Beginner I Yiddish (Wednesday)
Tuition: $450 | YIVO members: $350**
Students: $225 (Must register with valid university email address)
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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: Miri Koral
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?
This class will cover basic Yiddish conversation as well as reading and writing. Students will learn the printed and cursive forms of the Yiddish alphabet. Students will learn basic grammar, including constructing sentences, conjugating in the present tense, and modifying adjectives to match gendered nouns in the nominative case. Topics will include days of the week, describing a person, and Yiddish songs.
This course will cover the equivalent of Units 1 – 3 in Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature & Culture, Volume I by Sheva Zucker.
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 Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature & Culture, Volume I by Sheva Zucker (Purchase). The instructor will provide supplementary handouts digitally on Canvas.
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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