Beginner I Yiddish (Tuesday Morning)

Tuition: $480 | YIVO members: $375**
Students: $240 (Must register with valid university email address)

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: Malena Chinski

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

What topics will this class cover?
Drawing on a communicative approach, this class will provide a basic background in Yiddish language and culture. Students will learn the Yiddish alphabet, grammar, vocabulary, and will work on each of the four language skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The course will include an introduction to the history of Ashkenazi Jewish civilization, as well as to Yiddish folklore and literature.

Is knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet required?
No, knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet is not required. However, students who have no prior experience with reading and writing 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.

Course Materials:
This course will use the textbook In eynem: The New Yiddish Textbook, Vol I & II by Asya Vaisman Schulman, Jordan Brown, Mikhl Yashinsky (Purchase).

Malena Chinski studied Yiddish at the IWO Foundation of Buenos Aires with Ester Szwarc and Avrom Lichtenbaum. She has recently taught beginner and intermediate classes at the Maison de la culture yiddish in Paris and in the Summer Program for Yiddish Language and Literature in Berlin. Her doctoral dissertation, completed in 2017 at the Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento in Argentina, focused on the commemoration of the Shoah in Buenos Aires throughout the first postwar decade. During her postdoctoral fellowships in France at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and the Fondation pour la mémoire de la Shoah, she researched cultural initiatives and scholarly works undertaken by survivors and Yiddish writers in Paris. Among her publications is a collective volume co-edited with Alan Astro, Splendor, Decline, and Rediscovery of Yiddish in Latin America (Brill, 2018).

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