Israeli Hebrew For Speakers Of English: Book 2 / Contents of the Israeli Hebrew Series
The Israeli Hebrew for Speakers of English series consists of three full textbooks plus a workbook that introduces the Hebrew alphabet. The series, designed for use with both university, high school and adult education students, leadsthe language learner through the fundamentals of Modern Hebrew morphology, syntax and lexicon, and prepares him for advanced studies in the language. The series is intended to be compatible with the Modern Hebrew Computer-Assisted Instruction program, a computer-based supplement to classroom language instruction, originally designed for use on the University of Illinois and Control Data Corporation PLATO systems. The textbooks are designed, however, to be used independently of the computer program. The books are accompanied by audio tapes (available free at dubenbooks.freeyellow.com.)
Our Educational Philosophy
It has been the assumption of the authors that the spoken rather than the written language should be emphasized during the initial stages of language learning. In the first two books of the series, we attempt to provide the student with a firm foundation in Israeli Hebrew as it is spoken in informal contexts by educated native speakers. The decision to teach informal spoken Hebrew has led to occasional departures from normative Hebrew. For example, in informal contexts, educated native speakers of Hebrew generally pronounce 'you plural wrote' as katavtem, and not as ktavtem. Thus, we have taught the form katavtem actively and have only mentioned the pronunciation ktavtem in passing the existence of the more formal . We believe this to be justified because we wish to prepare our students to speak and understand the Hebrew spoken by native speakers in Israel today.
Although a colloquial style is emphasized during the initial stages of Hebrew study, a progression toward more literaryusage can be seen in the latter chapters of Book Two and throughout Book Three. The goal of the series as a whole is to enable the advanced student to deal competently with the full range of styles in use in Israel. This would include conversational, journalistic and literary Hebrew. We believe that an emphasis on informal spoken Hebrew during the first year of study facilitates the accomplishment of this goal.
