Online Hebrew Learning Resources:

A. Overview

http://www.nmelrc.org/documents/Handbooks/HebrewHandbook.pdf

National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC – www.nmelrc.org) 19-page PDF Handbook for Students of Hebrew – about the language and more resources.

B. All-in-one Resource, most useful for Modern Hebrew

http://www.hebrewhelp.com

Requires registration (free) and provides direct links to:

1. Hebrew from Scratch (Ivrit min ha Hatchalah) flashcard-generator for practice – follows the chapters of our textbook to the letter!

2. Morphix online dictionary http://morfix.mako.co.il/ - useful for quick searches but does not substitute a good paper-based dictionary, such as the required Oxford

3. Hebrew at Stanford http://www.stanford.edu/class/hebrew/mmedia/index.html - audio-visual materials not specifically created for our textbook but close enough

4. Hebrew at Austin Texas http://www.laits.utexas.edu/hebrew/ - audio-visual materials designed to work with the textbooks used at Austin.

5. Aleph Bet tutorial http://www.uoregon.edu/~ylcflx/Aleph-Bet/tutorials.html - entertaining way to master the Hebrew alphabet; intensive use recommended during the first week or two of the fall semester

C. Dedicated Flashcard Sites

1. http://quizlet.com/ - self describes: “The best way to study languages, vocabulary, or almost anything. P.S. It’s fun, free, and you can share with friends!”

2. http://www.flashcardexchange.org

Another flashcard website (the one I have been using so far) can create your own flash cards in a variety of languages or save card sets created by other users and use them in a variety of study techniques.

3. http://www.byki.com/

Yet another website for crating, sharing, storing and using flashcards in various languages; huge collection, but the software keeps trying to get you to buy their premium products.

D. Resources to Use with Caution:1. http://www.learnhebrewpod.com/ Use the free features on the site. The paid course

teaches “Sabra” spoken Hebrew, with all the typical mistakes made by native Hebrew speakers (incorrect pronunciation, incorrect stress – pronouncing kelev with an ultimate tonic), and therefore it is not recommended for biblical Hebrew learners. Modern Hebrew learners can benefit from the clear native pronunciation (including the incorrect cases) to practice listening skills. The website has some cultural and religious resources, from the Israeli-secular perspective (e.g., the Hanukkah candle

lighting benedictions does not include – let alone explain – the third benediction, sheheheyanu, made on the first night).

2. Rosetta Stone Hebrew: Although I can vouch for the accuracy of pronunciation and grammar (having played a role in its quality control), I suggest caution with this tool. First, it is only good for Modern Hebrew. Second, the brand claims that one can learn the language with it alone, something that I have not witnessed (for lack of a representative sample). I have seen, however, how using it consistently can help with vocabulary retention, improving pronunciation and listening skills, and even as a structuring and motivating device – but only in addition to an interactive learning with an instructor. Recently the company introduced live online sessions as a complement to the programmed learning. This can be good for ironing some kinks in pronunciation and conversational language. The interface is slick, intuitive and easy to follow.

3. Babylon Dictionary: Disappointing. Inaccurate. Incomplete. If at all, for use only by people who know Hebrew very well and can tell when the answers are bizarre.

4. Google translate: same as Babylon.

Required Texts for Beginning and Intermediate Biblical Hebrew

1. Textbook: Biblical Hebrew: A Student Grammar (Draft Copy) © 2009 by John A. Cook and Robert D. Holmstedt. The book is graciously available free of charge on the internet in PDF format: http://individual.utoronto.ca/holmstedt/textbook/BHSG2009.pdf. Please download and print a copy, which you will bring to class with you regularly.

2. Text: Each student must have a copy of the Masoretic Hebrew Bible, such as either/or:

Biblia Haebraica Stutgartentia (aka BHS) 1629 pages, Hendrickson Publishers; Compact edition (August 2006) ISBN-10: 1598561634 ISBN-13: 978-1598561630, Amazon.com price: $44.07 (hardcover) or $27.70 (paperback)

Hebrew-English Tanakh Student Edition, 2040 pages, Jewish Publication Society of America [JPS] (December 2000), ISBN-10: 0827606974 ISBN-13: 978-0827606975, Amazon.com price: $29.70

