Alefbeys Workshop
Tuition: $240 | YIVO members: $180**
This is a live, online course held on Zoom. Enrollment will be capped at about 25 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 English.
Instructor: Josh Price
This four-session course will introduce students to the alefbeys, the alphabet used for reading and writing Yiddish. Yiddish uses the Hebrew alphabet, but with a system that is largely phonetic—unlike that of Hebrew. Reading and writing Yiddish require proficiency in the alphabet’s two forms: the printed and the hand-written. We will work on reading, writing, and pronunciation. While we will start from scratch, students are encouraged to browse this set of materials from the Yiddish Book Center prior to our first session.
Yiddish Level:
This course is designed for students who are new to learning Yiddish and are looking to prepare for a Beginner I Yiddish course.
Course Materials:
The instructor will provide all required course materials digitally throughout the class on Canvas.
Questions? Read our 2026 Winter Yiddish Seminars FAQ.
Joshua Price is a Senior Lector in Yiddish at Yale. He received his Ph.D. in Yiddish Studies at Columbia University (2020), with a dissertation on the translation of world literature into Yiddish in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work has appeared in In geveb, Jews and Slavs, and Afn shvel. He is currently at work on a study of Yiddish and/as world literature for the forthcoming edited volume Cambridge History of Yiddish Literature.
**Become a member today, starting at $54 for one year, and pay the member price for classes! You’ll save on tuition for this course and more on future classes and public programs tickets.