|
Modern Hebrew I | 
 enlarge | Author: Pimsleur
Publisher: Pimsleur
Category: Book
List Price: $345.00
Buy New: $130.00
You Save: $215.00 (62%)
New (12) Used (10) from $124.98
Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 333000
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Edition: 2
Number Of Items: 16
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 12.7 x 11.1 x 1.5
ISBN: 0743500415
Dewey Decimal Number: 492
EAN: 9780743500418
ASIN: 0743500415
Publication Date: November 1, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW - FACTORY SEALED - SHIPS NEXT BUSINESS DAY - EXPEDITED SHIPPING AVAILABLE!
| |
| Accessories:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Comprehensive Hebrew includes 30 lessons of essential grammar and vocabulary -- 16 hours of real-life spoken practice sessions -- plus an introduction to reading.Upon completion of this Level I program, you will have functional spoken proficiency with the most-frequently-used vocabulary and grammatical structures. You will be able to: * initiate and maintain face-to-face conversations, * deal with every day situations -- ask for information, directions, and give basic information about yourself and family, * communicate basic information on informal topics and participate in casual conversations, * avoid basic cultural errors and handle minimum courtesy and travel requirements, * satisfy personal needs and limited social demands, * establish rapport with strangers in foreign countries, * begin reading and sounding out items with native-like pronunciation.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Please reconsider your purchase of this product. July 2, 2008
JBuckner (Portugal)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a review of both Pimsleur Hebrew I and II. I feel that I have wasted enough time with this course. I do not want to waste more time writing a separate review for both levels.
I bought these courses based on the good reviews that they received. I, like most people, am not independently wealthy. I do not like to waste my money. I was willing to spend the money to buy these courses because I had the reasonable expectation that they would teach me an adequate amount of Hebrew to offset the cost. I was wrong.
My problems with these courses:
1. Limited vocabulary. After both levels I still only have a very limited vocabulary. I augmented the vocabulary with other courses.
2. Bad grammar. They intentionally teach what most experts deem "lazy Hebrew". This is especially noticeable in the negative. Essentially they teach one to say "I no want" instead of "I do not want" etc. It gets the point across but it is incorrect and must be unlearned later.
3. Random gender. In Hebrew the male and female conjugations of verbs are different. This course tells one to translate "I want" "I am" etc. without bothering to tell you if you are to translate it as a male or a female. Sometimes you start a practice conversation as one gender and then finish it as the other! They attempt to correct this about halfway through the second level. However then you still have random gender. This is frustrating when attempting to give the correct answer. Example: "You are in a cafe and you want to buy something......." in this exercise you really need to know if you are acting as a man or as a woman to conjugate the verbs correctly but they seldom bother to tell you.
4. Repetition. Some words and phrases are reviewed to a frustrating degree. Some repetition is necessary for any student. However, I spent an hour and a half reviewing the phrase "my car is not running very well".The opposite of this is also true. They say a word one time and then never review it. They never seem to get it right. They review a word so much that you swear at your CD player or they only say it once and never go back to it.
5. Review of words they never taught. Several times they would ask "how do you say........?" The noun that they were looking for had never appeared in the course. The first time this happened I thought it must have been my fault. However, upon review, I figured out that the error was theirs. This happens several times throughout the course.
6. Random conjugation. Some of the verbs you learn past, present and future tense in both masculine and feminine forms. Most of them, however, are only partially taught. If that. Some you learn the masculine form only. Some the feminine form. Some the future but not the past. Some the past but not the future. Some you just learn the infinitive. Some you learn a conjugation but not the infinitive. This haphazard approach is at best frustrating, at worst damaging.
7. Variations in pronunciation. Some of the speakers on the programs pronounce words very differently from some of the others. This is partially explained by some Hebrew letters having more than one pronunciation. This should have been acknowledged and explained. Needless to say, it was not.
8. Value for money. Very low. These courses are quite expensive. After having completed both of them I am very disappointed. For the amount of time and money that I spent on these courses I expected much more. I have extensive experience learning and using other languages. This is by far the most incomplete course that I have ever used.
9. Pimsleur claims to be a leader in language acquisition. However this product does not show any signs of professionalism in that area. This course is not designed with the learner in mind.
