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Reddit mentions of Living Language Hebrew, Complete Edition: Beginner through advanced course, including 3 coursebooks, 9 audio CDs, and free online learning
Sentiment score: 4
Reddit mentions: 4
We found 4 Reddit mentions of Living Language Hebrew, Complete Edition: Beginner through advanced course, including 3 coursebooks, 9 audio CDs, and free online learning. Here are the top ones.
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Specs:
Height | 8.8 Inches |
Length | 6.8 Inches |
Number of items | 9 |
Release date | November 2013 |
Weight | 5 Pounds |
Width | 3 Inches |
I loved Duolingo but if you’re only using the app you may want to give the actual website a go. There’s more info and stuff to read there that doesn’t make it onto the app. So like stuff you’d find in textbooks.
I also bought this text (Living Language) on amazon. Has some errors in it but you get three books and CDs for such a good price (I think I even used a holiday 40% off a book purchase coupon to buy mine so it was super cheap!)
https://www.amazon.com/Living-Language-Hebrew-Complete-coursebooks/dp/0307972143/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=living+language+hebrew%2C+complete+edition+beginner+to+advanced&qid=1568363059&s=gateway&sprefix=living+language+hebrew&sr=8-1
I had a bit more Hebrew than you when I started the Living Language course (I’d taken some Hebrew in University though had a pretty awful professor who graded too easy and gave answers away during exams. I learned more Hebrew just through constant exposure because I also majored in Middle East studies and am an Israeli politics dork.) But because I was primarily self taught I had lots of gaps in knowledge. I like that Living Language is actually a workbook you can write in. So I started from the beginning and plowed through the stuff I knew quickly and went from there. Couldn’t complain for the price and with how much you get. Grab yourself a good dictionary too. Watch tv and movies and listen to Israeli music. I have several other textbooks too but had the same issue that a lot were too simple, some were religious (and simple), etc. my biggest problem is I haven’t had much practice speaking. I can read and understand a lot of spoken Hebrew well and my pronunciation isn’t bad but I’m not good at expressing myself in Hebrew or forming sentences on my own. And all the textbooks in the world won’t give you that. You’re going to want to find someone to speak Hebrew with ideally.
But yeah, I think the Living Language Collection is probably a good one for you. There’s also the books that are used in Ulpan in Israel. You can find them on amazon and they move pretty fast so I’m unsure if you’d want the first level 1 book or the second. The biggest issue is that they’re pricey and the answer key is sold separately. I think I’ve seen them for sale cheaper on Jewish book websites than on Amazon but still much pricier than Living Language.
Living Language Hebrew is pretty good. It is a big box that comes with 3 or 4 textbooks, 9 CD's, and is a really good combination of learning conversational language AND the meat of grammar. There is a grammar summary appendix in each book that could be published in it's own right as a little grammar book.
The Routlidge grammar books are amazing, and Modern Hebrew: An Essential Grammar would be right up your alley if you want a big, fat grammar book.
I personally keep a copy of Maskilon 2 handy as a grammar reference, and it has example sentences and excercises too so it can be valuable on it's own. (Note that the Maskilon series has 4 volumes. Volume 1 is a root-order dictionary that appears to be out of print, and 3 & 4 are English-Hebrew and Hebrew-English dictionaries. I've not used them, so I don't know how good they are.)
I think the key to learning Hebrew is to think of it like weight training. You need to maintain consistency, target all areas, develop routines, adjust depending on what works for you, and when you plateau, you need to vary things up.
What does that mean? Pick a few from the following strategies and try them out to see what works well. Get a routine going that involves using 1-3 of them every day, and make sure the methods, when combined, target all major areas (though realistically, you can put a bit less weight on writing): | reading | writing | listening | speaking | vocabulary | grammar |
Try some of these out and cycle through them as needed and you'll be surprised at how quickly you pick it up!
One thing you can try is googling "intro modern hebrew syllabus" and see what texts those introductory courses are using (I know the UofA only has courses on biblical hebrew, but many other institutions teach modern hebrew). Here's a few books on Amazon that I found off of those syllabi .
Text 1 and Text 2
The UofA libraries also gives you free access to some ebooks like this one if you want to save costs.
If you look around I'm sure you can find a text that suits you.