Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Michael Abernathy <mabernathy AT conwaycorp.net>]

            Randall Buth said, "I'm not sure what value 'a little' 
modern Hebrew has."

What value is there in a little Modern Hebrew? I guess I should explain 
by what I mean by a little.If you can, I would recommend that you finish 
at least one complete course in Modern Hebrew.I have next to me a copy 
of Edna Coffin’s /Lessons in Modern Hebrew/.Looking over the glossary I 
note that she has included about 1200 words in her glossary.I can’t say 
what is typical but both of my daughters had a vocabulary of over 2000 
words by the time they entered kindergarten. That fits in my definition 
of “a little Hebrew.”

I suggested a little Modern Hebrew precisely because there are a lot 
more resources available to help you internalize the language.For 
instance, Stanford University has supplied some videos to help beginning 
students at 
http://www.stanford.edu/class/hebrew/hsa/lessons1_10.html.You can find a 
number of audio and video files to help learn Modern Hebrew vocabulary 
here http://www.my-hebrew-dictionary.com/videos.htm.LiveMocha which I 
already mentioned uses a method similar to Rosetta Stone.Personally, I 
enjoy listening to music in Hebrew on youtube.Iif you don’t have a wide 
vocabulary, you can find songs complete with Hebrew and English 
subtitles.After you become familiar with the vocabulary look for the 
same songs without the subtitles.I could go on but you probably get the 
point.

A secondary reason for studying modernHebrew is that it is 
unfamiliar.Assuming you have read the Bible before learning Hebrew your 
learning is somewhat handicapped by the fact that you have some memory 
of what the text says before you even read it. Any course in modern 
Hebrew is going to include something that is new to you.

A third benefit to modern Hebrew is also somewhat of a detriment.Modern 
Hebrew differs from Biblical Hebrew in that certain features that are 
common in modern Hebrew are rare in Biblical Hebrew while features 
common in Biblical Hebrew are rare in modern Hebrew.For example, the 
construct noun ispretty rare in modern Hebrew preferring to use $EL, שֶׁל, 
instead.As a result,reading modern Hebrew helps you become acquainted 
with some of the less common features of Biblical Hebrew.

Now for the downside.This is just my opinion so feel free to 
disagree.Aside from the differences in vocabulary, the textbooks I have 
for modern Hebrew tend to use a sentence structure that closely 
resembles English, subject, verb, object.Biblical Hebrew tends to read 
verb, subject, object.I feel that learning modern Hebrew has helped me 
internalize the language.But the difference in sentence structure plus 
the use of rarer elements makes me feel like I’m learning English from Yoda.

So, I’d say learn a little modern Hebrew—any is better than none.Study 
it as long as it helps.But don’t make a lifelong study of modern Hebrew 
unless you find you really like it.

Sincerely,
Michael Abernathy