Learn a Second Language

My earlier glowing review was done some months ago. I have since downgraded my opinion from 4 stars to 3 stars. The dictionary is too basic and insufficient – will not really teach you what you need to learn. If you are looking for a dictionary, then Shlomo Zilberman is very good. If you want to increase your vocabulary of people, places, things, then this is good. However if your goal is to learn conversational Hebrew, then it won’t help.
Since then, I have tried to learn at a synagogue from a teacher using an excellent book with comic cartoon stories and cassette tapes and have learnt much more. The book is “Haveyeth Ushma” (“Express and Learn”) by Judith Case and Paul Anokh but unfortunatlely is published in Israel – the copy my teacher has is in Russian and Hebrew. Is there an English edition? I wish some publisher here would publish it. Even so, we are able to learn with a little translation from our teacher because the cartoons are rich with clues. You learn the different verb forms almost subconsciously and the level of conversation is much higher than with other products. It is both visual and aural. The conversations in the book are also witty, warm and authentic (exactly the way real people speak, not ’staged’). It is better than Pimsleur.
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(Oct 2003)
I bought this book together with the Hebrew Picture Word Book by Steadman/Cirker. This book is fast learning if you are a visually oriented person and is a very good way to learn nouns quickly. However I feel that the book is unsufficient for really learning Hebrew. Nouns/Verbs are not everything.
1) The pictures here are colorful but the other book actually lets you paint or crayon in the pictures. for me, Cirker/Steadman is great fun! Straight from the post office, I went to [the store] and bought a cheap watercolor paint set. I am an adult but this was fun – mixing colors, painting and learning the hebrew word. I am using this painting not only to learn hebrew, but also to relieve stress from work
2) When the hebrew word is transliterated, one tends to remember the english word and forget the hebrew word because it is easier to look at. When I look at a picture and try to recall the hebrew name – in my mind’s eye, I tend to see the english transliteration only. It would have been better if they had printed the transliterated words on another page or upside down.
Both books have one drawback in that abstract words, expressions are not covered – but then, this is not their goal.

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Product Description:
Created by leading educators, these colorful, large-size dictionaries introduce beginning language learners to more than 1,550 commonly taught basic words. Each Let’s Learn Language Picture Dictionary in the series boasts 30 delightful two-page spreads that vividly illustrate the meanings of words. Fun-filled panoramas focus on scenes familiar to children aged three through eight, such as home life, the classroom, city life, sports, the zoo, and even outer space! Learners will love to revisit these detailed depictions of people, places, actions, and objects, each time improving their recall. Featured words are set off with individual illustrations and definitions to help learners at various levels build vocabulary. Includes an index and glossary of all the individually illustrated words. An ideal selection of first word books for parents and teachers who want to encourage second language acquisition.

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