I take learning foreign languages seriously. I have worked hard to acquire near native proficiency in several languages in the past. I am willing to work hard to learn. I understand that hard work is necessary. Hard work must also be present in the teaching of a foreign language. Pimsleur obviously does not take teaching Hebrew seriously to have produced such a shoddy product.
Teaches *spoken* Hebrew, common grammatical errors December 8, 2007
the_bibliophile (DC, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am a real fan of the Pimsleur method. I think that the continuous repetition of words and their different uses is a great way to memorize a new vocabulary and learn how to use it.
Being a native Hebrew speaker (I bought this for a friend), I would like to point out one important aspect that may be easily overlooked. These lessons teach you common spoken Hebrew, the way it is used by many native Hebrew speakers. This means that the lessons contain quite a few frequent grammatical mistakes of the kind that would make any Hebrew grammar teacher blush in embarrassment. However, you would hear a lot of native speakers make these errors (regrettably, some of them do it consciously).
A common mistake in these lessons is the misuse of the future tense in cases where the imperative tense should be used. This may help you sound more like a native speaker and less like a Hebrew Ulpan graduate, but may definitely be awkward in some circles and quite unacceptable in writing. So it depends on whether you would like to sound cool, or correct, but you should be aware of it.
 better than 5 years of hebrew school October 9, 2007
HowardTNYC (nyc, ny United States)
I just finished Hebrew I and I think of myself as "someone who is not good at learning languages". I had prob 6-7 years of hebrew school and I also took 2 years of spanish in HS and I ahve almost zero retention of either (except that I can read, though not understand hebrew).
Anyway I listened to this program in the car, etc for a few weeks and I have to say I feel I have pretty well mastered the vocabulary presented and I am looking forward a lot to Hebrew 2. These guys have a great formula for presenting new words, helping you understand them, then not using them for a bit and then returning to them to see if you remember them. You really get the sense that someone worked out with great care how to best build one concept on the next.
My only worry is..what about when I get to the end of Hebrew II? There is no Hebrew III and beyond.
For quick, fun learning on the go, this thing cant be beat.
Shipment too long in transit. January 9, 2007
Harry Langer (Algarve Portugal)
0 out of 21 found this review helpful
Bought this product as a gift for Holiday Season. Since it was in transit (42 days) via DHL(A German owned courier) and Deutsche Post in Frankfurt the delayed arrival date was such that the shipment was no longer of any use to me as a Holiday Gift.
BiBi
Harry Langer
PS Why do you use a German transporter when there is a US Postal Service?
too little of a great thing August 28, 2006
David A. Baer (Indianapolis, IN USA)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
Shame on you, Pimsleur, for making us wait more than five years for the successor to this unparalleled introduction to Modern Hebrew.
The Pimsleur all-auditory approach to language learning is simply the best product available for a hands-off non-visual approach to language learning that is superb for the mobile and commuter learner. See my reviews of German I, II, and III if you want to know more about this reviewer's appreciation for how the Pimsleur method works with the brain's 'hard-wired' capacities for language absorption and construction.
With Hebrew I, they've hit the nail on the head all over again.
The two speakers in this series - one male and one female - even manage to present different pronunciations in a way that allows the learner's brain to latch onto the commonalities and ignore the variations. This is what your brain does every time it interprets symbols, and language is as symbolic as it gets. The pronunciation and elision of the 'h' sound is a case in point.
You just can't find a better language-learning technique short of immersion or a very good live teacher.
The problem is the delay between Hebrew I and the promised Hebrew II (January, 2007). Surely both commercial and pedagogical considerations should have persuaded Pimsleur to get the second series out sooner than this.
I suppose that's an inverted compliment. So be it.
As I write this review, 2007 is only months away, so a new purchase of Hebrew I will not present difficulties if you want to move quickly to Hebrew II. If that's your situation, don't think twice. Pimsleur Hebrew I is the equal of any other product and the very best no-eyes, no-hands approach you'll fine anywhere.
Lehitra'ot!
|
|
|
Navy Advancement Study Guide
Top Selling Navy Enlisted Books | | Subcategories | Reference Books on Cassette |
|
|
|
|
