A Great Foundation In Hebrew

21 March 2009   By Jaime Wynn, MA Ed, New York

This is Michael Rose’s second book, which serves as a great foundation and companion for Modern Hebrew – A Step By Step Guide. 

The CD that accompanies the book is a really helpful tool, ideal for independent learning. The speakers have pleasant voices and pronounce sounds and words slowly and clearly. The author guides students through basic reading exercises, eventually making the transition to reading without vowels. Also included are basic vocabulary, a script-writing lesson, answer key and dictionary.

My 4th grade students at a supplementary school in NYC enjoyed the script writing activities and the assessment pages were a useful review.  I also incorporated his tables of opposite words into my curriculum.  Overall, this is a great confidence builder for beginning Hebrew readers and is appropriate for adults, children or intergenerational learning.

A Super Book

27 March 2009     By Ruti Yehoshua

This is a super book for an English speaker who is beginning to learn Hebrew. Michael Rose and Yechiel Kara have compiled this book specifically with the special needs in mind that many, many English speakers have when they start learning Hebrew.

With their innovative teaching system they address such sensitive areas as reading Hebrew from right to left, developing  skills for listening to rapid Hebrew  speakers; making the switch to vowel-less reading; helping the student to become acquainted with 'News' vocabulary and much, much more.

The CD is also very well done, moving at a good pace for the beginner. Yigal Tzadka and Rebecca Haviv are quite pleasant to listen to. The authors have made it interesting, fun and easy to learn using  the book and CD together.

The authors include many wonderful and very useful 'helps' and references, especially for learning vocabulary. The layout, the print size and the spacing of everything is absolutely excellent,easy to read and understand, and easy on the eye.

This book and CD is very well thought out and extremely considerate of the English speaker who is just beginning Hebrew. Yes, and even the cover of the book is beautifully designed. The bright, yellow Menorah is very special on the blue and green background, very appealing to the eye! It makes you want to pick it up and study and when you do you are not disappointed by what you find inside!

Greater Confidence

16 April 2009     By Brian Frankenstein

This book is easy to work through; the enclosed MP3 CD allows the reader to follow the exercises with precise instructions and clear pronunciation.  

Although I am not a beginner, the introductory repetitive exercises brought back fond memories of having the Hebrew letters and sounds instilled into me. Sentences are introduced syllable by syllable, eventually getting the student to read without vowels.  

An interesting aspect of the book is the use of ‘loan words’ – English words adapted into Hebrew – giving a familiar resonance to the readings. There is also a chapter introducing the student to writing Hebrew. 

Cross-references to tests and extra help sections, and extensive vocabulary lists (I reckon that there are over 600 words) assist the student in gaining a firm foundation in Hebrew. Being able to pick up words and phrases in news bulletins certainly makes them more comprehensible!

‘Hebrew for Beginners’ has given me greater confidence to use the language.

An Inviting and Supportive Book

2 May 2009  By Tanya Olavsky

I was very impressed with the book “Hebrew for Beginners” by Michael Rose and Yechiel Kara. The book helps those beginning to learn Hebrew which is a strange and unknown language for beginners.

As a new immigrant, I remember my first impression of the strange and unclear Hebrew letters and I remember the  feeling of fear that I had. Every Hebrew letter in the alphabet seemed to me to be the same.

Yet, in this book I saw clear, big letters and an enlarged and distinct typeface. I also really liked the exercises where Hebrew words and sentences are broken up into their basic syllables and the way these syllables are joined up to form words and sentences.

Overall, this appears to me an inviting and supportive book, contributing much to the learning of Hebrew. It eases the first meeting of the beginning student with the difficult, but wonderful Hebrew language.

Simple and Clear

26 April 2009    By Tiqvah Vita

I really like the way the book Hebrew For Beginners is designed because the authors use a simple and clear technique which allows the learner to pick up the language with ease and in a short amount of time.

The beginning steps of learning Hebrew can be challenging, but this book's strategy of separating the words and sounds by each syllable makes the goal of reading so much easier.

Many of the words in the Hebrew language are borrowed from English so as you begin to read you can also understand what it is you're reading which is wonderful.

I especially like this book because there is an audio CD which comes with it. Listening to it along with the lessons in the book is like having a personal guide sitting right next to you letting you know if you are pronouncing the words correctly or not. The book is very effective and is a wonderful pattern for teaching any language. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn Hebrew quickly and easily.

Confidence and Ease

5 April 2009  By Lyn Waters

At last we have in “Hebrew for Beginners” the A,B,C, of the Hebrew language. Many hours of thought have gone into creating a system whereby even the faint at heart would become encouraged, even enthusiastic.

This is a book that is easy to understand and yet thorough in its teaching method. Young and old alike will be  able to grasp the lessons with both hands and feel totally secure in their journey of learning this beautiful language.

Wonderful Book

20 January 2009  By Ami Steinberger

Hebrew for Beginners is a wonderful book, teaching reading in quite a unique way. It reminds me of how Living Language does its instruction - starting with borrowed words from the learner's native language.