Beginner's Course Archives - Yiddish Academy

Lesson 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!)

Lesson 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…

Lesson 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:…

Lesson 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…

Lesson 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)…

Lesson 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”.…

Lesson 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?…

Lesson 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)

Lesson 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…

Lesson1i- 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…

Lesson 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…

Lesson 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…

Lesson 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…

Lesson 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.…

Lesson 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:…

Lesson 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…

Unit 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

Lesson 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…

Lesson1g- 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.…