Beginner I Conversational Yiddish for Heritage Learners

This is a live, online course held weekly on Zoom. Enrollment will be capped at about 15 students. All course details (Zoom link, syllabus, handouts, etc.) will be posted to Canvas. Students will be granted access to the class on Canvas after registering for the class here on the YIVO website. This class will be conducted in Yiddish and English.

Instructor: Miri Koral

Who should take this course?
Students will be beginners who have had some exposure to Yiddish in their lives, and maybe know a word or expression or two, but lack the basics of grammar and vocabulary, which will be provided in this course. No knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet is required, as all written texts provided will be transliterated into Latin characters (and the focus of the course will be conversation as opposed to reading and writing). Likewise, no proficiency in Yiddish conversation is required.

What topics will this class cover?
This course will help students learn to express themselves in Yiddish, a particularly expressive language. Conversation topics will include family, weather, travels, food, etc., and just basic kvetching! This course will also explore the history of Yiddish language and an overview of its literature, very basic grammar, as well as songs and some wonderful poetry.

Is knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet required?
No, knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet is not required. All written texts provided will be transliterated into Latin characters (and the focus of the course will be conversation as opposed to reading and writing).

Course Materials: 
There is no textbook required for this course. The instructor will provide all course materials digitally to students throughout the class.

Miri Koral has a passion for Yiddish, which she has been exercising for 25 years as an educator, translator, prize-winning bilingual writer, dialect coach for tv and film, events producer, and international speaker. 

She is the Continuing Lecturer in Yiddish at UCLA where she has been teaching language, literature, and film for over 20 years, and the Founding Director of the California Institute for Yiddish Culture and Language (CIYCL), known for offering active, high quality and comprehensive Yiddish cultural and educational programming on the West Coast since 2000.  

She also teaches Yiddish language at all levels online for the Workers Circle.  Her original works and translations have appeared in numerous print and on-line publications. Her most recent book-length translation is a biography, entitled Jacob Dinezon, the Mother Among Our Classic Yiddish Writers, by Shmuel Rozhanski (Jewish Storyteller Press (2016). She holds degrees from Barnard College and Columbia University and is a native Yiddish speaker.

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