Hebrew, Ivrit

Hi!

Has any of you learned Modern Hebrew?

Was it hard for you?

What are the difficult and the easy things about Modern Hebrew?

Thanks!


Mika

I'm not fluent (yet), but I know quite a bit. Here are some impressions.

The pronunciation is relatively easy. Five vowels, like Spanish, plus the schwa. All the consonents are as in English, except for the 'kh,' which should be no trouble if you can pronounce 'Bach' as in German.

The writing system is both easy and difficult: If you have texts with vowel points, you can learn to read very quickly and accurately. Unfortunately, vowel points are limited to children's books, textbooks for foreigners, poetry, etc. Standard texts--fiction, nonfiction, newspapers, et al.--are all written without the vowel points. When you know the language well, it's not much of a problem, but until then it makes things a little difficult.

The grammar is complex, but fairly regular. It will take a while to get used to. Most words have a three-letter root, which can turn into all kind of things, e.g., L-M-D is the root for 'learn,' which can end up as 'elmad' (I will learn), 'lomdim' (they/you learn-mas.), 'lomdot' (they/you learn-fem.), 'lamdan' (scholar), etc. It makes it difficult at first to even use a dictionary, especially since the letters of some roots drop out. And there are masculine and feminine forms for all the verbs, nouns, and adjectives.

However, once you start getting used to the language, you can see how the regularity lets you build up your vocabulary.

If you'd like recommendations for materials, Internet links, etc., let me know.

Toda raba, guest2!

I'm learning it with a help of an Israeli friend of mine.
I'm still getting used to the writing system, both print and cursive, which are quite different from each other.

You're not the only one that has said that the grammar is quite regular.
I can't wait to learn this regularity. =)


Btw, I read that Modern Hebrew doesn't have schwa, the old 'sheva' is pronounced either like /e/ or nothing.
I did hear schwa from the way my Israeli talked though. Next time I'll take a note.

Modern Hebrew tends to drop the sheva when it can, but there are places where it's usually pronounced, because it's hard to avoid.

For example: The command for 'sit!' (fem.) is usually pronounced, 'shvi,' not 'shəvi.'

But between two stops, or similar letters, it's usually pronounced. For example: 'speaks' (present tense, singular) is 'mədaber,' and 'to teach' is 'ləlamed.' (Accent on the last syllable.) The schwa sound like a very short 'i' sound, not an 'e.'

As mentioned, finding vowel-pointed Hebrew material is not easy, but here are some suggestions. Check out the website:

http://www.hebrewtoday.com/

They sell two vowel-pointed newspapers, Bereshit (very easy Hebrew) and Yanshuf. It's a little pricey, especially if you get the CD, but you can also open the sample for free. The website also has articles in vowel-pointed Hebrew, with glossaries.

The other paper like that is Sha'ar Lamatchil, at http://www.slamathil.co.il/defaultHeb.htm. I couldn't get the English page open, but you can see a sample copy if you click on the left-most box under the title. (There are other websites where you can order.)

There are plenty of free websites (audio clips, video, free courses, etc.) if you poke around enough on the Internet.

Behatzlacha!

Toda raba, guest2!

As for 'mədaber', my Israeli friend said 'medaber'. I remember because he taught me how to say "I (don't) speak Hebrew" = "Ani (lo) medaber Ivrit".

Thanks a lot for the links!
I shall take a look at them.

Right now I'm using http://www.learn-hebrew.co.il/ to learn the basic words.

Take care!