Complete Modern Hebrew Beginner to Intermediate Course: Learn to read, write, speak and understand a new language with Teach Yourself Paperback – 24 Sept. 2010

good course, i used it with the book which may be helpful

Hebrew is very different for English speakers and I certainly would need more exercises to practice each letter. The title suggests this is a "complete" first level book. Well is it? I don't think so.

Several spelling errors in Hebrew, the book quickly becomes quite advanced before you’ve even learnt the basics. I found it quite difficult to follow as a beginner. It’s okay but I certainly wouldn’t classify it as being great. Many of the answers in the back of the book are not correct in line with the qestion being asked. She asks you to translate “On Wednesday I’m in Israel” but her answer translates as “On Wednesday I’m in Jerusalem”. Just one of many such mistakes. Very confusing especially when writing in a different script!

This course in modern Hebrew is relatively user-friendly and has a nice design, but it is one of the least extensive Hebrew courses I've come across. After finishing it, you'll know around 700 words. That is not much, especially as you have several alternatives that will give you a more thorough introduction to modern Hebrew. A course that is very similar to this one is Colloquial Hebrew. Both of these courses are written for complete beginners, both are user-friendly and easy to start with, and both feature many exercises to practice what you learn. There are three reasons why I personally prefer Colloquial Hebrew1. Much more extensive. You'll learn close to 1400 words with, twice as many as with this course. That's a huge difference when you start speaking.2. Better grammar explanations. Though not perfect, Colloquial Hebrew, explains the grammar in a better way.3. Colloquial Hebrew transliterates the conversation. Of course you need to learn the Hebrew alphabet, and you do with both courses, but to include a transliterated version side by side with the Hebrew text for the first chapters is a nice way to ease into it.A course that is much more in-depth that both Complete Modern Hebrew and Colloquial Hebrew is Routledge's Introductory Course to Modern Hebrew. It will give give the learner more than 2000 words and is very thorough, but also less user-friendly so it might not be the best option for the complete beginner. I'd recommend you to start with Colloquial Hebrew and then move on to Routledge's Introductory Course to Modern Hebrew. This course, Complete Modern Hebrew, simply isn't on par with those two.Colloquial Hebrew (Colloquial) (Colloquial Series)The Routledge Introductory Course in Modern Hebrew

Some felt 100 years ago I learned Russian and Dutch with these magnificent TY Books. And now I have managed to make my first steps in Hebrew with this wonderful structured book. It is the best I have. I have tried a couple of other books also in German, but I stay loyal and TY is the best.Now the most important thing is, that it always starts with a small dialogue, which I memorize by heart. Never to I memorize the vocabulary apart, but always over the dialogue. And it takes a couple of weeks and there you manage to speak the language. Above that the book gives also insight into Jewish life and Israel, so that it is a perfect preparation for a visit to the holy land. I hope to live long enough to learn a couple of other languages with this Series. It is definitively the best money can buy.