Looking to learn Modern Hebrew? Finding the right resources can be surprisingly hard. While there is a variety of courses aimed at religious individuals, and focused on Biblical Hebrew, quality resources for Modern Israeli language are few and far between.
Rather than creating the longest possible list including anything that ever touched Modern Hebrew, we opted for quality.
We have to admit it was hard work to scavenge the net and dig up this selection. It does however bring a feeling of accomplishment to any language nerd to locate treasures hidden among the chaff, and we’re pleased to share this bank of resources with you.
Cheers to happy learning! Or even,
לחיים! 🍸
- Hebrew courses
- Apps
- Resource pages
- Reading practice
- Vocabulary building
- Speaking & pronunciation
- Blogs
- Videos & YouTube
- Dictionaries
- Miscellaneous
Hebrew courses
LinguaLift
LinguaLift is an all-round course that teaches not only grammar and vocabulary but gives an insight into the culture of Israel. Lessons are jargon-free and written in an accessible, conversational style and the course is equipped with a spaced repetition algorithm which won’t let you forget what you learned. Friendly tutors available on hand through a handy chat system, will coach you to learn efficiently.
Udemy
For all you MOOCs fans, Udemy to the rescue! A video based language course with 5.5 hours of content to cover basic Hebrew skills. The curriculum is the same as on many other sites, chose it if: you prefer a video delivery method, and are willing to pay a little.
Learn Hebrew Easily
Delightful resource, finally with a different colour scheme. With friendly explanations, each lesson covers a little bit of each of the different aspects of the language. The alphabet section has nice animations to illustrate how the letters are written. 15 lessons cover beginner material.
Foundation Stone
Actual desktop software. Do you remember those? Not a web based course but a package you have to download 😱 It may look slightly complex if you glance at the screenshots, but has a lot of functionality. It teaches vocabulary based on the frequency of usage, uses SRS, and allows you to record your pronunciation. Minus the 90s design, it’s a handy resource to try.
eHebrew
Basic course with little explanations, mainly tables of words to learn. Divided into distinct, small parts and employing a slightly unusual approach based on transliteration. An interesting part is the verb dictionary, with a collection of verbs categorised by the first root letter.
Audio courses
Hebrew Lessons
A list of 15 audio-based lessons with dialogues and downloadable PDFs. Each is divided in sections devoted to listening, vocabulary, grammar, and speaking. The PDFs are mainly in Hebrew, with new words translated into English and Russian. It’s a resource for intermediate learners, and best used with a teacher.
Pimsleur
What more to add… Pimsleur is a world known learning method that you either love or are ambivalent about. It’s pricey, but remains a leading provider of foreign language audio courses, and will definitely help you improve your listening and pronunciation skills.
Hebrew Podcasts
A selection of lessons at levels from easy to advanced, each with audio, video, and downloadable transcripts. Limited amount of free content. Being a member you can also access extra games and flashcard decks.
Defense Language Institute
Lessons designed to both teach you the language, and explore more advanced concepts related to life in Israel. Materials are based on authentic newspaper articles, radio and TV broadcasts.
Apps
Duolingo
Anyone who ever tried to learn any language has heard of Duolingo. If you are a fan of their method, rest assured — the app also teaches Hebrew. You need to know the Hebrew alphabet first, and best be able to type it on the keyboard to use the lessons, so it’s not an ideal option for those learning from scratch.
Memrise
Memrise has a devoted fan base and to their (and our!) delight they launched their own courses incorporating short videos from native speakers. Unfortunately, Hebrew doesn’t have a course yet, but the community is not idle. The library includes courses on a variety of topics, and based on other external resources (course with all words from Duolingo, or from popular textbooks).
Free Nemo
As the name suggests, this one is free! 100 basic phrases with audio and recording option to compare your pronunciation with the native speaking teacher. Best for practicing speaking and pronunciation.
Write it! Hebrew
Trace the letters with your finger on your phone screen while listening to native pronunciation. Practice recognising characters using flashcards. Great help in the beginning of your learning, especially if you can’t be asked to carry around a notebook for writing practice 😛
Clozemaser
An app using cloze method to expand your vocabulary and context understanding. Exercises show you sentences with a missing word which you have to fill in. To make it easier you can choose to see suggestions for the words. Cool, old-school looking design, and as any self-respecting app it lets you collect points 😋
Resource pages
Polymath
A great site splitting the Modern Hebrew grammatical knowledge into parts and sorting them by topic. Vocabulary lessons are sorted by theme, so you can learn all the shopping or school related words at one go. There is also a separate section devoted to phrases. One minus: no audio.
Let’s talk in Hebrew
A blog-type interface explaining different aspects of grammar from the basic ones to the more complex topics, including a lot of helpful nuances. The site is hard to navigate unless you know what you’re looking for. But, if you’re looking for extra explanations on something that was nly briefly mentioned by your tutor this is a place to be.
Teach Me Hebrew
Well designed clean-looking site with clear division into sections to explain the alphabet, specific grammar aspects, and listing groups of verbs. There is a list of practice dialogues about daily topics, and for an extra morsel of fun, a list of songs with full lyrics translated and transcribed so you can sing along before you learn to understand!
Ulpan Net
A repository of knowledge with five short lessons of a beginner’s course. With short sections devoted to specific aspects of the language, and one even to curses and slang 🤫 The design isn’t to die for, but if you’re looking for extra reading practice and exercises it’s a good supplement to your studies.
