Archive for 'Learning Hebrew'
Roots and Patterns Posted by Sean Young on May 29, 2012
Did you know that Hebrew and Arabic have a unique feature when it comes to building vocabulary? They use roots and patterns (called מִשְׁקָלִים – meesh-ka-leem) to build more words. Most often, a root consists of three consonant letters. Sometimes there are four, rarely two. Let’s take an example. I’m going to take a common…
Asking About Nationality or Origin Posted by Sean Young on May 28, 2012
Look at this short dialog: אני מישראל גם אני מישראל. אני מנְתַנְיָה ah-nee mees-rah-ehl (I’m from Israel) gam ah-nee mees-rah-ehl. ah-nee mee-neh-tahn-yah (I’m also from Israel. I’m from Nethanya) Saying where you are from is pretty easy in Hebrew. All you need to do is add the suffix מֵ- – meh (or מִ- – mee)…
Hebrew You Already Know Posted by Sean Young on May 24, 2012
Some people claim that Hebrew is the mother of all languages. No matter what its history or origin, Hebrew, a language that has its origins in the Fertile Crescent, has crept into North American–spoken English. And this process works in reverse too, as many English words and phrases have crept into the Hebrew language. Interestingly…
Introducing Yourself and Others Posted by Sean Young on May 15, 2012
Today’s date: 23rd of Iyyar, 5772 כ״ג באייר תשע״ב 38th day of the Omer – ל״ח בעומר When you first meet someone, what is the first thing you’d say? probably “Hello, my name is…”. This would be the first step in communication and making friends. So let’s start with this first. Introducing Yourself We already…
Counting of the Omer Posted by Sean Young on May 10, 2012
Today’s Date: 18th of Iyyar, 5772 (י״ח באייר תשע״ב) Holiday: 33rd Day of the Omer – ל״ג בעומר If you’ve noticed on recent posts (and today’s), you’ll see I put “[number] day of the Omer”. What is this Omer, and why is counting it important? Counting of the Omer (סְפִירָה הַעֹמֶר) is a verbal counting…
How are you? Posted by Sean Young on May 7, 2012
Today’s date: 15th of Iyyar, 5772 – ט״ו באייר תשע״ב 30th day of the Omer – ל׳ בעומר How Are You? So, we just met someone and we greeted them appropriately. Now, we’re going to ask after the person’s health and of their family. Remember the all-purpose greeting we used – שָׁלוֹם shah-lom? This word…
Using a Learning Notebook Posted by Sean Young on Apr 30, 2012
Today’s date: 8th of Iyyar, 5772 ח׳ באייר תשע״ב 23rd day of the Omer – כ״ג בעומר As you can probably tell, I’ll be writing posts for learning Hebrew. And while you’re doing so, it would be very helpful to get a notebook and start writing your own book. No, I don’t mean a classroom…