Things To Know Before Learning Hebrew

DISCLAIMER: Understandably, Hebrew is Israel’s official language, and given the ongoing conflict there, DO NOT COMMENT ON ANYTHING RELATING TO THIS MATTER. ANY DEROGATORY COMMENTS WILL BE REMOVED. The video simply explains Hebrew grammar and provides educational content. In this video, I explain things to know before learning Hebrew. Before fully diving into Hebrew, it’s important to understand the distinctive nuances that exist in the language, which is what I show as a native speaker. Because Hebrew is an extremely complicated language, the deviations in it are completely different than English, requiring more concentration and time to fully understand it. When using English as a basis to learn Hebrew, these are the useful things you need to know before learning Hebrew: 1. Hebrew is written from right to left, so the writing direction is different (←←←). 2. Hebrew doesn’t have any vowels in its alphabet. It consists only of 22 consonants, affected by diacritical marks (dots and lines), called the Niqqud, which makes up for vowel sounds. 3. Hebrew vocabulary is deeply rooted in roots and patterns. 4. Hebrew verbs are highly inflected in their conjugations. 5. Hebrew is an extremely gendered language, affecting objects, adjectives, pronouns, and even verbs and their conjugations. 6. Hebrew has a prefix when making a definite noun. 7. Hebrew has some guttural consonants (produced through the throat), along with a dagesh coming from the Niqqud. The dagesh is a diacritical mark, which is a small dot placed inside a consonant letter, that indicates a change in the pronunciation of that letter. 8. Hebrew doesn’t have the verb “to be” in the present tense. 9. Hebrew doesn’t have any perfect tenses, progressive forms, or auxiliary verbs. 10. Hebrew has a basic sentence structure (Subject-Verb-Object), but adjectives come after nouns. 11. MOST IMPORTANT: Hebrew has 2 major forms of writing when it comes to its alphabet: a typed script and a written script. The typed script is the standard printed form of Hebrew letters, often used in books, news, signs, and most learning materials. The handwritten script is exclusively used in cursive writing, especially by native speakers. It’s something you can encounter in general writings, like personal notes, journals, and advertisements. 12. Hebrew has 5 letters that change their shape when appearing at the end of a word, in both forms of the alphabet. 13. Hebrew doesn’t have a distinction between uppercase and lowercase letters. Because Hebrew has a consonantal alphabet, with vowel sounds represented by dots and lines, uppercase and lowercase distinctions are not essential. 14. When learning Hebrew from nothing, a translator is absolutely crucial, but it’s difficult to find an accurate one, considering the complexity of the language. When looking for a good translator, consider the Niqqud and cursive writing. For these reasons, I found 2 translators: Quick point (נקדן מהיר): https://nakdan.dicta.org.il It’s a simple text body where you can write anything in Hebrew with the correct Niqqud. However, you can only type in Hebrew, with no pronunciation or cursive writing. I recommend using it and installing a Hebrew language pack on your device to type in Hebrew, allowing you to correctly check your Hebrew writing. Do It In Hebrew Translator: https://doitinhebrew.com/Translate/default.aspx?kb=IL%20Hebrew%20Phonetic It’s a free online Hebrew Dictionary website. You can type in Hebrew and English, and there’s even an app for it on the Google Play Store. However, to use the Niqqud and cursive script, you need to become a paid member. If you’re really dedicated to learning Hebrew, you can pay, but I’d advise simply using it to write Hebrew and putting the text into the previous translator to check the Niqqud. Feel free to correct any mistakes I may have made while explaining, and feel free to share this video with many people. I appreciate the support. About me: I’m Alex, and I’m a student at UNLV. As I finish my Spanish degree, I advance in my linguistic skills, learn new concepts, and understand how learning within languages works. I’m fluent in Russian, Hebrew, and English with advanced levels of Spanish and German. I’m just trying to make languages seem very easy. Also, I’m a gamer at heart, so in case anyone’s interested in video gaming content, I have a separate channel dedicated to that :) My social media outlets, if you want to check them out: Subscribe to the channel - https://www.youtube.com/@TheLanguageBro My Gmail, in case you need it - [email protected] My Instagram account - https://www.instagram.com/langbro1 Subscribe to the gaming channel - https://www.youtube.com/@11gamingbro11 (You can also find the gaming channel in the subscriptions of this channel, as I am subscribed to that channel)