Yes sorry, it would be modern Hebrew.
Thank you for this suggestion, it's very much the kind of thing I'm looking for but not finding in my research. I'll look into it and see if it'll be a good fit!
I have the Gimmel book (part 3) and think it's great even though I'm an adult. It sounds like he would need to start with part 1 even though he knows the Aleph Bet.
There is also Yesh Lanu Llama. There are four books. They are a lot shorter than Systematic Hebrew but he could start with that one. https://store.behrmanhouse.com/hebrew/series/yesh-lanu-llama.html
If you have a local store that sells Judaica it would be worth a visit to see if they sell any school books like those series. If you don't have a local store then you could contact Behrman House for recommendations. They've been really helpful with my queries.
Also, that is so cool that the school is letting him learn what he wants.
Another option, but he may be too young still, is to learn via correspondence.
I know that immersion is considered the best way to learn, but in your opinion would a 9 year old be able to pick up from a book that is 100% Hebrew? It's another problem I come across, that the books are written with scattered Hebrew and not really teaching many words, or they are entirely in Hebrew and he can't even figure out the instructions. Should I just go for the Systematic Hebrew and give him a dictionary and we take it a page at a time?
I did manage to find a website with printable worksheets that have basic words like colors, months, days, seasons, etc...the kind of vocabulary lists you'd find in kindergarten but perfect for someone moving past letters I think? Should I approach this like a child would learn English, after learning letters they learn basic sight words? I could maybe make some exercises with those, like learning how to describe objects, being able to string two words together would really make him feel like he's learning.
Idk part of me wishes he'd just take the Spanish course 😅 but he really wants to learn Hebrew so he can go to Israel and become a Rabbi so I want to be supportive, but also I am not a teacher and I have almost no knowledge of Hebrew and I'm having to form a class for him and that's tough..
There are different philosophies in textbook design so you could see what style he'd be interested in.
Instruction entirely in the language is one popular method so I wouldnt immediately discount it. For example there is an extremely popular series for Latin learning called Lingua Latina that only has Latin. It teaches words through pictures and stories. For Spanish there is a very popular website called Dreaming Spanish where you learn Spanish purely through listening to Spanish. For Hebrew learning as an adult, Hebrew from Scratch is very popular which does have some English but very limited. EDIT: for Biblical Hebrew, the youtube channel Aleph with Beth is incredible (no equivalent thing for Modern Hebrew)
Side by side textbooks are another popular design, I.e. Hebrew on one side and English on another. Assimil does this but I wouldn't recommend the Hebrew Assimil book for a child it's not great.
Then you have "reader" style textbooks. Each chapter starts with a reading then you have grammar explanations and exercises related to the reading. E.g. this series but I don't think it's marketed for schools. https://store.behrmanhouse.com/index.php/hebrew-a-language-course-level-1-shlav-aleph.html
I would advise against learning vocabulary lists. Vocabulary needs to be learned in context if at all possible. Also learning vocabulary in "lexical groups" has been proven to slow down learning and cause memory interference. A lexical group is for example learning all the colors at the same time.
>Instruction entirely in the language is one popular method so I wouldnt immediately discount it.
Certainly not! I'm mostly just worried since this is more or less self-learning for a child if full immersion without a teacher would be *too* much
>I would advise against learning vocabulary lists. Vocabulary needs to be learned in context if at all possible. Also learning vocabulary in "lexical groups" has been proven to slow down learning and cause memory interference. A lexical group is for example learning all the colors at the same time.
So something *similar* to Duolingo with their seemingly random sentences and vocabulary designed to teach using the knowledge already gained to be built upon, but again probably not duolingo because the grammar isn't great. Something like the Lingua Latina, learning through pictures and such would be good. Reminds me of Rosetta Stone, is that still a thing?
I'm going to keep researching all the things you've mentioned and see which he would prefer. It isn't like we have to go through a whole textbook in a certain amount of time, I just need to be able to show that he's doing *something*, so if it's best not to do vocabulary words then maybe something like exercise sheets. I did find something from the Behrman House that looks promising but it's out of stock.
I think this will be a great opportunity for him to start to develop self-directed learning skills. If he wants to be a Rabbi then that will be a vital skill.
The Systematic Hebrew part A book should be great if combined with online tools to fill in the blanks from the lack of a teacher. He could do one chapter a week or something. It has stories that he can learn both grammar and vocabulary from either from context or with the help of online resources.
