[skip to content]

Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East

Elementary Hebrew

Course Code:
155900916
Unit value:
1
Taught in:
Full Year
A course designed for complete beginners. The course introduces the students to modern Hebrew alphabet, and alongside achieving fluency in reading and writing modern Hebrew, students also gain a vocabulary and grammar that allow for understanding of basic texts and conversations on everyday topics. The course covers a vocabulary of about 500 words, basic verbs in the present tense and the infinitive, numbers, as well as introduces Israeli expressions and culture.

Prerequisites

Familiarity with the Hebrew characters.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the course

At the end of the course, a student should be able to demonstrate…

  1. knowledge and understanding of basic Hebrew grammar
  2. knowledge and understanding of essential Hebrew vocabulary
  3. knowledge and understanding of the appropriateness of basic Hebrew structures and expressions in a given context
  4. the ability to understand short passages in written Hebrew on everyday topics
  5. the ability to produce short passages in written Hebrew on everyday topics
  6. the ability to understand spoken Hebrew and to engage in short spoken discourse on everyday topics

Workload

A total of 22 weeks teaching with 3-4 hours classroom contact per week. Students will be required to hand in written homework (exercises, written assignment) every lesson.

Scope and syllabus

Hebrew is set in its linguistic and cultural context, with special reference to the emergence of Israeli Hebrew and its historical and synchronic relationship to Classical and Diaspora Hebrew. Intensive practice is given in oral skills to develop communication in a range of everyday situations and notions, notably self-presentation (family, locale, studies, outlook, leisure), getting about in Israel, and Jewish and Israeli lore and life-style. Language functions include simple opinions, descriptions, exchanging information, telephoning, requests and preferences, apologies, compliments and warnings. Equal value is given to morphology and syntax, with the emphasis on the colloquial. Attention is also paid to phonetic production. 

Teaching is by intensive interaction between students in pair-work and groups, by live and taped presentations, and by intensive live drilling in morphology and pronunciation. In aural skills the emphasis is on contemporary Hebrew, making use of dedicated and authentic audio and video materials. Systematic attention is given to grammatical and pronunciation drills, with equal weight to the colloquial and to formal, with particular use of stories, songs and advertising jingles. 

A linguistically graded, topic-related textbook is used, supplemented by simplified newspapers and narratives and graded material from notes, notices and advertisements. The aim is to develop reading for gist as well as for accuracy. The aim is to develop a variety of writing, ranging from simple tasks such as forms and informal notes to short essays and descriptions -- with systematic attention to morphology, syntax, penmanship and spelling.

Method of assessment

Written examination in May-June, testing reading and writing skills and knowledge of the linguistic background (80% of the total mark); examination in oral competence and aural comprehension (20%).

Suggested reading

  • Shlomit Chayat, Sara Israeli and Hilla Kobliner, Hebrew from Scratch, Part I. Jerusalem 2000. [textbook]
  • Joel M. Hoffman, In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language, New York 2004
  • Oxford English-Hebrew Learner’s Dictionary, Kernerman-Kahn, 1985
  • Lewis Glinert, Modern Hebrew: An Essential Grammar, Routledge [grammar and workbook]