Beginner I Yiddish (Sunday)

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, assignments, 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: Reb Noyekh (Noah Barrera)

Who should take this course?
This course is for students who are new to the Yiddish language or would like a review.

What topics will this class cover?
This course covers the alphabet, elementary grammar, and conversational and reading basics, with an emphasis on conversation.

Is knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet required?
No, knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet is not required. However, students who have no prior experience with the Yiddish or Hebrew alphabets are highly encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Yiddish alphabet before class, as the course will move at a fast pace. The tools and videos provided here will be helpful in getting a handle on reading and writing the alef-beys, and are designed for independent use. The dialogues in the first five chapters of the textbook, Colloquial Yiddish, are offered in both the Yiddish alphabet and in transliteration.

Course Materials:
This course will use the textbook Colloquial Yiddish, by Lily Kahn (Purchase). The audio files for the textbook are available free of charge on the publisher's website here. The instructor will provide any additional course materials digitally to students throughout the class.

Reb Noyekh is a Yiddish educator, writer, translator, and YouTube content creator. A native of California, he began learning Yiddish at UC Santa Cruz where he majored in Jewish Studies. He later studied and taught in the YIVO zumer program for several years and coordinated and taught Yiddish language classes at Der Arbeter Ring in New York. His articles and original stories have appeared in the Yiddish Daily Forverts, Afn Shvel, and elsewhere. His academic translation, together with Nathaniel Deutsch, of Abraham Rechtman's ethnographic account of the Ansky expedition, will soon be published by Indiana University Press. Reb Noyekh is also a prolific YouTube content creator; together with his partner Gustavo Emos, he has created over 100 hours of Yiddish content on YouTube.

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