Free course · 15 steps
Learn to read Hebrew, one step at a time.
The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters and reads from right to left. That sounds like a lot, but reading a word takes two things: knowing the letter, and knowing the small vowel mark that goes with it. This course teaches them in that order, five letters at a time, with short exercises after every explanation.
The first five steps cover all the letters. The sixth sets the look-alikes side by side. Then come the vowel points, the first words, and finally sentences and whole lines. Every tile has a voice: tap it and hear how it sounds.
No account is needed. The steps you finish stay marked on this phone or computer. With a free account they stay when you change device, and the practice goes on from your own mistakes.
Grammar path
Reading: the alphabet and the vowel points
From the first letter to whole lines, one small step at a time: the letters, the ones that look alike, the vowel points, then words and sentences.
Five letters to start: א ב ג ד ה
NextHebrew reads from right to left. Letters are consonants; the vowels come later, as small marks.
Four more: ו ז ח ט
10 exercisesVav is a letter and, later, a vowel. Chet comes from the throat.
Yod, Kaf, Lamed, Mem: י כ ל מ
10 exercisesThe smallest letter, the tallest letter, and the first two letters that change shape at the end of a word.
Nun, Samekh, Ayin, Pe: נ ס ע פ
10 exercisesTwo more final shapes, and a second silent letter.
The last five: צ ק ר ש ת
11 exercisesAll 22 letters. Shin has a dot that tells you sh or s.
Letters that look alike
12 exercisesThe pairs everyone mixes up, side by side, until the difference is obvious.
The vowel points: A and E
11 exercisesSmall marks under the letter. You read the letter, then the vowel under it.
I, O and U, and the three faces of Vav
13 exercisesVav can be v, o or u. The dot tells you which.
Shva, dagesh, and the ends of words
10 exercisesThe last pieces: the mark that is barely a vowel, the dot that hardens a letter, and the silent He.
First words: two and three letters
11 exercisesReal words, the easiest ones. Read them letter by letter, then as one word.
Longer words
11 exercisesTwo and three syllables, with a shva or a dagesh inside. Read them in pieces.
Words that look alike
11 exercisesOne point, one letter, and the word changes: this (m.) or this (f.), they (m.) or they (f.), also or garden.
Two words together
12 exercisesGreetings and the first questions. The words you know, side by side.
Short sentences
12 exercisesI, you, he, she, we, they, and the first things to say about them.
Reading lines
11 exercisesA few lines of real text, read one after the other. Everything in them you have already met.
Questions
- How long does it take to learn to read Hebrew?
- At a step a day, two weeks for the letters and vowels, and two more to read words and sentences with confidence. A step takes ten to fifteen minutes.
- Is this modern or biblical Hebrew?
- Modern, the Hebrew spoken in Israel today. The letters and vowel points are the same as in the Bible, so what you learn here reads the old texts too; pronunciation and vocabulary differ.
- Do I need to know anything first?
- No. Step 1 starts from the first letter and the reading direction. If you already know some letters, start from any step you like.
And then?
In a free trial lesson we talk on Google Meet and I set your goals. With a free account the steps you finish follow you to every device.