Hebrew For Beginners
May 13, 20225 min
Updated: May 19, 2022
Learning a new language is not simple. This is why we have gathered some of the most useful tips for you. Most of the tips are from our students, that shared with us the things that helped them the most.
1. Have a clear goal of what you want to achieve
Do you want to know how to read? Speak?
understand your Hebrew talking friends?
Focus on short, medium, and long-term goals. These can help to give structure and direction to your learning.
A clear vision of what you want will motivate you, and help you not give up after a short time.
2. Start with the basics, the first step is to know the letters.
You cannot learn Hebrew without knowing the Hebrew alphabet. There are only 22 letters in Hebrew, it only takes 10 minutes to learn them. Here are some FREE videos for you.
3. Use the Hebrew keyboard to practice the Hebrew alphabet!
First things first, learn how to set up your Hebrew Keyboard, by having your own Hebrew keyboard you can always try to type in Hebrew, either in social media or by messaging Hebrew talking friends.
If you want to practice vowel signs as well, we have made our very own Vowel signs keyboard
4. Make mistakes.
This is the best part of learning. No one expects you to excel when you start learning something new, it is a process, and you will learn best from your mistakes.
And now that you have a Hebrew keyboard, making mistakes is easier than ever! :)
5. Read children's books.
As we said earlier, start with the basics. And simple children's books are great for acquiring basic vocabulary and building the foundations for a new language.
Here are some of the best books to start with.
6. Watch your favorite Tv shows and movies with Hebrew subtitles.
When you rewatch something, and this time there are Hebrew subtitles, you are learning new words in a more fun and enjoyable way. Take it slow. Stop every now and then to read the words slowly. Always check if there is a "Hebrew Subtitles" option in streaming services, you will be surprised how many they are actually available.
7. Watch Hebrew Tv shows and movies with English subtitles.
This is also a great practice and a wonderful way to listen and learn the correct pronunciation of Hebrew words. Surprisingly there is a lot of Hebrew content in Netflix.
8. Learn the common vocabulary
You only need to know a couple of hundreds of words and you can already have great basic conversations in Hebrew.
Hebrew is a language with around 40,000 words, but most native speakers, use around 1000 root words (that means several variations of each word such as tense variations and so on).
This is not that hard, and if you focus on these common words, your learning experience will be a lot easier. Here are some of the most common words.
9. Connect with a native speaker, there are amazing sites for that - language exchange.
more good websites and apps
10. Be consistent, and do so by learning something every day.
10 - 20 minutes of learning Hebrew a day is just enough. That turns to 10-15 hours of learning Hebrew each month!
11. Use free online tools to practice in a fun way
Here are some of them
Hebrew Infinite Quiz
Learn the vowel signs
12. Listed to songs in Hebrew.
There are plenty of videos on youtube with the lyrics both in Hebrew and English
Disney songs
13. Love to cook? Use these Hebrew recipes, and learn Hebrew when doing what you love.
Here are some great recipes:
Learn Hebrew while cooking
14. Take risks and speak the language whenever you can.
No one can teach you better than experience, seize every opportunity you can to try and speak Hebrew.
15. Surround yourself in Hebrew.
This is the key to mastering Hebrew quickly. The more you immerse yourself by reading, listening to Hebrew songs, podcasts, radio, and speaking to people the more rapid your progress will be.
16. Read your favorite book, or something familiar, in Hebrew.
When you try reading something you read many times before, you know what you’ll be reading about. This is much easier than reading a new text.
17. English can help you!
In Hebrew, we use many words from other languages. They are called "loan words". There are hundreds of words like these.
Here are some examples:
בָּנָנָה — banana
סָלָט — salad
18. Read with vowel signs, but write without them.
The vowels are important, but everyday native Hebrew speakers do not use them. So practice writing the words without the vowels, and your dependence on them will gradually decrease.
Here are the best ways to learn how to read without vowels
19. Travel to Israel!
This is the best way to immerse yourself in Hebrew. Israel is the only Hebrew-speaking country in the world, here you will see Hebrew on every street sign and on every restaurant menu. You will hear Hebrew everywhere and this will help you improve, and boost your motivation to speak Hebrew.
20. Read out loud, and say words out loud.
When you do that, you actually hear them, and hearing new words helps your brain to memorize them easier.
21. Brainwash!
Here are some wonderful tools for learning new words, and hearing the correct pronunciation.
https://www.hebrew-for-beginners.com/hebrew-word-generator
https://www.hebrew-for-beginners.com/hebrew-verbs-generator
22. Listen to Podcasts.
This one is very useful:
Streetwise Hebrew – short episodes on specific subjects.
Wonderful for enriching your vocabulary.
Try also - https://www.hebrewpodcasts.com/
23. Find your way to learn.
Not everyone learns things the same. Some people need to read to understand better, and some need to listen.
Try approaching the Hebrew learning from different angles by reading simple texts, using flashcards, listening to songs, poems, or any other approach.
Once you Figure out the right combination for you, your progress will be very fast.
24. Use a dictionary app on your phone.
Once you can look up something in the middle of a conversation, you will be more confident, and more likely to speak Hebrew at any opportunity.
25. Learn about the Jewish culture
This is very interesting. There are some great articles you can read about the Israeli and Jewish holidays, these articles are simple and have some Hebrew words in them.
Try it out!
26. Get a partner.
Everything is easier to do with a friend. Find someone with similar goals to study together.
Try this website
27. Make a game out of it, or in other words, make Hebrew learning fun!
If you are not enjoying the learning process, even a little bit, this will be very hard for you to succeed. There are great ways to have fun while learning:
Games, Jokes, Cartoons, and so much more! look for more stuff like this.
28. Learn the most important question for beginners:
"how do you say?" eyc'h omrim אֵיךְ אוֹמְרִים
To continue learning, you will need to ask native speakers this question a lot, and this way you will enrich your vocabulary! learn it and use it frequently.
29. Once you learn a new word, use it several times right away
This way you implement what you have learned immediately.
30. Be polite!
This tip is helpful for anything you do, but why now learning how to be polite. in Hebrew?
Sorry - סְלִיחָה - slic'ha
Thanks - תּוֹדָה - toda
you are welcome - בְּבַקָּשָׁה - bevakasha
Remember! You will need to work hard, but there are always some shortcuts, and helpful ideas to learn new things.
If you have some more tips for other students, share with us :)
Thank you for learning Hebrew.