Learning Biblical Hebrew Interactively (2 vols.)
Overview
The fruit of several years’ research and development, field-tested by teachers without experience of conversation in Hebrew as a spoken language, Paul Overland’s new Hebrew textbook is startlingly original and immediately accessible and attractive. Its foundation is the theory and practice of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), which orients grammar so as to empower the student’s capacity for reading, hearing and expressing in Biblical Hebrew.
Learning Biblical Hebrew Interactively offers a set of activities structured on a serialized narrative inspired by the book of Jonah. Working through it, the student acquires facility in communicating in Hebrew by expressing opinions, accomplishing tasks, or asking others to do something. It is a hands-on, interactive learning experience, hugely various, enhanced by its 230 illustrations and photos, and numerous inserts headed “Did you know that …?” featuring interesting aspects of Hebrew culture.
- Grounded in cutting-edge language learning methodology and research
- Emphasizes participation and communication
- Presents a hands-on and interactive learning experience
- Learning the Alphabet: Consonants, Vowels, and Syllables
- Getting Acquainted: Verbless Questions, Predicative Participle
- Describing What You See: Nouns, Adjectives, Prepositions, and the Inquiry
- Talking About the Here – and – Now: Pronouns, Participles, and Infinitives
- Talking About What They Will Do Tomorrow: ִי ְּקטֹלֹ Conjugation (Part 1)
- Talking About What You Will Do First: ִי ְּקטֹלֹ Conjugation (Part 2), Ordinal Numbers
- Sharing Memories of Yesterday: ָׁק ַטלֹ Conjugation
- Telling a story: vav-conversive and nifal ִבְּנָׁין
- Exchanging Diplomatic Messages: hifi l ִבְּנָׁין
- Issuing Requests and Commands: Command Forms
- Conveying an apology: piel ִבְּנָׁין and Poetry
- Describing What has happened to Someone Else: pual, hofal, and hitpael ִבְּנָׁיִנים, and True qal Passive
Top Highlights
“Before reading each new episode, you first will want (a) to learn its vocabulary, (b) to study the explanations, and (c) engage the activities that support that episode. Then return to read the story.” (Volume 1, Page xviii)
“Occasionally a double sheva appears at the end of a word. In such cases, both shevas are silent” (Volume 1, Page 44)
“New vocabulary appears at the front of each Jonah episode, clustered in two groups. Learn the first group—‘Words for responding’—so well that you can speak or write them at will. As for the second group (‘Words for hearing’) learn them thoroughly enough that you can recognize these words when you hear them spoken or see them in writing.” (Volume 1, Page xviii)
“Closed syllables not only begin with a consonant, but also end with a consonant” (Volume 1, Page 47)
“Principles of grammar unfold under the heading ‘Explanation.’ These in turn lead to ‘Activities’ where, with the help of a new language skill, you will express yourself, obtain something from someone else, or ask someone to do perform a task—all in Hebrew! Activities let you communicate in Hebrew.” (Volume 1, Page xix)
Once one spends some time in the volumes … they begin to feel like home. The exercises and explanations draw the reader into the learning process, making these volumes a wonderful choice for any instructor seeking an interactive textbook for teaching biblical Hebrew at the college level.
—Jody Washburn, Hebrew Higher Education
- Title: Learning Biblical Hebrew Interactively, Vol. 1-2
- Author: Paul Overland
- Edition: Student Edition, Revised
- Publisher: Sheffield Phoenix Press
- Publication Date: 2016
- Volumes: 2
- Pages: 1,154
- Resource Type: Grammar
- Topic: Hebrew
Reviews
2 ratings
Gurney Mosley
3/26/2022
Tom Pearce
3/20/2022
This is just fantastic and having purchased the book set I would highly recommend...