Best way to learn Hebrew vocab?

[RamistThomist]

I picked up knowledge of Greek very easily and at one time I had all the vocabulary cards in the appendage to the Mounce book memorized (well over 1,000), though. Hebrew was my thorn in the flesh. I technically "learned" it at seminary (loosen your definition of "learn"), but didn't keep up with it. I am rereading my old Hebrew grammar and I still remember (or at least understand) the verb paradigms. I just need to work on vocab. Any suggestions?

 

[Zach]

I picked up knowledge of Greek very easily and at one time I had all the vocabulary cards in the appendage to the Mounce book memorized (well over 1,000), though. Hebrew was my thorn in the flesh. I technically "learned" it at seminary (loosen your definition of "learn"), but didn't keep up with it. I am rereading my old Hebrew grammar and I still remember (or at least understand) the verb paradigms. I just need to work on vocab. Any suggestions?

I'm taking Hebrew at PSU right now and our Professor keeps telling us flashcards, flashcards, and more flashcards. It's certainly not easy.

Our textbook has some good "translate this sentence" sections that also help. The more you see the word in a context that is understandable (i.e. not just reading the Bible in Hebrew but seeing it in a short sentence) the more I've had words that just get ingrained in my mind.

 

[TylerRay]

The Free Church Seminary has a free online Hebrew course (taught by David Murray).

Here is a link to the vocabulary section, with vocab videos and flashcards:
Hebrew Vocabulary Videos

I don't know positively if it's the best way, but it's certainly a way!

Edit: There is some good humor mixed in from time to time, too!

 

[JML]

Hebrew vocabulary was much more difficult for me than was Greek as well. I mostly learned Greek vocabulary by sight recognition. I could look at the word and remember what I was. With Hebrew, possibly because most of the words are of similar lengths and other things, I learned more based on how it was pronounced. I learned how the word sounded and then remembered it that way instead of sight recognition. This may not be the best method as it takes longer to translate but it was the only way that I could remember the Hebrew vocabulary.

 

[VictorBravo]

Handwritten cards, cut from card stock about half the size of a business card. I'd carry 100 or so in a wallet and pull them out whenever I had to wait for something or walk somewhere.

Seemed like only three weeks before I knew the glossary of the grammar I was using.

 

[JohnGill]

Have you considered the Memrise site? Browse Courses - Memrise

As an aside, have you built a memory palace yet? It makes memorization of words much easier.

 

[Prudence]

Okay I just can't resist p[osting this....I came across it this afternoon....
my first words in hebrew (for kids) according to the abc - over 150 first words: amit offir: Amazon.com: Kindle Store

 

[lynnie]

Singing. The messianic movement in Israel has plenty of CDs with OT bible verses set to music. Try looking here first:

Christian Music - Messianic Music - Jerusalem Christian Gifts Shop

Probably some of these are all Hebrew and some part English. I know E Shomron has at least one in all Hebrew. Its been a while so I just don't remember which ones are straight scripture, but you can probably figure it out.

At the very least, make up songs for yourself with your words. There is something about singing that encodes words into the brain.

 

[CharlieJ]

I would suggest memorization in context, which presumes you're doing LOTS of reading. When you find a striking example of a word, memorize the whole verse (or at least the relevant clause) and associate it with that word. If you're using flashcards, you can even write the verse on your flashcard. I cannot stress how important memorizing text is. It means you can always go back and reconstruct a point of grammar or the definition of a word. For example, my Latin ability skyrocketed when I memorized short passages from Augustine.

Chris,

Thanks for the memrise site. I've used mnemonic techniques for learning certain things before, but I've had trouble getting the memory palace to work for languages. I think part of the problem is that with language you need very fast transfer - I have to be able to produce the words at roughly the rate I think them in order to speak effectively. I can't go dipping into my memory palace all the time. I suppose, though, if I could get it to work for me better, I would have stable long-term storage.

 

[JohnGill]

Memory Palace for Languages

I would suggest memorization in context, which presumes you're doing LOTS of reading. When you find a striking example of a word, memorize the whole verse (or at least the relevant clause) and associate it with that word. If you're using flashcards, you can even write the verse on your flashcard. I cannot stress how important memorizing text is. It means you can always go back and reconstruct a point of grammar or the definition of a word. For example, my Latin ability skyrocketed when I memorized short passages from Augustine.

Chris,

Thanks for the memrise site. I've used mnemonic techniques for learning certain things before, but I've had trouble getting the memory palace to work for languages. I think part of the problem is that with language you need very fast transfer - I have to be able to produce the words at roughly the rate I think them in order to speak effectively. I can't go dipping into my memory palace all the time. I suppose, though, if I could get it to work for me better, I would have stable long-term storage.

