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Exercise 1c- Schmooze 1
Transalation Station for the Yiddish Nation: Translate the conversation on the lines following each sentence. מוישע: א ַגוט מאָרגען! Moyshe: A gut morgen! שמעלקע: אַ גוט מאָרגען און אַ גוט יאָר! וואָס מאַכסטו? Shmelke: A gut morgen un a gut yor! Vas machstu? מוישע: אלעס איז גוט און וואס מאַכסטו? Moyshe: Ales iz…
Read MoreExercise 1a Greetings
Don’t get nervous, but this is a test! Some folks like to print this page out and write their answers in the lines provided (there’s a print button on the page), while others answer the questions out loud. Some really keen students do both! Either way, we promise not to laugh at your mistakes! Enjoy!…
Read MoreTest Your Knowledge of Common Yiddish Words – Exercise 1B
Here’s another exercise.. sound out loud, print and write it down.. or better, do both! Either way, we promise not to laugh at your mistakes! Enjoy! Translate the following Common Yiddish Words into English יאָ Yo _____________ נײַן Nayn _____________ זיכער Zikher _____________ אוודאי Avade (Hebrew-Aramaic derivation) _____________ נישט (ניט) Nisht (often pronounced “nit”) _____________…
Read MoreLesson 2i- Proverb
שפּריכוואָרט Shprikhvort Proverb “קינדער מיט פּרנסה (פּאַרנאָסאָ) איז די בעסטע ברכה (בראָכאָ)” “Kinder mit parnoso iz di beste brokho” “Children (together) with livelihood is the best blessing.” Meaning: Having both children and a steady income is the best blessing a person can have. (A little tongue and cheek… kids cost money!)
Read MoreLesson 2h – Intro to Pronouns
פּראָנאָמען Pronomen Pronouns Pronouns are key! You can’t conjugate “nothin'” if you don’t “know from” pronouns! Past, present and future tense change according to which person you are talking to, and you have to know how to refer to that type of person. And they are obviously very common words. Learn them well! Singular…
Read MoreLesson 2g- Schmooze 2
לאָמיר שמועסן 2# Lomir Shmuesn Let’s Schmooze #2 These words should all look pretty familiar. Hey if these store guys can schmooze in Yiddish, maybe you can too! קליענט: אַ גוט מאָרגן. Customer: A gut morgn. Good morning! סוחר (סויכער): אַ גוט מאָרגן און אַ גוט יאָר Merchant:…
Read MoreLesson 2f- Schmooze 1
לאָמיר שמועסן Lomir shmuesn Let’s schmooze Lily and Mark have a chat. Let’s see what they have to say… Remember to sound out the words yourself… Pretend you’re Lily or Mark. לילי: אַ גוטן טאָג. Lily: A gutn tog. Good day. מארק: אַ גוט יאָר! Mark: A gut yor! A good…
Read MoreLesson 2e- Vocabulary, Days of the Week
ווערטער-אוצר (אויצער) Verter-oytser Vocabulary It’s worthwhile knowing what day it is, no? די טעג פון די וואָך Di teg fun di vokh The days of the week זונטאָג Zuntog Sunday מאָנטאָג Montog Monday דינסטאָג Dinstog Tuesday מיטוואָך Mitvokh Wednesday דאָנערשטאָג Donershtog Thursday פרײַטאָג Fraytog Friday שבת (שאַבעס)…
Read MoreLesson 2d- Articles
Your First Yiddish Grammar Lesson… Yay!!!!! For your first introduction to Yiddish grammar, in this lesson we will learn how to use the definite and indefinite article. Don’t worry, it’s not that complicated! The definite article in English is word “the” as in “the lox,” and the indefinite article is “a”, as in “a bagel”.…
Read MoreLesson 2c- פראַגע ווערטער Question Word Examples
Here are some examples to help you remember this very important class of words, give you context and expand your vocabulary. Be sure and do the exercises! Get on a forum and ask a question. וואָס? Vos What? וואָס איז דאָס? Vos iz dos? When? ווען איז זײַן געבורצטאָג? Ven iz zayn gebortstog?…
Read MoreLesson 2- Contents
Paragraph- The Yiddish Language דער יידישער שפראך Core of class – Question words Examples Rule- Indefinite/definite article Vocab- Day’s of week Conversation Intro to pronouns Proverbקינדער מיט פרנסה Kids and livelihood- Song The days of the week –די טעג פון די וואך (by cantor Seymour “Sing-More” Chernovitzevsky)
Read MoreLesson 1e- דאָס הייסט אַלט??? That’s called old???
