Free Heblish Challenge – January 2010 – Training – Day 6:

Shalom!

Welcome back to Day 6 of the Free Heblish Challenge!

This lesson is the last of our VIL (Very Important Lessons…) for your basic Hebrew.

Last week we talked about the sound of the 5 Heblish vowels: A, E, I, O and U.

If you missed lessons 4 and 5 please go back and read them before continuing with this lesson. Click here to find all the lessons from the beginning.

So, let’s see what’s going on today?

Today’s menu: Strange sounds

In our previous lessons we learned how to pronounce each Heblish vowel.  Today we’ll learn how to pronounce two (actually three) irregular Hebrew letters.

The letter: Tsadey

This letter’s name is “tsadey,” it sounds like “ts.”

It’s exactly like the “ts” of “it’s easy” or “let’s go” – the same sound, but in Hebrew we only use one letter to express this sound.

Let’s look at some examples, but don’t try to learn the Hebrew words – not yet, just try to “catch” the ”ts” sound:

Egg – beitsa

Hawk – nets

Matzah – matsa

Juice – mits

Bracelet – tsamid

This is simple; it should be easy and familiar to you.

Het & Haf*

Short introduction:

Hebrew has 22 letters. Two of them, the “het” and “haf,” have a strange sound that will probably be awkward for you to express.

Take a deep breath… it’s not really difficult

When we want to indicate this sound (the het or haf) in a word in our Heblish lessons, we will use the character “^”, because the English alphabet does not have this sound.

To understand what I mean, let’s go to YouTube, to hear some sounds.

Try to learn the sound which I’ve marked as ^ and train yourself to pronounce this unusual sound.

There are some videos below. Click and listen – don’t try to learn the Hebrew words, just listen to the strange sound.

Beetle - ^ipushit (6 seconds on Youtube)

Cat - ^atul (6 seconds on Youtube)

Chess – Sha^ (13 seconds on Youtube)

Thread - ^ut (5 seconds on Youtube)

In this video you will hear the ^ (het/haf) pronounced with each of the vowels. ^, ^a, ^e, ^I, ^o, ^u (12 seconds on Youtube)

Hats off!

We have finished the phonetic lessons, and you are still here… amazing!

In our next lesson we will learn some useful Hebrew conjunctions.

From now on you are really on your way, because you can express every word in the Hebrew language!

Lehitraot in lesson 7!

*) I told you before, that the two letters “Het” and “Haf” (or ^et and ^af) have the same sound.  Why do we use two letters for the same sound?  Many years ago there was a real difference between the letters “Het” and “Haf.”  But today only the oriental Jews (like the Yemenis or Iraqi Jews), and all of the Arabic people, still use different sounds for the “Het” and for the “Haf.”  All other Israelis express the sound of these two letters in the same way, and that’s why I used the same sign (the ^) for both the “Het” and “Haf.”

Free Heblish Challenge – January 2010 – Training – Day 5:

Hi!

Why “Hi” and not “Shalom“?

Because I wanted to show you that here in Israel in a casual setting, like between friends and family, we usually say “hi” instead of “shalom.” “Hi, shalom” and sometimes even “ahalan” (which is an Arab word) are common ways to say hello in Israel.

Day 5… that’s great!

In our previous lesson we talked about the sound of the vowels E and I. If you don’t remember or you missed that lesson, please go back read and listen to the videos of Lesson 4. It is necessary for all our lessons.

Today’s menu: Vowels A, O & U and their sounds   

Today, let’s continue with our subject “Vocalizing,” and we’ll learn how to pronounce the last three Heblish vowels. We’ll also see where to put the accent in the words we’ve learned so far.

Some of you have asked to “hear” how I pronounce the Hebrew words. You can find a link to that video in the end of the lesson. 

A

Every time you read an “a” in our Heblish words, you should pronounce it like the “a” sound in “father, la (the note), balloon” and also “star”.

It is not like the “a” of “air, bad, sand, mail” or “cat”.

When you say “a” in Heblish, your mouth should be open: like when you say “aaah” at the doctor’s office… Well, “aa” would be pretty good…

Watch this short video on YouTube: The sound of the vowel A (16 seconds)

Now, after you have heard the sound of this letter, here are the words you’ve learned with “a,” and how each word should be accented.

The bold vowels represent the “a” sound and the underline represents the accent.

  – Lehitraot (goodbye)

  – Laila tov (goodnight)

  – Toda (thanks or thank you)

  – Malon (hotel)

  – Shalom (hello) and

  - Bevakasha (please).

