In the words of Abraham Lincoln, "It is a pleasure to be able to quote lines to fit any occasion."  While this may be a truism, the unique allure of the aptly chosen and well-timed quote is something many of us give little thought to. The famous actress and singer Marlene Dietrich offers one insightful quote about quotes to help sum up this common phenomenon: "I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself." Now, how does this apply to Hebrew quotes specifically? While slipping in a pithy quote would seem to be a universal practice, one might argue that Jewish culture prizes it more so than other cultures. This may be... Show more

In Israel, business is booming. It’s well-known that Israel is one of the most advanced and dynamic economies the world over. The country has, in fact, been dubbed the Startup Nation for the immense number of businesses launched in or from Israel. Having only sparse natural resources, Israel has, since its inception, wisely invested in its human resource through extensive research and development. In particular, Israel is a world leader in technology pertaining to communications, computers, aviation, the military, agriculture, and medicine, among many other sectors. Amazingly, Israel has more companies listed on NASDAQ than any other country, except the U.S. and China! So, if you’re planning on doing business with Israelis or in Israel,... Show more

Knowing how to say goodbye is a key skill in any language. In Hebrew, as in most languages, the way we say goodbye depends on a number of factors, such as the particular situation we’re in, the person or people we’re addressing, and the time of day. Just as it’s crucial to leave a good first impression by saying hello and introducing yourself, it’s equally important to leave a good last impression by taking your leave in a manner suitable to the circumstances. Farewells are precisely the opportunity to do so; correctly using Hebrew goodbye phrases will show that you’re sensitive to the nuances of the language and culture. In this article, we’ll look at the top ten ways to say goodbye in Hebrew. We’ll cover day-to-day goodbyes, goodbyes for... Show more

Let's face it. Hebrew is not the most popular language choice for those seeking to acquire a new one. It’s not as sexy-sounding as, say, French or Spanish. It doesn’t have international status as a lingua franca for culture or commerce. It’s spoken by a mere nine million people worldwide.  Yet there are a number of great reasons to make it your next language undertaking. In this article, we’ll answer the question "Is Hebrew hard to learn?" and talk about its simpler and more complex aspects. But first, we’ll show you why you should learn this beautiful language. The number-one reason is that Hebrew is, quite simply, unique among all languages, and for more than one reason. It’s the language of nearly the entire Old Testament (the Book... Show more

It’s more than expected to make mistakes when learning a new language, particularly when that language is quite different from your mother tongue. Whether in terms of correct pronunciation, the right word for the right situation, or the small differences that can make the difference between an idiomatic phrase and an idiotic one, languages are full of traps that only native speakers can navigate with ease.  With all that in mind, it’s perfectly normal for a language-learner to make the occasional mistake in Hebrew. But we here at HebrewPod101.com are here to help you avoid the worst of them. Today’s lesson will cover the top ten most common Hebrew mistakes. While there are some mistakes in life that one must make in order to learn... Show more

Voltaire once famously said: "Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers."  In Jewish tradition, in particular, questions are of immense importance.  For instance, the Passover Seder invites the children to participate by asking Four Questions in Hebrew about the traditions particular to that meal. There’s another point in the Seder where we talk about the four types of children. The first three are the Good, the Wicked, and the Simpleton; each is characterized by the nature and content of the questions he asks about Passover. The final child is called He Who Does Not Know to Ask Questions, and we’re encouraged to ask the questions for him.  So, you can see that questions are powerful and important in Judaism. On a... Show more

For anyone who matriculated from high school and/or took their university entrance exams in a language other than Hebrew, the YAEL Test will almost surely be a requisite to pursuing a higher education in Israel.  This exam is one of the most popular Hebrew proficiency tests, aimed at testing both the receptive and productive abilities of the test-taker with a specific focus on academic language. YAEL Test scores are used by Israeli educational institutions to screen applicants; many of these institutions specify a minimum score on the YAEL Test as one of their entrance requirements. The higher your score, the more likely you are to be exempted from taking Hebrew language courses during your studies at university. It’s worth noting... Show more

One of the most helpful things to keep in mind when acquiring an additional language is the importance of picking up patterns. Our brains, in a way, are very much like computers. They work much more efficiently if we can program them with patterns that have versatile applications, instead of trying to memorize every single instance of a given task.  In the case of learning Hebrew, picking up simple Hebrew sentence patterns is essential. This is because the task at hand is that of either producing or comprehending information (very often both), noting and correctly applying the ways in which it’s organized according to the patterns used in that language. Hebrew sentence patterns, much like the בניינים (binyanim), or verb conjugation... Show more

If you’ve been working mostly on subject-verb constructs in your Hebrew practice, adverbs can open new dimensions of expressive possibilities. Learning how to use Hebrew adverbs is a great and easy way to expand your toolkit and start expressing and understanding more complex ideas. The best thing about them is that they’re also very simple to use. In fact, adverbs in Hebrew have only one form, so you can, for a change, stop worrying about singular versus plural and male versus female. Moreover, they don’t get conjugated, so no matter what tense you’re using, you just need to remember one word and one form to use an adverb properly. Adverbs are essential to any language, and certainly to Hebrew, though they sometimes don’t get the... Show more

Have you seen HebrewPod101’s lessons on 100 Nouns and 100 Adjectives? Today, we’re going to take a look at the top 100 Hebrew verbs! Today’s lesson will both offer you an introduction to the unique grammar of Hebrew verb conjugation, as well as help you to arm your language toolkit with essential verbs. Verbs are simply a necessity, moreso perhaps in Hebrew than in any other language. In fact, many sentences and questions in Hebrew are actually nothing more than conjugated verbs, so it’s not uncommon to hear one-word sentences and questions. In this article, we’ll cover the basics of Modern Hebrew verbs, which, it should be noted, differ significantly from verb usage in the Bible. We’ll look at the ways a verb’s declension changes... Show more