Ok, this is one of the Yiddish lessons where we give you the opportunity to piece together the text yourself. You can do it! Especially since the Yiddish vocab is all at the bottom… So you don’t have to scroll back and forth and lose your place and get your mouse hand tired, we’ve inserted…
Read MoreLesson1i- אַ שפריכוואָרט A Proverb
Have patience… keep it up, you’re teaching yourself Yiddish already! By the end of this unit you should know about 80 common Yiddish words! By the end of the course you will know over 300 words, and know quite a few important Yiddish grammar rules, including how to conjugate present tense for every pronoun (it’s…
Read MoreLesson 1h- Schmooze 4
This conversation uses greetings and vocab introduced earlier, as well as adding new common Yiddish words and expressions. Test yourself with Exercise 1h. As always, listen, and then pronounce the words for yourself! טײַרון: וואָס מאַכסטו, פֿרעד? Tyrone:Vos Makhstu, Fred? How are you? פֿרעד: אַלעס איז זייער גוט! Fred:Ales iz…
Read MoreLesson 1a – Greetings
באַגריסונגען Bagrisungen Greetings Welcome to the very first lesson of the of the 44 lesson Yiddish Academy course! Greetings are obviously important if you want to be a mensch (lit. human, a civilized person.) Instructions: Listen to the audio by clicking the play button on the player under the word. Go through the list of…
Read MoreLesson 2b- פראַגע ווערטער Question words
פֿראַגע ווערטער Frage verter Question words Question words are very important. Especially in Yiddish where you might answer a question with a question. (“How’s your Yiddish?” “Nu, How do you think my Yiddish is?”) וואָס Vos What פֿאַרוואָס Farvos Why ווען Ven When וואו Vu Where ווער Ver Who וועלכע Velkhe Which וויפֿיל Vifil How…
Read MoreLesson 1c- Schmooze 1-שמועס 1
This short morning exchange incorporates Yiddish greetings and vocabulary learned in 1a and 1b. If you think you can, try Exercise 1c before you look here. You're learning Yiddish fast! If you're less confident, review and listen to the schmooze below first. You'll want to hear it anyway, because it's funny without really meaning…
Read MoreLesson 3a- Paragraph- Good Advice- א גוטע עצה
א גוטע עצה (אײצאָ) A gute eytso Ah yes, another paragraph! I hope these are becoming your favorites. Remember, it's probably best to print these out, but you can click back and forth with the links if you have to save paper. An old Yiddish joke. אַ ייִנגל זעט ווי אַ בריוון-טרעגער טראָגט…
Read MoreLesson 1f- It’s a living.
Well, our paragraphs so far are really conversations, but the idea is that you piece it together on your own. It’s more satisfying that way, no? And you retain the info better, because it’s interactive. Don’t worry, all of the words used are on the bottom again, and the links and cheat button are there.…
Read MoreBeginning Yiddish Course Contents
Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 1 1a Common Words – Exercise 1a Free! 1b Greetings – Exercise 1b Free! 1c Schmooze 1 – Exercise 1c 1d Schmooze 2 – Exercise 1d 1e Paragraph 1 – Exercise 1e 1f Paragraph 2 – Exercise 1f 1g Schmooze 3 – Exercise 1g 1h Schmooze 4 –…
Read MoreLesson 1d- Schmooze 2- שמועס 2
Here’s another short exchange, just to give you a feel for the Yiddish greetings, and a bit more vocab usage. Again, if you think you have it down, you can skip to Exercise 1d to see if you have it. Either way, enjoy Moshe and I schmoozing together. בערעל: שלום עַליכם. Shalom Aleykhem. Berel:…
Read MoreLesson 1b – Common Yidddish Words, Nutzlikhe Verter נוצליכע ווערטער
The first Yiddish words we will learn are very common. In fact, if you saw Fiddler on the Roof, you probably know some of the already! Just add a few more basic words and you can pretend you speak Yiddish, even if you don’t. That isn’t our goal here, of course. We want to learn…
Read MoreUnit 1- Contents
1a Common Words 1b Greetings 1c Shmooze 1 1d Shmooze 2 1e Paragraph 1 1f Paragraph 2 1g Shmooze 3 1h Shmooze 4 1i Proverb
Read MoreLesson 2a- די ייִדישע שפּראַך The Yiddish language
It looks like our paragraph is actually a paragraph now! Go through the paragraph and peace together it’s meaning, then test your comprehension with the exercise. This should be a challenge as there’s a lot more new vocabulary here… but we know you can do it! You’ll have the satisfaction of getting it yourself, and…
Read MoreLesson1g- Schmooze 3
The continuing saga of Shmelke and Moyshe. Looks like Moyshe is doing a bit better… Try some role-playing if you haven’t already. You should already know most of these words, no? If it’s easy peezy, try the exercise first. משה: אַ גוט וואָך! Moyshe: A gut voch! A good week! שמעלקע: אַ גוטן.…
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