Modern Hebrew for Beginners: A Multimedia Program for Students at the Beginning and Intermediate Levels

fully satisfied

I hoped to have a CD or a DVD too. So I can learn it on my own without a teacher. I actually need a native Hebrew speaker to use it and learn it.

While I thought the program and layout were useful, the fact that it is a web-based multimedia course made it more cumbersome to actually use. While one optimistically assumes that things will always run smoothly, web-based learning has its drawbacks as it is especially inconvenient. I would recommend Colloquial Hebrew before this program (with the CD pack).

I've just bought this book and must say have not started with it, just went through it sporadically. Instead I am still using the Assimil method, although I don't find it amazing either, but there at least I have made some quick progress with hearing and understanding basics.Modern Hebrew is good if you have time to spend. If you want to hear anything, you'll have to visit the website, otherwise you'll have to spend your time deciphering the Hebrew letters from the start, and personally, although I can read some words already, I always like to have some kind of confirmation of the sounds, so English characters to describe the pronounciation would have been welcome here. I don't think I will be using this book now for this reason. Additionally, this book really seems designed and structured to be used in a classroom, but may not be ideal for someone wanting to learn by themselves with no live teacher support.

I bought this book because I wasn’t moving fast enough to my liking using Duolingo Hebrew and YouTube educational videos.The reason I love this book is that it gives you vocabulary lists that you can study and then see the words you learned applied in conversations that you can read and listen to online to make sure you have the correct pronunciation.By going through more and more complex dialogue you get an intuitive feel for the grammar and it’s way easier to memorise all the vocabulary.All grammar rules, vocabulary are of course explained separately and there are useful exercises in the book as well.But for me, nothing beats the dialogue. I’m advancing way faster than before and that was of course the goal.At the beginning of the book you get the option to learn Hebrew cursive.I personally don’t do that, I just fill in the exercises with block script. I think the cursive is something I will take up when I’m more advanced.Don’t get discouraged when you see this at the beginning of the book because you by no means need it in order to advance.I just look at it as an optional extra.I also ordered the second book in the series and I’m about halfway in this book now.I’m amazed by my progress!Recommended!

Mi serviva un testo cartaceo per compensare le mie lezioni di ebraico on line. Devo dire che mi è servito, e mi serve, anche per ripassare l'inglese!

Esther Raizen's MODERN HEBREW FOR BEGINNERS touches the very basics of modern-spoken Israeli Hebrew. This compact (but highly informative) book/workbook has 11 units that deal with not only seeing the alephbet and Hebrew words, but also deal with conversation and listening skills. This tutorial contains topics in Hebrew such as pop culture (ex: Tom and Jerry, Mickey and Minny Mouse) that Americans are familiar with (which makes it easier to understand the Hebrew alphabet and makes the course more exciting), weather, and shopping. Learners of Hebrew are exposed to reading passages without Hebrew vowels from the first unit, which is great if you are traveling to Israel, where the vowels are not used in public places. But don't worry, the reading passages contain online audio supplements so you will learn how to read them effectively. My only complaint about the course is the practice exercises do not have answer keys. Other than that, this is a must have if you are serious about immersing yourself into the beautiful Hebrew language. To get a feel of how great this Hebrew study course really is, visit Esther Raizen's site at the following URL: [...] Click on the tutorial links, flashcard links, etc. to preview how the course will be. This is the interactive site you will use as a supplement to the book.

I'm using this workbook for self study, assisted by some friends and Duolingo, and it's going quite well so far. I really like that this book teaches cursive, which I've been told is much better for writing than the formal script. The online component is very nice as well, good audio, and no account required. The only issue I have with the workbook itself is that there's not really a good way to check the answers in the absence of an actual teacher, so if you're intending to use this for self study I'd recommend finding someone willing to check things over for you.

As an individual learner, I find this to be one of the best language-learning books that I've come across. Vocabulary in the textbook is supported by online flashcards and tutorials which contain both audio and video components. One of the most attractive features of the program is that it's relatively low-cost, because the listening exercises crucial to learning a language are all available on a free website. Grammar points are explained clearly and concisely; if it's in your budget, I'd recommend working through this book after a vocab-acquisition program like Pimsleur, but if not, the book seems to work well on its own. There are also many reading tutorials online which allow you to get comfortable with reading the language before starting with vocabulary and grammar.