Lesson 1 - Shalom - Basic Introduction

Lesson Number 1: Shalom:

Basic Introduction

Liat and Eran, our two Israelis, meet for the first time. In this first lesson of our Beginner’s Hebrew course, you will learn how to ask someone’s name and greet them in Hebrew.

Hello and welcome to Learn Hebrew Pod  - 

Shalom UvRuchim HaBaim Le – Learn Hebrew Pod.

שלום וברוכים הבאים

Welcome to lesson one of the first conversational Hebrew course by podcasts.  We are about to embark on an exciting journey together--the journey of learning modern conversational Hebrew.

Jonathan Sternberg

Learn Hebrew Pod Creator and Teacher

With this opportunity, I would also like to mention that aside from the use of the podcasts and audio lessons, we have other interactive & beneficial techniques provided on our website.  We would love to have feedback, opinions and stories of your personal experience

Learn Hebrew Pod - Lesson No. 1

The Story of the Hebrew Language

אליעזר בן יהודה

Eliezer Ben Yehudah

The revival of Hebrew as a spoken language is mostly credited to the pioneering and diligent activity of its initiator Eliezer Ben-Yehuda:

In 1881, when Eliezer Ben-Yehudah and his wife began their journey--to what is now Israel—Hebrew, as we just mentioned, hadn’t been spoken in almost 2,000 years.  Nevertheless, when they arrived in their new homeland, they pledged that they would speak rak be-Ivrit--only in Hebrew.

Eliezer Ben Yehudah at Work 

Eliezer Ben-Yehudah is mostly known for composing and compiling a new and Modern Hebrew Dictionary, at the beginning of the 20th century.  Through its innovation and novelty, this dictionary has set the path for the language to fully function as a spoken conversational language.

It is largely because of Ben-Yehudah’s work in reviving the language that we are able to learn Hebrew together today.  Of course, you don’t have to go quite as far as our friend Eliezer: You don’t need to pledge to speak ONLY in Hebrew!  (But you’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll be able to engage in a Hebrew conversation!

By all that we just mentioned we realize that the revival of Hebrew is a unique cultural and sociological phenomenon in the history of the human culture.  This makes it for us, as Israelis, thrilled, excited and honored to come up with this first, innovative, interactive and so very useful way of teaching conversational Hebrew.

In Lesson 1, we will meet our instructors and guides.  And by the time Jonathan, Liat, and Eran have finished introducing themselves to us and to each other, we will have learned quite a bit about Hebrew.  We’ll know, for example, why it is sometimes important to learn full expressions instead of word-for-word translations.  We’ll get our first hint of how important gender is in the Hebrew language.  We’ll learn at least three different ways to tell someone to have a great day.  And we’ll get our first taste of the soon-to-be-famous “cheese cream rule.”

Cream Cheese - or - Cheese Cream?...

So join us at Learn Hebrew Pod from the very beginning, and you’ll never look at cheese cream on a bagel delicious quite the same way again!