Question:
I'm dying to learn Hebrew. Can someone recommend a good program
in the Cambridge/Boston, Massachusetts area?
I should add that my record learning languages is poor, which,
despite my eagerness, still makes the prospect of learning Hebrew
intimidating. I've studied French, German, Japanese, and Spanish,
but I've only managed to master Spanish. I think the reason for
this is that my Spanish classes used a teaching method that put
primary emphasis on listening comprehension. It worked great for
me; after two years I could comfortably watch movies and TV, and
listen to the radio, in Spanish. Therefore, I am particularly
interested in a Hebrew learning program that will get me to a
similar level of *listening* proficiency as soon as possible.
Mastery of speaking, reading, and writing can come later, as far
as I'm concerned.
Answer:
I think this is a very bad way to proceed in any language,
and the Semitic languages are worse than the Indo-European.
Spanish might well be the easiest to do this in.
In fact, I often have difficulty with the transliterated
Hebrew, even when the pronunciation is exactly as I would
pronounce the words as fully spelled, in cases in which I
would have little difficulty even with the vowels and dots
omitted. Knowing the structure of any language greatly
reduces the details which have to be learned.
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