Textbook of Israeli Hebrew

For what it's worth, I was able to use this book to learn Modern Hebrew from the ground up, after years of frustration tried to break out of the 20 words (with vowels) I learned in Hebrew School. I agree that this may not be the easiest book to use at first, but if you're patient (which you should be if you are serious about learning any language, let alone a language so different from English), this book has everything. Some of the grammatical explanations may be tough to get through, but they always come with a variety of examples, which alone are often enough to "get the point." The fact that the book teaches the student to read without vowels from the start is absolutely commendable, and alone made the whole book worth it for me. There is much practice material to get the hang of this, and it pays off - I was able to start reading newspapers (with a dictionary, but still - I was able to sound out unfamiliar words, to know what to look up!) early on, and this kept my motivation up as I kept plugging away with the grammar and later lessons. Later, the book includes excepts from a novel (by a living author, still considered a classic in Israel, so this is not too dated, after all), a transcribed radio news report, and biblical/religious texts. Many people I have seen who have tried to learn a language get scared off by the vast gap between "elementary" material (such as that learned in Hebrew School or high school French/Spanish class) and "the real thing." If you're serious about Hebrew, this is the best book I have ever seen for getting over that curve in a reasonable amount of time.

I've worked my way through several Hebrew books and this is by far one of the best. I agree that the grammar explanations are not for the uninitiated and could be frustrating for a total beginner. However, the reading passages are very well done. It's always a great way to learn a language to actually see it in "real usage" and not just canned one sentence expressions. The only 2 things missing are a) an answer key to the exercises so self-learners can check to see if they are doing things right and b) an audio CD to accompany the book where a native speaker actually reads the texts would be a big plus.

As a solitary student who wished to get on quickly with actually *reading* modern Hebrew, I found this textbook to be the most effective single venue. The romanization is not a transcription: kaf is not distinguished from kof, for example, nor spirantized kaf from het, such pairs not being usually distinguished in current speech. I am happier with the use of such a romanization (sitting as it is on the side for memory jogs) than I would be with fussing with unnaturally pointed text. The process of passing from pointed to unpointed text (that is, to an essentially logographic writing system) is not really a matter of being able to ignore the lack of pointing at some alleged future time. Just as it is preferable from the beginning to become used to the speed of a language as it is actually spoken, it is preferable to become used to the form of a written language as it is actually written. Those who are unhappy with unpointed text for the beginner prove that they literally 'miss the point'. (By the way, for one's very first contact with the spoken language, there is none more effective than the celebrated Pimsleur Method on CD, for which no written materials are used at all.) As for negatives, I am in agreement with those who found it a nuisance to find forgotten vocabulary. The word-index at the back can be curiously frustrating, and a simpler ready-reference list by romanization would have helped.

This book is really great... It's better than 99% of all other language books on the market, IMHO, because it teaches bit by bit, and has lots of exercises that make you understand how to use each construction, one at a time... It's very easy to remember vocabulary this way, because you actually use it in real sentences. I very highly recommend it, if you want to learn hebrew...

I have bought many books of Hebrew. Always the same promises and always the same slow results. This one is different. Material is well presented, varied, and gives the desire to learn more. The grammar, so different from our Indo-european languages is perfectly explained. A must.