[Yidish: An Araynfir: Loshn, Literatur Un Kultur

by Sheva Zucker

Volume one of renowned Yiddish expert teacher, editor, and translator Sheva Zucker's seminal Yiddish textbook series. Learn the basics of Yiddish language reading, speaking, and writing, including... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0881255009
• ISBN13: 9780881255003
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Ktav Publishing House
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

An excellent book for serious beginning students

Four and two-thirds stars. I have studied other languages with beginners' textbooks (as well as intermediate and advanced)- Russian, Polish, German, French - and I find that this book is excellent! The other reviewers' descriptions of the book's flaws are accurate. I teach a small (9 students) Yiddish class in an orthodox synagogue using this text, and we're having a great time. I do point out the many differences between this book's secular tone and the Brooklyn Yiddish-speaking community's customs, as well as alternative accents and spellings. (YIVO has taken over Yiddish spelling, and this book is according to their standard. The fact is that most people whose native language is Yiddish do NOT spell according to the YIVO standard. But the differences are easy enough to get around. Zucker, however doesn't even mention the idea of variant spellings until somewhere in the second volume.) One thing that I LOVE about this book is that transliteration is not permitted to be a crutch. Yiddish should not be written only in transliteration. Yiddish needs its "alef-bays" to be authentic. Some of the poems and songs, etc., while being authentic, moving, and charming, do indeed go against the grain of the orthodox (who comprise the majority of people who actually speak Yiddish in their daily lives), but this book was not written for the orthodox alone. I do not feel that Zucker is in any way disrespectful to orthodox tradtion. She very capably presents Yiddish as a language and a culture that, while inextricably connected to Judaism, is not used exclusively for religious purposes. Personally, I think that my fellow religious Jews should get a life and realize that diversity is a good thing... and even if you can't accept that it is a GOOD thing, at least understand that it is a fact of life. Hitler's troops didn't ask whether you were orthodox or reform, ashkenazic or sephardic, religious or secular. There is probably no one left in the world today (over the age of 5, that is), who speaks ONLY Yiddish, so you can have fun with Yiddish even if you're not 100% perfect. Certainly most native Yiddish speakers mix in alot of English words, just as in bygone days they mixed in Russian, Polish, Hungarian, and even French words, depending on where they were. It is perfectly normal on the streets of Hassidic Williamsburg to hear a matronly grandmother who survived the Holocaust say to her "eynikel" (grandchild): "Zay careful! Jump nisht auf di stairs" (Be careful! Don't jump on the stairs). and NOT "Pavolye! Shpring nisht oyf di trep!" If you go into a fruit store in overwhelmingly orthodox Boro Park and ask for "fershkes, malennes, un truskafkes" you might not get the peaches, raspberries, and strawberries you need without providing an English translation first... even though the clerk's native language is Yiddish. And in 20-odd years of life among people who spoke ONLY Yiddish in normal conversation, I never once heard Zucker's "bulbes" for potatoes.

Nu? New!

This is an excellent text. I'm quite grateful to Sheva Zucker for writing a new text on Yiddish, since the others that are still in print are dated, and don't seem to have been especially relevant to begin with.The vocabulary introduced in the very first lesson is relevant and usable, which is unfortunately high praise for a language text. I don't know why, but language text writers think you need to know how to say things like "Is it customary to tip the wine steward?" or "May I accompany you on the harpsichord?" and it is not until the very last chapter that you learn the verb "to be." Similar praise for her vocabulary lessons; in addition to covering useful topics, they are lively, and just right: not too much, not too little, and they never become drudgery.I'll admit that I was a step ahead on the vocabulary, because my Hebrew is good, so I knew the loan words; howsoever, by the third chapter, I was eavesdropping on the older members of my congregation, and by the time I'd finished the book, I was helping them with their subjunctive verbs. All right, I'm kidding about the last one, but before I'd finished the book, I was already making conversation.You'll probably find, as I did, that people are ready to talk with you, and put up with imperfect Yiddish as you improve, because they love to see more people learning the language. This makes the concept of a self-teaching text viable, so don't let the idea scare you. If you are regularly involved in a community with some Yiddish speakers, then this self-teaching text will speed by.Heck, I even wrote Sheva Zucker a thank you note.

Very well done, but not without some minor flaws

This book, which I have completely read is obviously the product of some very hard work. It has a great deal of variety in its content compared to other language self-study books. The author's special talents include incorporating humor and engaging the reader actively. However, the book, despite being one of the best language textbooks that I have read, (I have previously studied Russian), does not fully consider the sensibilities of her religious readers. A large majority of the Yiddish speaking population today is either religious or chasidic. Many of these people will find things in this book that come close to offending their sensibilities and must take this into account before purchasing. I do reiterate that this is a very well designed and thorough introduction to Yiddish.