The Regimen

Here’s what I’ve been doing to learn Hebrew for the past month. I’m sure there’s something disastrously wrong with my routine, but I feel as if I’ve made progress. (Any language teachers out there? Feel free to point out the fatal flaw . . .)

Morning: get up early, grab some breakfast, and work my way through about half an hour of a language tape. Having a “conversation” first thing in the morning really seems to shock the brain into learning, though admittedly it usually starts a bit slow. If I can, I try to memorize a long sentence or two from the tape and chew on it through the day.

I came across a set of the Pimsleur Hebrew I CD’s for cheap, so I generally do one of those (since I’ve only got the first set, I usually work on a lesson for two or three days before moving on.) However, I’m almost to the end of them (around 27ish), so I’ll have to move on to something else. I found the first couple FSI lessons for free (just search around — they’re public domain, even though some publishers sell them for mega money), and they seem pretty good, so that may be my next step.

 During the day: think through the phrase. If no one else is around, say it a few times, changing something around. For example, today I used: “Ha-yom, hamishpachah sheli nosa-at le-harim li-rot et ha-sheleg. At rotsa le-lechet?” (“Today my family is going to the mountains to see the snow. Do you (fem) want to go?”) I picked it up from a textbook I’m working through (more on that later.) Sometime around mid-day, I start varying it up mentally: asking a man rather than a woman, changing where we’re going or what we’ll see, or maybe changing a tense somewhere (today’s didn’t change tense so well, but others do.)

 Also . . . flashcards! I’ve made up several sets (basic vocabulary, verb conjugations, etc.), and I like to stow one in my bag every day. You can be very productive during odd moments with a few flashcards in your pocket.

Evening: once I get home, I pull out my textbook. I read through several passages, look over grammar explanations, and maybe even do a few exercises while making/eating supper. (Sometimes it’s handy to be single . . .) I’m using “Ivrit Shalav Alef” (Hebrew Level 1) by Bella Bergman. I’m on chapter 7 (out of 9) right now, and I’m very happy with this textbook. The readings are good (even fun!), and the grammar/vocab is laid out nicely (not too much, not too little.) There are two more volumes after the first, and I’ll write a review once I get further along.

Later in the evening: work on the Rosetta Stone software for about 20 min or so. It’s not very challenging, and it makes for a good vocab builder. I’ll give a fuller review at some point.

Right before bed: since I read the Bible anyways . . . why not read it in Hebrew? I picked up a version in modern Hebrew (not “the original,” but it was fairly cheap), and I usually try to work through at least a few verses. It’s by far the most difficult thing I do with the language, and I’m using my dictionary like it’s going out of style, but it puts the Hebrew into my brain right before I go to sleep. The psalms have been my favorite so far (lots of repetition . . .), but I think I might try some of the stories in Genesis once I get through the textbook set.

So that’s what I’m doing right now. I’ll be filling in the details over the next couple weeks, as well as sharing tips. In the meanwhile, shalom!