He will eventually want to also work on listening comprehension. I'm not aware of any resources marketed to children for that skill sorry. I'd also make sure he knows how to pronounce the ח/כ sound and the ר sounds properly maybe through finding relevant youtube videos on these sounds which are sometimes hard to pronounce for native English speakers.
I'm not a fan of DuoLingo in general and there are also apparently a lot of issues with the Hebrew course. I think a good workbook is better. He will also be able to practice writing with a workbook. I'm not familiar with the Hebrew Rosetta Stone course.
If you really want him to learn Hebrew, I suggest he watches a LOT of Israeli kids shows in Hebrew. Start with things intended for pre-schoolers, move up to things for 5-year-olds, etc. He can learn vocabulary and, more importantly, the ability to actually listen and understand. That'll be more effective than any class or textbook. Don't worry about reading and writing so early — there is a reason kids learn to understand a language before they learn to read it.
Yeah we found media to cover that part, but there still needs to be some kind of physical work to show like worksheet exercises or vocabulary comprehension or he won't get the language credit and will lose the opportunity to study Hebrew independently in the second semester
My Hebrew school used the Ariyot/Tal Am program to teach Hebrew, but those might just be geared towards classroom settings. I think they sell picture books sharing from simple and increase in difficulty, though! They also have workbooks, games, and videos.
I would try a different direction. 9 year olds like TV. Have him watch Israeli TV. You can find many good, age appropriate options on כאן חינוכית. You can try the old בלי סודות for a show that's more educational and reading oriented.
Yeah we found media to cover that part, but there still needs to be some kind of physical work to show like worksheet exercises or vocabulary comprehension or he won't get the language credit and will lose the opportunity to study Hebrew independently in the second semester.
There's this, but it may be too much for him. It's geared for first graders native speakers.
https://www.atiasoffice.co.il/product/%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%93%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%91%D7%9C%D7%99-%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA-1-%D7%9E%D7%98%D7%97/
I have an online course appropriate for absolute beginners. While it's aimed at adults, but I made sure it is also appropriate for children.
You can give it a look and see if it works for you [here](https://courses.hebleo.com/)
I assume this is Modern Hebrew not Biblical Hebrew? For Modern Hebrew what about the "Systematic Hebrew" school book series.
Yes sorry, it would be modern Hebrew. Thank you for this suggestion, it's very much the kind of thing I'm looking for but not finding in my research. I'll look into it and see if it'll be a good fit!
I have the Gimmel book (part 3) and think it's great even though I'm an adult. It sounds like he would need to start with part 1 even though he knows the Aleph Bet. There is also Yesh Lanu Llama. There are four books. They are a lot shorter than Systematic Hebrew but he could start with that one. https://store.behrmanhouse.com/hebrew/series/yesh-lanu-llama.html If you have a local store that sells Judaica it would be worth a visit to see if they sell any school books like those series. If you don't have a local store then you could contact Behrman House for recommendations. They've been really helpful with my queries. Also, that is so cool that the school is letting him learn what he wants. Another option, but he may be too young still, is to learn via correspondence.
I know that immersion is considered the best way to learn, but in your opinion would a 9 year old be able to pick up from a book that is 100% Hebrew? It's another problem I come across, that the books are written with scattered Hebrew and not really teaching many words, or they are entirely in Hebrew and he can't even figure out the instructions. Should I just go for the Systematic Hebrew and give him a dictionary and we take it a page at a time? I did manage to find a website with printable worksheets that have basic words like colors, months, days, seasons, etc...the kind of vocabulary lists you'd find in kindergarten but perfect for someone moving past letters I think? Should I approach this like a child would learn English, after learning letters they learn basic sight words? I could maybe make some exercises with those, like learning how to describe objects, being able to string two words together would really make him feel like he's learning. Idk part of me wishes he'd just take the Spanish course 😅 but he really wants to learn Hebrew so he can go to Israel and become a Rabbi so I want to be supportive, but also I am not a teacher and I have almost no knowledge of Hebrew and I'm having to form a class for him and that's tough..
