Encounters in Modern Hebrew: Level 1

by Edna Amir Coffin

Book Overview

Encounters in Modern Hebrew is designed to fulfill the needs of English-speaking students who want to gain a basic knowledge of modern Hebrew. Extensively classroom-tested at the University of Michigan, the text provides a comprehensive introduction to the reading, writing, and pronunciation of modern Hebrew through an array of interesting exercises and activities reflecting up-to-the-minute language-learning theory.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0472082213
• ISBN13: 9780472082216
• Release Date: July 1992
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.4" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

Encounters in Modern Hebrew

This book is useful, clear, informative and thorough. Highly recommended. For English speakers it teaches you how to read without vowels, how to write script and the basics of grammar and conversation in Modern Hebrew.

Excellent textbook for colloquial modern Hebrew

This is an excellent textbook for a class in modern Israeli Hebrew. The 10 lessons are well structured. They are divided into 2 parts which use a conversation to introduce new vocabulary and grammatical concepts. There are group exercises to practice conversations and written exercises which test comprehension and develop grammar. The grammar includes basic subjects like the nominal sentence, agreement in number and gender between noun and adjective, construct state, pronominal suffixes, key particles (yesh, `eyn, hineh, etc.), interrogatives, personal and demonstrative pronouns, use of the active participle for expressing present tense. Level 1 finishes with the introduction to past tense with the qal perfect of a few verbs. The system of Hebrew verbs is more fully developed in Level 2. Level 3 is geared toward the written more than the spoken word.The vocabulary of the text is practical for a school setting. The vocabulary is not the typical vocabulary geared towards tourists or diplomats. One feature I really appreciate is the inclusion of occasional loan words from English that are in use in current colloquial Hebrew. The language is not so colloquial that the paradigms in 2nd person plural have been leveled as is common in actual conversation.The text is ktiv male except in the vocabulary lists and the paradigms. By being written without vowel points and diacritics, it avoids the student becoming dependent on them. Also, on the subject of the writing system, the text is one of the few that addresses one of my pet peaves with Hebrew textbooks. It actually teaches how to write cursive!Were I teaching a class in Modern Hebrew I would select this textbook. This is a textbook for a young-adult or adult class, however, it can be used for self-study as long as the associated audio tapes are also purchased.