3. Lexicon: the most widely used Biblical Hebrew Lexicon is known as the BDB, standing for

The New Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English Lexicon, 1216 pages, Hendrickson Publishers (March 1, 1996), ISBN-10: 1565632060 ISBN-13: 978-1565632066, Amazon.com price: $27.70 Rent eligible $15

4. Alternative to 2. and 3.: Text and lexicon bundl e: a more useful and less expensive solution: is available as an interactive PDF version (instant cross-reference capable) supplemented by the classical Genesius Biblical Hebrew Grammar . We received an extension of a limited time offer from a few weeks ago, selling all three works for $23.47. To take advantage of it, go to www.ebookshuk.com, use the original code VARDA54 (if it does not work, use the extension code, EICHENBERG), register, and follow onscreen instructions. You can use it online, download it to your computer, and/or request a CD (for an extra fee).

Recommended Biblical Hebrew Resources

1. Biblical Hebrew Laminated Sheet (Zondervan Get an A! Study Guides) [Pamphlet], Gary D. Pratico & Miles V. Van Pelt (Author), 4 pages,: Zondervan; Chrt edition (June 3, 2005), ISBN-10: 031026295X ISBN-13: 978-0310262954, Amazon.com price: $6.99

2. Strong Hebrew Dictionary Complete PDF version – old (1890) still useful; from the title page: “Consise [sic.; 1570 p.] Dictionary of The Words in the Hebrew Bible; with Their Renderings in the Authorized English Version: by James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D.” Free download: http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/contents/dictionaries/SHebrew.pdf

Robert Young’s Analytical Concordance to the Bible on an Entirely New Plan Containing about 311,000 References, Subdivided under the Hebrew and Greek Originals, with the Literal Meaning and Pronunciation of Each . 22d American ed., rev. by Wm.B. Stevenson. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1955. This resource can be used free on-line: http://www.archive.org/details/analyticalconcor00younuoft; check “Using Young’s Concordance” at http://www.hds.harvard.edu/library/research/guides/youngs.pdf

Required Classroom Supplies:

1. Two marble-bound (not spiral!) composition notebooks:

a. One with elementary cursive writing ruling (i.e. with a dotted line between every two solid lines) for practicing Hebrew penmanship

b. One with wide ruling (not the narrow college ruling) for taking notes and submitting writing assignments

2. Several B2 (medium hardness) pencils and a pencil sharpener (or mechanical pencil with extra leads) and a soft eraser

3. A set of highlighters, at least five different colors

4. A voice recording device (cassette, digital, cellular, etc.)

Required Texts for Elementary and Intermediate Modern Hebrew

Textbooks:

1. Hebrew from Scratch (Ivrit min ha Hatchala), Part I

2. CD Set for Hebrew from Scratch

Dictionary: The Oxford Hebrew-English English-Hebrew Pocket Dictionary

Websites for Middle East

General

http://www.mideastweb.org

Glossaries

http://www.mideastweb.org/glossary.htm

Maps

Middle East Maps http://www.mideastweb.org/maps.htm

Canaan/Palestine/Israel: A Brief Early History in Maps http://www.mideastweb.org/palmaps.htm

Documents

http://www.mideastweb.org/history.htm

Searchable Book Database

http://www.mideastweb.org/appdb/bk_src.php

Bibliographies

Arab ME & N Africa http://www.mideastweb.org/arabsbib.htm

ME Countries http://www.mideastweb.org/countriesbib.htm

Islam Med./Ottoman http://www.mideastweb.org/biblioislam_med.htm

Islam Modern/radical http://www.mideastweb.org/biblioislam.htm

Palestine Ottoman/Mandate http://www.mideastweb.org/mandatebib.htm

Zionism/Israel since 1880 http://www.mideastweb.org/isrzionbib.htm

Palestine before 1918 http://www.mideastweb.org/isrpalbib.htm

Zionism http://www.mideastweb.org/zionbib.htm

Palestine/Palestinians http://www.mideastweb.org/palbib.htm

Jews and Judaism http://www.mideastweb.org/judaism.htm

Anti-Semitism http://www.mideastweb.org/bibantisem.htm

MW Lang & Lit http://www.mideastweb.org/literaturebib.htm

Time LinesTimeline of Palestinian Israeli History and the Israel-Arab Conflict http://www.mideastweb.org/timeline.htm