Customer Reviews

iVocab Biblical Hebrew 2.0: Vocabulary for Eight Beginning Grammars (iVocab Series)

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

 

 

I have found this to be a great assist in my quest to learn Biblical Hebrew. Previously I was using standard flash cards, Old Testament Hebrew Vocabulary Cards (Zondervan Vocabulary Builder Series, The), but this software product is much better. Not only do you see the words in Hebrew and English, but you can also hear them. This is especially helpful if you are learning alone, without an instructor.
The word lists are keyed to the lessons in the textbook I am using, as well as to seven other textbooks. The best thing is that the software allows you to create your own word lists. For instance, my textbook discussed the various independent pronouns, but did not include them in the vocabulary list. Fortunately, I could make my own list that did contain these words.
One other thing that impressed me is that the documentation supplies an email address to use if you have problems or suggestions. I was surprised that the email goes direct to the author of the product.

Although this product is designed for video-capable iPods (on the back of the box - not shown above - it clearly indicates that only the audio works with MP3 players), I was able to get the flashcards to work on my Sony Walkman MP3 player. The contents of the disk include several directories, including Flashcards, 3GP Files, Grammar Playlists, and MP3 Files. If you have an MP3 player, copy the MP3 Files directory over to your player...don't bother with the Flashcards directory. If you have an iPod there are extensive instructions included on how to load them. Aside from the technical issues, the user should be aware that a "modern Israeli model" of pronunciation is followed, so for example there is no distinction made between the patach and qamets. If not for this I would have given 5 stars.

I was under the impression that the flashcards were like a game that was organized within a shell. Instead, it is organized within iTunes. Seems to me that importing multiple playlists (chapters) into iTunes should be easier than traveling through the maze of menus to import them one-at-a-time. Loading all the components into iTunes turned out to be a hassle. Isn't there a wide selection of flashcard shells for the iPod that allows publishers to plug-in their content?
There is extensive support for many textbooks with this version. Each of the supported books chapter's is an iTunes "playlist." However, the text I have is not included, so I'm guessing which playlist folder might follow the book I am using (Fundamental Biblical Hebrew by Andrew H. Bartelt, Concordia Publishing House). So far, this is reminding me of the bad old DOS days.