How to Learn Hebrew Online or Off
Hebrew is one of the most ancient languages of our world; it is the language of the Jewish people and the language in which the Jewish Bible or Tanakh, which is known as The Old Testament of Christians, is written. More than 7 million people speak this language in Israel, where it is the national language along with Arabic; Jewish communities all around the world use this language for offering prayers and for religious studies.
“The Holy Language”, as Hebrew is popularly referred to, is studied by various kinds of people; naturally, any Jew would love to learn the language of his/her people. Students of Israel and the Judaic religion, archaeologists and linguists who specialize in the history and religious past of the Middle East, all find good reason to learn this language. A lot of Christians who would like to read the original text of the Old Testament and understand it, express a desire to learn Hebrew.
There are lots of options that exist today for the Hebrew language enthusiast; those with the time and inclination can go ahead and join a language institute and learn the language in a classroom environment. There they get the personal touch of a tutor and also get to practice and learn with fellow students of the language.
Not too many people have that kind of time though, and there are other ways in which they can gain proficiency in the Hebrew language. Some language learning media available today are Learn Hebrew Today: Alef-Bet for Adults and Multilingual Books FSI Hebrew Basic Course (also available in CD form): good choices for a beginner to the Hebrew language.
A new exciting way of learning any language is to learn it online; there are literally hundreds of websites out there that offer a myriad variety of ways to learn the Hebrew language. The site learn-hebrew is a wonderful online resource for any Hebrew language learner. It is a completely free site that is a great tool to improve your Hebrew vocabulary. Over 1700 words and phrases in 46 different topics, with a transcription and translation for each of those words and phrases, are featured on this site. It also has audio guides for each word and phrase, allowing the learner to master the pronunciation of each new term that he/she learns.
hebrewonline.com is one of the most exciting options in online Hebrew learning today. This site holds the exclusive franchise of the Israel ministry of foreign affairs to teach the Hebrew language online. It incorporates the concept of learning Hebrew live from a human teacher through video lessons on the Internet. The best of Hebrew language teachers and experts from Israel teach the learner through video conferencing, complete with audio, video and graphics. It totally mimics a classroom environment, where the student can see the tutor, chat with fellow classmates and do various group activities, raise doubts and use the online whiteboard to practice their Hebrew with the teacher’s guidance. Without doubt, online learning is the most interesting and innovative way to learn the Hebrew language.
