Teach Yourself to Read Hebrew

by Ethelyn Simon, Joseph Anderson

Written especially for adults, this is a complete self-teaching course. Ten lessons teach students how to pronounce any Hebrew word. 104 pages.

Genres: Judaism, Language, Jewish, Nonfiction

92 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1985

Reviews

[Anshin]

Perfect for English people!
Va bene, non è che per gli Italiani sia un brutto libro, anzi!
Molti concetti sullo sheva che non si capivano sulle grammatiche li ho trovati in questa sede alquanto cristallini! È un ottimo libro per imparare l'alfabeto ebraico, però bisogna stare attenti ad alcuni esempi che, in quanto riportati in lingua inglese, potrebbero condurre in fallo uno studente italiano.
Per il resto, libro perfetto e molto utile! -ci sono anche gli esercizi!- :)

[Rick Davis]

No grammar, but a good and short introduction to reading and pronouncing Hebrew words that's more intuitive than the technical language you get at the beginning of a Hebrew textbook.

[Asher Hougo]

Absolutely amazing book! Probably saved my life when it comes to learning Hebrew.
This book is clear and concise on the Aleph Beth, vowels, and some Hebrew Grammar. It was a great joy to learn from this book over the summer and get a better grounding on the foundations of Hebrew.

[Rob]

This is super helpful. If you take the time to go through the exercises, you will begin to get the hang of it. I did supplement with a web site (shameless plug... doitinhebrew.com) to help me with pronunciation and to validate what I thought a word sounded like. I am very happy with this book.

[Richard Seltzer]

Clear and helpful.

[Louis Lapides]

I have gone through several books for teaching beginning Hebrew, This one has been the best so far.

Here are some of my reasons:

1) the author takes the students through the alphabet consecutively rather than randomly. 2) there is a strong emphasis on learning how to write block letters. I wish the cursive letters were included. 3) the Hebrew used is prayer book focused rather than Scripture based. I was not too pleased that nothing from the Tenach was no,used other than biblical words, but not passages. At the end of the book, the student is asked to read the Kaddish which is not Hebrew but Aramaic(very close to reading Biblical Hebrew). 4) the last chapter focuses on reading long Hebrew words. Other Hebrew primers only provide two or three syllable words.

So far I would recommend this Hebrew primer over anything else I read. Again, I am assuming the student has no exposure to Hebrew and wants to jump in feet first from right to left.

[Brit]

Great starter book for learning Hebrew. I was able to catch onto the alphabet quickly ! Finishing my lessons using the Living language curriculum

[H.L. Gibson]

A wonderful little book that makes Hebrew quite accessible. It's a great way to launch yourself into a language with such depth.

[Marek]

Very useful and concise. Its clarity reminds me of The Elements of Style.

[Kayla Shnayder]

Great read! Taught me how to read with ease and in a short amount of time

[Elizabeth]

I actually loved and enjoyed it. Yes it does have a few things i wish they could go deeper about. For example theres like 2 things that they didnt explain could be said differently but i see how it is put to a way that a beghiner understands and it doesnt matter if they didnt expalin 2 things because you will learn or can later in a more advance book. This way i guess it did help me because i understood intermidiate lessons pretty good; so knowing this make me like how this book is written. Hands down one of my favorite language books. Makes it super easy to understand and explaind deeply.

[Riobhcah]

This is a good basic review of the pronunciation of Hebrew consonants and vowels. It is very basic and for beginners, but still a good review. There is a nice chart of all consonants and vowels inside the back page, so It's a good reference for anyone who his beginning or re-learning Hebrew after not using it or awhile.

[Tiffany]

I used this book with the Audio book and together they were so helpful to me as an absolute beginner. I can now pronounce Hebrew (as long as the text uses vowels) and this was a great first step in learning to read Hebrew!

[Chris Via]

Very good primer to get one started in reading Hebrew. This made it easy for me to former the sounds of words and letters I saw while in Israel a couple weeks back. My only complaint is that it lacks English phonetic transliterations in the text (I keep having to refer to the back flap).

[Kisha Gallagher]

For the very very beginner.