"I am very excited about the course. Mr. Jude is a wonderful teacher, knowledgeable and excited for us to learn this language. I am happy and know that I made the right decision by signing up! Thank you!"
In the beginning....
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Chong-Kiat Lim
Perth, Australia
Biblical Hebrew
I must say (and this is just my personal opinion) that we got off to a rocky start in Level A as we changed teacher twice during our Level A. While Level A laid the foundational knowledge, I didn't feel that the teacher (both of them) struck a rapport with the class. He was technically good but I guess English wasn't his first language, so when trying to explain things, he tended to drone on a bit. I think we missed out on some things which we only caught up on in the subsequent levels. Nonetheless, the foundation was properly laid for us to advance to the next level.
In Level B, we got a new teacher, Fiona Blumfield, and Fiona is THE BEST. She is an excellent teacher, has great rapport with the class and we've all become friends with her. She is contactable by email after class and we can forward questions about our homework or any other issues to her and she would respond very swiftly. When we signed up for Levels C and D, we insisted, not just that the 3 of us stay together as a class, but for Fiona to continue as our teacher. Classical Hebrew as most accommodating in this respect.
As with learning any subject, it's only as easy as the amount of work you put in. As the lessons are every week, you have to keep up with the homework and the new list of vocabulary words every week. Stay on top of things and you'll not only be learning fast, you'll enjoy the learning. As most students are not full time and have jobs etc... one has to be disciplined to find time to "keep up" with the lessons. I used some 3x2 inch cards to write down the vocabulary words (Hebrew on one side and the English meaning on the other) and rubberband these in stacks of 30 cards. I'll carry 2-3 stacks with me everywhere I go, so if I find myself with some time to kill, eg waiting for someone or an appointment, or just sitting in the bus, taxi etc... instead of daydreaming, I'd just pull out these cards and go through them. I'm glad to say that this "system" has helped me to memorize and retain nearly 1100 Hebrew words todate.
Outside of the class, we (the students) have become friends with each other and we contact each other or other matters, besides our common interest in learning Hebrew. Some of us have even visited each other, putting a face to the name, and we're not "just a voice" we hear every time we have class. I am very happy to be learning Hebrew with Classical Hebrew and I feel confident enough to read and translate the Hebrew Scriptures. If you've ever had a yearning to learn Biblical Hebrew, give this school a try - you can't go wrong.