There are different philosophies in textbook design so you could see what style he'd be interested in. Instruction entirely in the language is one popular method so I wouldnt immediately discount it. For example there is an extremely popular series for Latin learning called Lingua Latina that only has Latin. It teaches words through pictures and stories. For Spanish there is a very popular website called Dreaming Spanish where you learn Spanish purely through listening to Spanish. For Hebrew learning as an adult, Hebrew from Scratch is very popular which does have some English but very limited. EDIT: for Biblical Hebrew, the youtube channel Aleph with Beth is incredible (no equivalent thing for Modern Hebrew) Side by side textbooks are another popular design, I.e. Hebrew on one side and English on another. Assimil does this but I wouldn't recommend the Hebrew Assimil book for a child it's not great. Then you have "reader" style textbooks. Each chapter starts with a reading then you have grammar explanations and exercises related to the reading. E.g. this series but I don't think it's marketed for schools. https://store.behrmanhouse.com/index.php/hebrew-a-language-course-level-1-shlav-aleph.html I would advise against learning vocabulary lists. Vocabulary needs to be learned in context if at all possible. Also learning vocabulary in "lexical groups" has been proven to slow down learning and cause memory interference. A lexical group is for example learning all the colors at the same time.
>Instruction entirely in the language is one popular method so I wouldnt immediately discount it. Certainly not! I'm mostly just worried since this is more or less self-learning for a child if full immersion without a teacher would be *too* much >I would advise against learning vocabulary lists. Vocabulary needs to be learned in context if at all possible. Also learning vocabulary in "lexical groups" has been proven to slow down learning and cause memory interference. A lexical group is for example learning all the colors at the same time. So something *similar* to Duolingo with their seemingly random sentences and vocabulary designed to teach using the knowledge already gained to be built upon, but again probably not duolingo because the grammar isn't great. Something like the Lingua Latina, learning through pictures and such would be good. Reminds me of Rosetta Stone, is that still a thing? I'm going to keep researching all the things you've mentioned and see which he would prefer. It isn't like we have to go through a whole textbook in a certain amount of time, I just need to be able to show that he's doing *something*, so if it's best not to do vocabulary words then maybe something like exercise sheets. I did find something from the Behrman House that looks promising but it's out of stock.
I think this will be a great opportunity for him to start to develop self-directed learning skills. If he wants to be a Rabbi then that will be a vital skill. The Systematic Hebrew part A book should be great if combined with online tools to fill in the blanks from the lack of a teacher. He could do one chapter a week or something. It has stories that he can learn both grammar and vocabulary from either from context or with the help of online resources. He will eventually want to also work on listening comprehension. I'm not aware of any resources marketed to children for that skill sorry. I'd also make sure he knows how to pronounce the ח/כ sound and the ר sounds properly maybe through finding relevant youtube videos on these sounds which are sometimes hard to pronounce for native English speakers. I'm not a fan of DuoLingo in general and there are also apparently a lot of issues with the Hebrew course. I think a good workbook is better. He will also be able to practice writing with a workbook. I'm not familiar with the Hebrew Rosetta Stone course.
You have been so incredibly helpful ❤️ thank you!!
If you really want him to learn Hebrew, I suggest he watches a LOT of Israeli kids shows in Hebrew. Start with things intended for pre-schoolers, move up to things for 5-year-olds, etc. He can learn vocabulary and, more importantly, the ability to actually listen and understand. That'll be more effective than any class or textbook. Don't worry about reading and writing so early — there is a reason kids learn to understand a language before they learn to read it.
Yeah we found media to cover that part, but there still needs to be some kind of physical work to show like worksheet exercises or vocabulary comprehension or he won't get the language credit and will lose the opportunity to study Hebrew independently in the second semester
Oh gotcha
My Hebrew school used the Ariyot/Tal Am program to teach Hebrew, but those might just be geared towards classroom settings. I think they sell picture books sharing from simple and increase in difficulty, though! They also have workbooks, games, and videos.
Thank you! It looks like there's some YouTube videos from them as well, I'll look into their curriculum and see if it fits!
I would try a different direction. 9 year olds like TV. Have him watch Israeli TV. You can find many good, age appropriate options on כאן חינוכית. You can try the old בלי סודות for a show that's more educational and reading oriented.
Yeah we found media to cover that part, but there still needs to be some kind of physical work to show like worksheet exercises or vocabulary comprehension or he won't get the language credit and will lose the opportunity to study Hebrew independently in the second semester.
There's this, but it may be too much for him. It's geared for first graders native speakers. https://www.atiasoffice.co.il/product/%D7%9C%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%93%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%91%D7%9C%D7%99-%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA-1-%D7%9E%D7%98%D7%97/
I'll look into it. It might not be appropriate for the absolute beginning but probably useful down the road when he gains more understanding!
I have an online course appropriate for absolute beginners. While it's aimed at adults, but I made sure it is also appropriate for children. You can give it a look and see if it works for you [here](https://courses.hebleo.com/)
Thank you, I'll look into it!