getting started
Getting Started
Welcome to Read Hebrew Now!
Read Hebrew Now has created a four part system that teaches children and adults of any age to read Hebrew in a fun and efficient way! Mother and daughter team Diana Yacobi and Lily Yacobi Safrani created the system in order to make learning to read Hebrew fun and engaging.
We invite you to preview our books and when you’re ready, select printed books or a digital collection. You may want to combine some printed books with a digital collection. The digital collections include activities to supplement the books as well as audio support. If you’d like to hear the Hebrew out loud, you’ll find audio support on the audio page for each of the books.
Part One: Learn the Letters
We encourage beginners of all ages to have a copy of the book the Aleph Bet Story, or the free app. The whimsical story, colorful pictures,the trigger question, “What makes this letter special?” and letter description create a lot of discussion around each letter. These teaching and learning tools will also make it easier to distinguish look-alike Hebrew letters. There are quite a few! Seeing the “openings and closings, toes and tails” will make the beginner’s reading more accurate.
The Aleph Bet Story images continue to appear in the Read Hebrew books which follow to help with letter review. Learners of all ages laugh as they learn the letters! Search ‘Aleph Bet Story’ for the app (for iPhone only). The audio track for each letter story can be found on the audio page. Sound effects and Lily’s reading aloud of the story make learning the letters fun.
Part Two: Learn to read Hebrew
A problem-solving approach guided the overall curriculum design. The learning strategies anticipate beginner-level students’ common reading difficulties with Hebrew reading and counteract them with challenging activities and exercises. The series of books, audio support and supplementary materials support students and teachers alike. Each book includes a ‘Note to Teachers’ on page four to highlight teaching points in the book. When using the digital version, we strongly recommend printing out pages for doing the exercises.
The large print, step-by-step approach, visual and auditory support have also proven to be helpful to special needs students. Adult students have turned to Read Hebrew Now to learn to read Hebrew or to polish up rusty reading skills. Using the program, students move easily from primer to prayers, can prepare for Bar/Bat Mitzvah or Bible study, or focus on conversational Hebrew.
No background in Hebrew is needed to use the program. Home schooling parents have let us know that they can follow the step-by-step approach and can learn to read Hebrew alongside their children. Teachers have a simple but effective program to follow, with young students or teens alike.
Part Three books reinforce the reading skills students have learned while teaching the Shabbat prayers. Part Four books are an introduction to conversational Hebrew lite. These two books are in digital format only.
Diana, a Jewish educator and co-creator of the program, loves to work with students and teachers. Parents and schools can contact Diana with questions or to request a workshop to explain how the program works.