Beginner Yiddish (Mondays)

Instructor: Vera Szabó

This course is for students who are new to the Yiddish language or would like a review. You will learn the alphabet, acquire basic reading and writing skills, and learn to talk about yourself and your interests, surroundings, friends, and family. You will also learn about the history, sociology and culture of Yiddish and how Jewish life is reflected in the language. We will read and discuss simple Yiddish texts from various times, places, and genres – proverbs, folk songs and folktales, songs of the Yiddish theater and labor movement, poetry, and texts from secular and Hasidic Yiddish school books.

Course Materials:
This course will use the textbook College Yiddish: An Introduction to the Yiddish Language and to Jewish Life and Culture by Uriel Weinreich. If you do not yet own a copy (any edition is fine), please submit this order form.

Vera Szabó was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary. She holds an M.A. in Yiddish Studies from Columbia University as well as an M.A. in English and German Studies from ELTE University, Budapest.

She has taught Yiddish language, literature and folklore at various universities in the US (University of Michigan, Stanford, the University of Washington) and in Israel (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) as well as in various intensive summer programs (NYU/YIVO, Vilna, and Tel Aviv University.) She currently teaches the advanced Yiddish course at Tel Aviv University and various levels at Beth Shalom Aleichem.

Vera also translates literary and non-literary texts from Yiddish and Hungarian into English. Her research interest is Yiddish folklore. A certified yoga teacher, Vera has been teaching yoga in Yiddish for the past five years in Jerusalem, where she resides. More information on her website: www.verele.com  

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