SHALOM! Welcome to Hebrew for Beginners...

Dear Reader,

Congratulations and Welcome to Hebrew for Beginners!

The language of the Bible, Hebrew was modernized and revitalized by Eliezer Ben Yehuda in the 1800s. Today it is spoken by 12 million people around the world! Biblical and Modern Hebrew share the exact same alphabet, albeit the grammar and vocabulary vary.

This blog is a revolving "Letter-of-the-Day" one month calendar. That means we'll start the Hebrew Alphabet from the beginning, the 1st of every month.

Each post is presented as a "Letter-of-the-day" calendar page that you can print and hang on your wall. right-click on the calendar page and "save as..." to download and print each day's lesson. Not only are they great conversation pieces and learning tools, they're also great looking.

Today's Hebrew lesson; The Aleph-Bet Reviewed

Welcome! Today we finish up the Month, and today's Hebrew lesson is a review of the whole Hebrew Aleph-Bet.

Enjoy!

Tomorrow is September 1st. That means we start the Hebrew Aleph-Bet from the beginning.

Tell your Friends!

Welcome! Today's Hebrew lesson; The "Dagesh".

Welcome! Today's Hebrew lesson is a review of the "Dagesh".

The Dagesh is a diacritic dot placed inside a Hebrew letter that modifies the pronunciation, turning a "B" into a "V", a "P" into an "F" or a "S" into a "SH".

Like vowels, You will almost never see the Dagesh used in day-to-day situations (like newspapers) and will just have to learn how to properly pronounce words through lots of experience.

ך ם ן ף ץ Yesterday; the final forms, or "Sofeet".
ב בּ כ כּ שׁ שׂ Today; The "Dagesh".

** Tomorrow we review the whole Hebrew Aleph-Bet **

Today's Hebrew lesson; The final forms, or "Sofeet".

Welcome! Today's Hebrew lesson is a review of the final forms, or "Sofeet".

As illustrated in today's calendar page below, Five letters have a final form, and these are how you write that particular letter when it comes at the end of a word.

אֱ אָ אֻ Yesterday; the Hebrew vowels, or "Nikud".

ך ם ן ף ץ Today; the final forms, or "Sofeet".
ב בּ כ כּ שׁ שׂ Tomorrow; The "Dagesh".

Today's Hebrew lesson; The Vowels

Welcome! Today's Hebrew lesson is a review of the most common vowels.

Vowels in Hebrew are called "Nikud" or "appointing" and are written as dots or dashes above, below, or next to a letter. Some of you may have heard of them before; these are proverbial "Jot nor Tittle".

There are eighteen vowels in total and are divided into Long, Short, Reduced, Silent and Vocal short, and that doesn't even cover the six diphthongs. You seem like nice people, so for now, let's just stick with the basics.

You will never see the nikud used in day-to-day situations (like newspapers) and will just have to learn how to properly pronounce words through lots of experience.

"Nikud" are known as "diacritics" in English, and appear in latin alphabets as accents like é or á.

ת "Tav" was yesterday's Hebrew letter.
אֱ אָ אֻ Today; the Hebrew vowels, or "Nikud".

ך ם ן ף ץ Tomorrow; the final forms, or "Sofeet"

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Tav" ת

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Tav" ת
"Tav" is the twenty-second letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Her English language equivalent is the letter "T".

ש "Shiin" was yesterday's Hebrew letter.
ת "Tav" is today's Hebrew letter.
אֱ אָ אֻ Tomorrow; the Hebrew vowels, or "Nikud".

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Shiin" ש

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Shiin" ש
"Shiin" is the twenty-first letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Her English language equivalent can be the consonant cluster "SH", or the letter "S".

ר "Raysh" was yesterday's Hebrew letter.

ש "Shiin" is today's Hebrew letter.

ת "Tav" is tomorrow's Hebrew letter.

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Raysh" ר

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Raysh" ר

"Raysh" is the twentieth letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Her English language equivalent is "R".

ק "Koof" was yesterday's Hebrew letter.

ר "Raysh" is today's Hebrew letter.

ש "Shiin" is tomorrow's Hebrew letter.

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Koof" ק

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Raysh" ר

"Raysh" is the twentieth letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Her English language equivalent is "R".

ק "Koof" was yesterday's Hebrew letter.

ר "Raysh" is today's Hebrew letter.

ש "Shiin" is tomorrow's Hebrew letter.

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Tzadik sofeet" ץ

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Tzadik sofeet" ץ

"Tzadik sofeet" is how you write "Tzadik" when it appears at the end of a word. Her English language equivalent is consonant cluster "Tz", as in the american pronunciation of "Pizza".

צ "Tzadik" was yesterday's Hebrew letter.
ץ "Tzadik sofeet"is today's Hebrew letter.
ק "Koof" is tomorrow's Hebrew letter.

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Tzadik" צ

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Tzadik" צ

"Tzadik" is the eighteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Her English language equivalent is consonant cluster "Tz", as in the american pronunciation of "Pizza".

ף "Pey sofeet" was yesterday's Hebrew letter.

צ "Tzadik" is today's Hebrew letter.

ץ "Tzadik sofeet" is tomorrow's Hebrew letter.

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Pey sofeet" ף

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Pey sofeet" ף
"Pey sofeet" is how you write "Pey" at the end of a word.
Her English language equivalent is "P".

פ "Pey" was yesterday's Hebrew letter.
ף "Pey sofeet" is today's Hebrew letter.
צ "Tzadik" is tomorrow's Hebrew letter.

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Pey" פ

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Pey" פ

"Pey" is the seventeenth letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Her English language equivalent can be either "P" or "F" depending on the "Dagesh" (we'll get to that).

ע "Ayin" was yesterday's Hebrew letter.

פ "Pey" is today's Hebrew letter.

ף "Pey sofeet" is tomorrow's Hebrew letter.

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Ayin" ע

Welcome! Today's Hebrew letter is "Ayin" ע

"Ayin" is the sixteenth letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It is an "a" sound voiced from the back of the throat, known an a "voiced pharyngal fricative". She has no English language equivalent letter and is one of the more challenging sounds for the beginner to imitate. Best of Luck.

ס "Samekh" was yesterday's Hebrew letter.

ע "Ayin" is today's Hebrew letter.

פ "Pey" is tomorrow's Hebrew letter.