps.
2) Over and over, you are asked to recall and in different ways, what you have learnt, and then to make new constructions that are slightly different. This is like the child testing its castle construction! This is wonderful because when you converse in any language, you are doing just this and your grasp becomes really strong.

It is like having an expert teacher. This makes language learning much easier. Pimsleur provides a good foundation which is very valuable during that time of language learning when you can easily get discouraged and stop. Of course, it is not complete and I think insufficient for real use. Another excellent resource is to order the Jesus Film video in Hebrew - it is by Campus Crusade for Christ. You can watch and listen to it and follow along in your Bible at Luke's gospel.
Drawbacks:
1) simple content: asking for a date, food and drink, counting numbers, money, asking about children, route to Tel Aviv. ie. the very basics of what a visitor to Israel would require to fluently speak.

Sample Conversation (lesson 25): She: Shalom! He: How are you? She: Not so well. He: Why? She: I want to buy something and the stores are closed. Why? He: Because it's late. It's 9 O' clock in the evening. She: really? He: The stores are open tomorrow. She: ok. when? He: At 10 am.

2) not the best value for money ...

Nevertheless, it is an effective foundation, easy to learn. I have completed all 30 lessons after 3 months of learning approx. 35 hours). If you do not have a "live" teacher, I would recommend Pimsleur.

Shame on you, Pimsleur, for making us wait more than five years for the successor to this unparalleled introduction to Modern Hebrew.

The Pimsleur all-auditory approach to language learning is simply the best product available for a hands-off non-visual approach to language learning that is superb for the mobile and commuter learner. See my reviews of German I, II, and III if you want to know more about this reviewer's appreciation for how the Pimsleur method works with the brain's 'hard-wired' capacities for language absorption and construction.

With Hebrew I, they've hit the nail on the head all over again.

The two speakers in this series - one male and one female - even manage to present different pronunciations in a way that allows the learner's brain to latch onto the commonalities and ignore the variations. This is what your brain does every time it interprets symbols, and language is as symbolic as it gets. The pronunciation and elision of the 'h' sound is a case in point.

You just can't find a better language-learning technique short of immersion or a very good live teacher.

The problem is the delay between Hebrew I and the promised Hebrew II (January, 2007). Surely both commercial and pedagogical considerations should have persuaded Pimsleur to get the second series out sooner than this.

I suppose that's an inverted compliment. So be it.

As I write this review, 2007 is only months away, so a new purchase of Hebrew I will not present difficulties if you want to move quickly to Hebrew II. If that's your situation, don't think twice. Pimsleur Hebrew I is the equal of any other product and the very best no-eyes, no-hands approach you'll fine anywhere.

Lehitra'ot!

I did extensive research on all the Hebrew audio programs. If you are looking for an audio only program, this is the one to buy. The FBI and CIA use it to train their agents.

Instead of your usual conversation tapes where a conversation is played, then you learn each vocabulary word, and then, after hearing the conversation again, you go to the next lesson -- this one is based on prove memory techniques, giving you new words and phrases at specific times so to maximize your retention. You switch from conversations to words back to conversations in a preplanned manner. Each of the words is sounded out for you down to the syllable, letting you try to perfect your accent at the same time.

The only problem is that there is no Hebrew II. If you have Hebrew I and have enjoyed it, or even if you haven't, please email Pimsleur and let them know you would be interested in a Hebrew II. If enough people email, they will make it. The requsts have to keep coming, though!

I am ver impressed with this program. It is much better than I expected and I am learning so fast. I am able to communicate with my Israeli friends in Hebrew a bit after only 4 lessons. I'm excited about the speed and results of this program.
If you want to learn modern Hebrew and actually be able to talk with people without a terrible English accent this is the program for you.

There's nothing more to add to the glowing reviews on this website, except that many complain that there is no Hebrew II or III. Well, Hebrew II is due out in December 2006, so its non-existence shouldn't stop anyone from getting Hebrew I.

Also, one of the other reviewers mentioned that the guy's pronunciation was better than the woman's--I found the opposite to be true! I'd get a word "down" like he said it, only to have the woman make the syllables more clear. It's possible that his pronunciation is a bit more accurate in terms of how people actually say it in Israel, but only because he speaks so naturally that syllables blend, like they do in any native tongue. But it seems to me that if we don't want to play "operator" with increasing degradation of the words, the woman's more exact syllables are better. We can speed them up ourselves!

Still, it is a GREAT system.

I am a real fan of the Pimsleur method. I think that the continuous repetition of words and their different uses is a great way to memorize a new vocabulary and learn how to use it.

Being a native Hebrew speaker (I bought this for a friend), I would like to point out one important aspect that may be easily overlooked. These lessons teach you common spoken Hebrew, the way it is used by many native Hebrew speakers. This means that the lessons contain quite a few frequent grammatical mistakes of the kind that would make any Hebrew grammar teacher blush in embarrassment. However, you would hear a lot of native speakers make these errors (regrettably, some of them do it consciously).

A common mistake in these lessons is the misuse of the future tense in cases where the imperative tense should be used. This may help you sound more like a native speaker and less like a Hebrew Ulpan graduate, but may definitely be awkward in some circles and quite unacceptable in writing. So it depends on whether you would like to sound cool, or correct, but you should be aware of it.

All I can say is that the method has been extremely effective for me! Before this I took the Pimsleur Polish course with great results.

I went to Hebrew school for a few years as a child and can read phonetically, but I have never really learned conversational Hebrew. The lessons are effective in teaching basic phrasing and composing sentences.
I strongly recommend this enjoyable, effective course. Furthermore, I don't know of any other good Hebrew audio-course.