O

Every time you read an “o” in our Heblish words, you should pronounce it like the “o” in “boy, or, New York, Obama” or “phone”.

It is not like the “o” of “lesson, London” or “freedom,” because you are swallowing the “o” for these words.

Watch this short video on YouTube: The sound of the vowel O (14 seconds)

Up to this point we have learned some words using “o,” and now we’ll see how each word should be accented.

The bold vowels represent the “o” sound and the underline represents the accent.

  - Tov (good)

  - Shalom (hello)

  - Lehitraot (goodbye)

  – Boker (morning)

  – Toda (thanks)

  - Eifo (where)

  – Malon (hotel), and

  - Telephone (telephone).

U

Every time you read a “u” in our Heblish words, you should read it like the “u” of “Cuba, request,” or “rule”, and also “zoo” and “Jew“.

It is not like the “u” of “discuss, sub, Saturday” or “return”.

Watch this short video on YouTube: The sound of the vowel U (20 seconds)

Up to this point we have learned only one word using “u”:

  - Sherutim (toilet, bathroom).

Here is the video I promised you in the beginning of the lesson.

You did it!

You have learned all five of the Heblish vowels and you have seen that we always use the same sound for a specific vowel.

Now you can pronounce almost every word in Hebrew, and there is still time left over to sit and plan your weekend….

Attention:  Please remember, there are no lessons posted on holidays, yours or mine.  As Monday, January 18, 2010 is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, there will be no lesson on that day.

Don’t miss our next lesson, on Thursday, January 21; it is VERY important lesson!

So….. lehitraot in lesson 6! 

Free Heblish Challenge – January 2010 – Training – Day 4:

Shalom!

Well done!

Day 4 of our Heblish Challenge and I want to shake things up a bit.

Today, and also in our next two lessons, we will listen to and practice some new sounds, and also learn how to express some vowels in Heblish.

These three lessons are very, very important, because without these simple sounds you will not be able to speak Hebrew well. Remember –  when in Rome behave like a Roman…

We know that people in different regions of the same country can have slightly different pronunciations of the same word. For instance, a person from New York sounds different than a person from Texas. That’s why I want you to listen to the short phonetic videos – so all of us will be on the same page with our new secret language… Heblish.

Last week you learned some words and succeeded in building a whole sentence.

You were in a hotel in Israel and went out to get a cup of tea. The waiter probably asked you how your coffee is, and you said: The coffee is beseder, but I asked for tea… and after he apologized and brought your tea, you said: toda.

However, when you wanted to return to your hotel you lost your way and asked someone: eifo malon Hilton, bevakasha. In your hotel you have everything you need, including a telephone and sherutim.

Today’s menu: Vowels E & I and their sounds

Today, we’ll learn how to pronounce these vowels in Heblish. We’ll also see where to put the accent in the words we’ve learned so far.

E

In English, the “e” has two sounds:  “e” like in “egg,” or “e” like in “me” or “we.”

For example, in the word “delete” you can see that the E’s have more than one sound: de-le-te…

In Heblish there is only ONE sound for each vowel.

Every time you read an “e” in our Heblish words, you should pronounce it like the “e” in “egg, lesson, letter, Jerusalem, echo” or “yes”.

It is not like the “e” of “we, be, he” or “meanwhile”.

Watch this short video on YouTube: The sound of the vowel E (13 seconds)

Now, after you have heard the sound of this letter, here are the words you’ve learned with “e,” and how each word should be accented.

The bold vowels represent the “e” sound and the underline represents the accent.

  - Eifo (where)

  – Beseder (OK)

  - Boker (morning)

  - Bevaka style="text-decoration: underline;">sha (please)

  – Sherutim (toilet, bathroom)

  - Telephone (telephone) and

  - Lehitraot (goodbye).
 

I

Every time you read an “i” in our Heblish words, you should pronounce it like the “i” in “police, going, loading”.

You can hear this sound better in the following words, (even though they have an “e” instead of the “i”): “eat, be, we” and “me“.

Watch this short video on YouTube: The sound of the vowel I (18 seconds)

Up to this point we have learned some words using “i,” and now we’ll see how each word should be accented.

The bold vowels represent the “i” sound and the underline represents the accent.

  - Lehitraot (goodbye)

  – Laila tov (goodnight)

  – Eifo (where) and

  - Sherutim (toilet, bathroom). 

Today you have learned two Hebrew vowels and you have seen that we always use the same sound for a specific letter. In the next lesson you will learn the last three vowels.

Don’t miss your next lesson…

Lehitraot in lesson 5!