Charlie,

I think it may be the size and scope of your palace and the auxiliary techniques you bring to it that are the problem. I don't think it is necessary to go to the extent of the ancient mnemonists and create a visual vocabulary for each new word and different clothing for each separate declension/conjugation. Would that we had the time for it. A different way is setting up a town as your palace; a town contains all the aspects of life one would run into within a new language such as Hebrew, Attic Greek, or Latin. If we take the Hebrew for horse, "sus", we could imagine a horse in the stables sussing out its food. Adding the bi- and plural declensions would be simple from here. But the important bit is to focus on the phonetic sound of the foreign word. And once this is established place that foreign word in the correct setting based upon its English equivalent. Hence, a horse sussing out food in a stable. The advantages to using a town as your Memory Palace are manifold. You can group types of words together. Nouns naturally attach to their respective image. Adjectives can be put into a park. Action verbs such as running, swimming, shouting, jumping, etc. can be put in and around sporting venues such as gyms, public pools, running tracks, baseball and football fields, and even golf courses which are perfect for the shouting verb. Such divisions will also allow you to divide up words based on gender. An example of this can be found in the Hebrew word "susah". Imagine a woman riding a horse which is sussing out its food. She's very possessive of her horse. Which of course makes sense as "susah" means "her horse". Another option is to split up the town into zones based upon the sex of the nominatives. Though there is no neuter in Hebrew, in Latin we have the neuter. And so we would divide the city up into zones for masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns. Of course which part of town is which should be determined before you begin using the city map. It should also be as detailed as possible including shopping centers, gas stations, churches, post offices, military locations (recruiter's office if no base/post is present), places with livestock, and a host of other such locations. It should be noted that a separate town should be used for each language to prevent mixing in the mind. And if your town is missing certain features, such as horse stables, you can add them in yourself. The ancient Greek & Roman mnemonists created entire cities within their mind that existed nowhere else. The key image (sussing) is suggested by the foreign word. The location (stables) is suggested by the English meaning. But it is the overall scene that links these two that is essential. The first association that comes to mind is generally the best association. And the more exaggerated and unusual the scene that more indelible the memory imprint.

On my blog, under the Ars Memoria section, I have begun to lay the foundation for such a process. In part 3, you will find links on it to what is called "The Knowledge". This is the information one must memorize to become an all-London cab driver. It consists of over 320 runs and 30,000 landmarks. It generally takes 2.5 years for the average person to memorize this. Thankfully we don't need to go that far. But using some of the runs (links provided on the blog with some video links) one can use portions of London for various languages. I've currently divided London into 4 language sections for memorization. I've divided them up by the quadrants based on the cardinal points with Charing Cross, Westminster as the center. Quadrant 1 is Latin, 2 is German, 3 is Ancient Greek, and 4 is Classical Hebrew. In London with the information provided in The Knowledge I have approximately 113 square miles to place my languages. Or any other subject I wish to memorize. Another technique that should be used in conjunction with this technique is called the Dominic System. It associates a person and an action with the numbers 00 through 99. You can learn this system at these two locations: Dominic System List and A Dominic System - 00 to 99 - Memrise. By combining numbers you can go much higher than 99. If we take the Strong's numbers as our numbers we would combine numbers for 8674. This would give us Homer Simpson shouting Doh! (86) at Gena Davis for shooting a gun (74). To this combination we would affix the Hebrew word "Tatnai." He is standing at the edge of the river Thames complaining about the houses (Ezra 5:3) when he hears Homer Simpson shout Doh! as Gena Davis shoots him in the head. Strong's word 8674 is Tatnai. A very memorable scene.

In order for the above system to be useful, it must be used daily. As you learn new words, you must review them periodically by walking through the city in your mind. Google maps, Google earth, and the London Traffic Authority can help with this. There's a set frequency of review that makes such things permanent in about 6 months. You will never forget it after that period and you will find no problem recalling the information quickly provided you use the language daily. Speed comes with review. After a month or so using this system you'll be able to memorize about 2,000 words a week if you have 4 hours a day to devote to it. But even at 1 hour a day, you should be able to memorize 2,000 words per month. However, for the first 3 months I would recommend using it no longer than 30 minutes 6 days a week.

 

[VictorBravo]

Wow, I've been memorizing things for more than 50 years and I had never heard of a memory Palace. I just Wiki'd it and discovered a whole new world. I obviously don't get out much.

But it sounds exhausting--to me, at least.

I am interested in memory techniques. I didn't mention that when I memorized vocabulary, be it Hebrew, Greek, French, Arabic, whatever my interest of the time was, I would try to associate the words with how my mouth pronounced them. It would be a kinesthetic reinforcement. Add to that an aural sensation of speaking out loud, and you have two connectors. I'm sort of embarrassed to say that I also imagine other associations that help: like doing a free-association of a taste with a particular mouth-feel of a pronounced word. Sometimes a particular sound will be reinforced by a color.

There is probably no way I could systemize it for others to use, but I'd encourage tying as many associations to a difficult word as you can think of. Contextual connections, even if nonsensical to others, can help a lot.