Welcome to Biblical Hebrew! I'll be posting class notes, homework reminders, and a summary of the lesson on this website. I'll do my best to make sure it's udpated within a day or two after class. If you don't see what you're looking for send me an email and I'll help you.
Text
We don't have a formal text for the course. I'll be providing the source materials. Your job is to print it and bring it with you to class.
Week 1 - 9/6
"Reading the Bible in translation is like kissing your new bride through a veil."
- Haim Nachman Bialik
Week 1 we discussed the overview of the class.
Goal: Phoenetic proficiency and 50 high frequency vocabulary words.
Remember, learning a language is an incremental process. You will not learn effectively by trying to do all your homework the night before class. That's not helpful to you and makes no difference
to me, so why would you do that? Also, there is a lag between absorbing new information and having it readily available by your brain, usually 10 days. Don't get discouraged. Trust that with
consistency it will stick! You will get the "aha" moments if you are persistent, I promise. With any luck we'll have lots of fun in this class and still come out the other side with a solid foundation
for a lifetime of Biblical study.
Homework
Your homework for week 1 is to finish the packet I gave you in class. You should have all the writing practice completed for the first three letters.
Phoenetic practice - read through the consonant vowel combos in the handout until you can recognize each of the sounds by memory. Writing practice - complete one row for each letter
(three rows total) daily. Say the sounds as you write the letter. Letter recognition - using the first 11 verses of Genesis that I gave you in class, identify the letters and vowels
we discussed and color them in with a colored pencil. Tally your totals. Which letters and vowels are most common? Least common?