My Hebrew course is for beginners, intermediate and advanced level students divided into three stages:
Stage One: All the basics of Hebrew; Reading, Writing, Vocabulary
Stage Two: Morphological elements in the nominal system and verbal system while studying segments from the Hebrew bible.
Stage Three: Syntax: Sentence topology, Idioms, Legal forms and so on.
Up to this stage you learn what the different parts are, but from this point on you add the different uses. Parts of this stage are covered in earlier stages, but here it is more detailed.
The information offered in these classes is designed to develop a good understanding of Hebrew grammar, together with developing in the student the tools to learn correctly. These classes go beyond simple reading, and teach the student how to approach Hebrew in the correct way.
Depending on where you are now and where you want to get to, I design the lessons for you. Each subject is covered separately and the material is built one on top of the other creating a connection between each part.
In between subjects we also have deeper readings where we do explore the actual text spanning on narrative reading, poetry, prose and so on. I use comparative linguistics, near eastern studies and Biblical studies to explain elements in the text.
I work one on one or with small groups via Skype. My lessons cost $40 for a 75 minute class or $30 for an academic hour of 50 minutes. Payment is via PayPal.
The approximated time table is as follows:
Reading 1-2 months Nominal system 4-6 months Verbal system 8 months Syntax 3 months
This time table can move, and the amount of time it will take to move from one stage to the other depends on how much work the student is willing to put into the homework and self study. Students that have studied some of these elements can skip them.
I will note that the process of learning Biblical Hebrew takes time due to the nature of it being non spoken dialect, and one has to be committed to the process. After a year you will be able to understanding many of the different aspects of the language (and this is regardless of who teaches you).
Why should you learn Hebrew from me?
As a man of faith I approach the text as a truth of the word of the Creator, and teach it in a way that brings the intent behind the words to life. I have been studying the material for almost two decades, and have combined understanding of Hebrew as Hebrew speaker and training in Biblical Hebrew, Biblical studies and History as part of my degree in the field.
Why should you learn the Bible in Hebrew?
Though you can comprehend most of what the bible says, a translation is always a commentary on the material. A translator puts into the text his own culture and thoughts, and does not have the ability to comprehend all that was intended. Hebrew is not only a language, but also a culture which cannot be understood without the cultural context of the time. We find with the usage of specific words that relate to other languages in the Semitic family, archaic forms, concentric structures and so on which are specific to the language and are untranslatable without creating an appendix.
The other problem is that many of the translators who do understand some of these points also fail in comprehending the way Hebrew works due to a technical problem that has to do with the origins of Linguistics. The usual issue is that Hebrew is compared to English or other Indo-European languages which do not use the same constructs as Hebrew. Most linguists use Greek-Latin constructs to explain Hebrew, which in many cases do not fit. Hence when they work on the Hebrew they will commonly mistake a form to mean one thing when it is another, due to their over-technical approach and isolated recognition of elements in a text.
