Hebrew Practice, or Slow and Steady Wins the Race

By: The Monk - June 1, 2006

For anyone with a little Hebrew under their belt (it’s not hard, really!), Daily Hebrew offers a short reading each day with lexical and grammatical help. Seems like a good way to practice. Having formally studied 10 languages, I can tell you that you lose what you don’t use. Daily practice helps things stick much more than cramming.

This goes for other things as well- studying for tests, reading scriptures, exercising. 30 minutes a day for 12 days has a much stronger effect than 6 hours for one day.

If you’d like to get a little Hebrew, Hebrew for Christians is a useful place to start, even if you’re not Christian. It has the alphabet (the most intimidating part), grammar, audio files, etc. Even if you can only learn the alphabet and perhaps the verbal stems (different semantics, as illustrated on p.2 of this chart), you can make use of the standard lexica (ie. dictionaries), a strong beginning.

5 Comments »

  1. Thank you!

    Comment by Steven B — June 3, 2006 @ 12:29 am

  2. Thanks for this info. I’ve been wanting to learn a bit about Hebrew and also Greek because of the Bible. You’re definitely right about using languages–I am now engaged in relearning Spanish!

    Comment by Mary Adams — June 3, 2006 @ 6:12 pm

  3. I have never before seen a website like “Hebrew for Christians” for learning Hebrew. It looks great for starters! I’m excited for the possibility of actually learning a bit of that intimidating language. Do you know of any website that is similar for learning Greek?

    Comment by Bryce H — June 4, 2006 @ 6:20 pm

  4. In the Society for Creative Anachronism, I am known as Herr Bruder Wilhelm von Meissen genannt Frawenlop. This is a worldwide Renaissance Recreation organization. My SCA personna is that of a 14th Century Minstrel that is now a Prior at a Benedictine Monastery.

    I thought that I was the only Mormon Monk that exsisted. Now I know that I am not alone.

    In real life I am a Returned Missionary that resides in the Whitehouse Ward of the Jacksonville Florida West Stake. I play music, teach in the Elder’s Quorom and serve as a member of the Boy Scout Troop Committee.

    Comment by Bil Jackman — June 28, 2006 @ 12:10 pm

  5. Hey Monk,

    I just found this place and was poking around; glad to find it!

    What, specifically, are the ten languages have you studied? I will guess:

    English, French, German, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ugaritic, Akkadian, Arabic, and…

    hmmm…

    Perhaps Middle Egyptian and Sumerian?

    Have a good one!

    I haven’t taken an Egyptian course in a while, so my (Middle) Egyptian is in need of some serious repair. However, I am going through Coptic next semester, and then after that I intend to take some more Middle (and then Late) Egyptian.

    Best wishes,

    TYD

    Comment by The Yellow Dart — June 13, 2008 @ 10:54 am

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