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These audio CDs have allowed me to learn to speak Modern Hebrew in less than the time I was spending with teachers of the language and their long explanations.I would recommend these lessons to anyone interested in learning the language.Excellent method.
The item was just as described and the product is practical if you lack of time to sit down extra time to study. Listen to it everyday on the way to work.
However, with this method that is sufficient to begin learning the basics of Hebrew and to create a strong foundation. This set of CD's starts the student on a fruitful path toward language acquisition. Each lesson is 30 minutes long and should be repeated until around 80% mastery. The method is listening and speaking only (i.e. no reading and writing). Then, off to the next lesson. I fully recommend this to anybody who wishes to start studying Hebrew.
I had no previous experience with Hebrew. I feel it is an excellent value.Although the title says "Conversational Hebrew," I didn't realize until I got the box that no written materials are included. I have found this program very easy to follow and learn. There are no tedious grammatical practices - just ordinary, useful conversation. It's just as well. I can't read Hebrew anyway.
However, upon review, I figured out that the error was theirs. Variations in pronunciation. This happens several times throughout the course.6. This is especially noticeable in the negative. I was wrong.My problems with these courses:1. This is frustrating when attempting to give the correct answer.
Some you learn a conjugation but not the infinitive. 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. This course tells one to translate "I want" "I am" etc. Sometimes you start a practice conversation as one gender and then finish it as the other. This is a review of both Pimsleur Hebrew I and II. without bothering to tell you if you are to translate it as a male or a female. I am willing to work hard to learn.
In Hebrew the male and female conjugations of verbs are different. 4. Limited vocabulary. Bad grammar. I, like most people, am not independently wealthy. Some the future but not the past. I understand that hard work is necessary. Very low.
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. They attempt to correct this about halfway through the second level. 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. Value for money. These courses are quite expensive. Repetition. Pimsleur claims to be a leader in language acquisition. This is partially explained by some Hebrew letters having more than one pronunciation.
This haphazard approach is at best frustrating, at worst damaging.7. Random gender. However this product does not show any signs of professionalism in that area. After both levels I still only have a very limited vocabulary.
They never seem to get it right. This should have been acknowledged and explained. I have extensive experience learning and using other languages. Several times they would ask "how do you say." The noun that they were looking for had never appeared in the course. After having completed both of them I am very disappointed. However then you still have random gender. Some the feminine form.
Essentially they teach one to say "I no want" instead of "I do not want" etc. I have worked hard to acquire near native proficiency in several languages in the past. I feel that I have wasted enough time with this course. It gets the point across but it is incorrect and must be unlearned later.3. Some you just learn the infinitive. Needless to say, it was not.8. Review of words they never taught. Some repetition is necessary for any student.
This course is not designed with the learner in mind. Some words and phrases are reviewed to a frustrating degree. I augmented the vocabulary with other courses.2. Some of the speakers on the programs pronounce words very differently from some of the others. I do not like to waste my money.
Some the past but not the future. 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. Most of them, however, are only partially taught. Some you learn the masculine form only. 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.
Pimsleur obviously does not take teaching Hebrew seriously to have produced such a shoddy product. For the amount of time and money that I spent on these courses I expected much more. If that. Random conjugation.
Some of the verbs you learn past, present and future tense in both masculine and feminine forms. They intentionally teach what most experts deem "lazy Hebrew". I take learning foreign languages seriously. They say a word one time and then never review it.
The first time this happened I thought it must have been my fault. This is by far the most incomplete course that I have ever used.9. Hard work must also be present in the teaching of a foreign language.
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