Hebrew/Introduction/Studying Hebrew
< Hebrew < IntroductionStudying Hebrew is like studying any other language. It has its vocabulary, its grammar and so on. Like any other language it has its special history and characteristics.
Why study Hebrew?
People around the world study Hebrew for the detailed reasons:
- They are living in Israel, immigrated there or having contact with Israeli Hebrew speakers.
- They are Jewish and learn it as part of their studies of the Jewish sacred books, or just as cultural heritage.
- They are Believers of some parts of Jewish sacred books, like Bible or Kabalah, and willing to learn by source's language.
- They are generally interested in languages and study Hebrew like every other language.
How to study
One of the special characteristics of Hebrew is: It has its own characters. Therefore, the study of Hebrew includes a study of a brand new set of forms, used for letters and diacritics.
As to pronouncing, there is very few new vocals for the English speaker to learn.
Like any other language study, some people focus on the spoken language and others on the written language. You should ask yourself what is your purpose by the study and accordingly determine which element is more important for you.
As a written book, this book naturaly fits better the study of the written language, yet we try to illustrate the pronouncing by using english letters for the hebrew words.