Reading practice
Hebrew today
Newspapers in Easy Hebrew, printed in large letters and with vocalisation. Covering regular topics from politics, through health and science, to celebrities — a welcome departure from the regular beginner content focused on favourite animals and fruits. Bershit is aimed at beginners and Yanshuf at more advanced learners are available both online and in print.
Sha’ar L’Matchil
Similar to Bereshit and Yanshuf this newspaper in Easy Hebrew comes out Weekly and is a little more expansive. Only one level — for advanced students. Online version comes with audio, you can access a free sample on the site.
Hebrew Short Stories
Don’t be scared! This page is all in Hebrew, but it’s just links to free pdfs with short stories. Excellent materials for reading practice for intermediate and advanced learners.
Vocabulary building
ZigZagWorld
A cool browser game to help you learn vocab using pictures. Aimed at beginners who already know how to read. The topics of different vocabulary learning sections relate to daily activities, and religious traditions.
Daily Dose of Hebrew
Short posts focused around a single word, released daily are a great and fun supplement to a more structured course helping you see the relationships between different Hebrew words.
Anki
One of the first flashcard platforms that reached mass popularity. A wide choice of vocabulary decks to satisfy demands of even the most demanding learners: based on popular textbooks, courses, and with translations between various language pairs. Anki also offers atone of customisation options for making your own flashcards.
Tatoeba
A community-created repository of sentences translated into different languages. Great for comparisons among languages you already know. You can discuss sentences with the community members and even connect with native speakers.
Speaking & pronunciation
italki
If you’re looking for a real life tutor, head to italki — a state of art platform that connects you with teachers around the world. You can choose between community tutors for more casual practice and professional educators.
Hello Talk
Practice chatting with native speakers, make friends, and learn about the culture… for free! App based casual chatting and video messaging, a favourite resource of all language learners!
Forvo
A go to option to check pronunciation of new words, compare different versions and submit new entries. Hear how natives say words you are unsure about, and, once you feel comfortable with speaking yourself, maybe you can even submit your own recordings? 🤔
Blogs
Lingua Junkie
Nice selection of posts to introduce you to the quirks of Hebrew and give ideas on how to practice. As all language blogs, it’s aimed at language nerds 😛 Some posts have audio and some downloadable materials for extra practice.
Teacher Mike
Teacher Mike is a tutor based in Tel Aviv who, with a very direct and slightly sarcastic approach, gives you tips on learning Hebrew. Not too many posts here yet, but let’s hope the blog will grow.
Transparent Languages
When you’re bored with verbs, but still want to learn head here. From grammar, through tradition to restaurant recommendations, this blog has lovely bits of fun related to Israel and the Hebrew language.
Videos & YouTube
Lessons
eTeacher Hebrew
Several playlists each focused on different theme: grammar lessons, introducing single new words, and a teacher Q&A.
Hebrew Pod 101
Hebrew Pod does an excellent job making Hebrew fun. With a variety of instructors and thematic channels, here you will find everything from structured classes to funky introductions to slang.
Shalom Adventure
Recordings of lectures from a religious instructor. Nothing interactive, but if you’re looking for a consolidation of beginner knowledge and a new explanation style, this is an ok resource to play in the background.
Disney Videos
Youtube playlist with popular Disney songs in Hebrew. If you’re like us and know some of the Lion King’s tracks by heart this is definitely for you. A little short, but it’ll surely inspire you to do more YT Disney research on your own 😋
Israeli Songs with English Subtitles
Learn by singing along! And, while you do that get introduced to classic Israeli tunes and most famous Israeli artists like Arik Einstein or Shlomo Artzi. A delight! 😍
Dictionaries
Morfix
The top, probably most used Hebrew-English, English-Hebrew online dictionary. Bookmark it immediately.
HebrewPedia
Picture dictionary divided into topical categories including pets in Israel, and Knesset. Words come with a little more context than just a dry translation, so you can explore a little more about the Israeli culture while building your vocabulary.
In Hebrew
The site markets itself as a video collection, but the videos are basically selections of flashcards arranged by topic and supplied with audio.
Reverso
An online translation service that wouldn’t be that special if it didn’t pull out example sentences from the internet. You can quickly see how the word or phrase you’re looking for is used by natives.
HaDorbanot
Proooobably more advanced students, this Hebrew-Hebrew dictionary is the Israeli version of the Urban Dictionary.
Verbs
####[Pealim](https://www.pealim.com/dict/prepositions/)
Beautiful collection of Hebrew verbs with conjugation tables illustrating all the forms 😍 It has an inbuilt Hebrew keyboard so you can avoid copying and pasting the text from other sites. Also, a handy section dedicated to prepositions and their conjugations.
Hebrew Verbs
Verb tables on a nicely designed platform, but unfortunately the most useful content is paid. Non-pro members only have access to selected verbs, and can’t listen to the recordings.
Miscellaneous
Cartoon Hebrew
Even if you already know Hebrew this is a fun one to visit, the author writes in a very conversational style an introduces original mnemonics.
Hebrew Jokes
A collection of jokes, nothing more to add. Written on flashcards cards with vocalisaiton — memorise a couple to surprise your friends on the next Shabbat dinner.
Alphabet Animation
What it says on the tin. Click on a letter, see an animation of how it’s written, get hypnotised!
Hebrew Books
Download books for free. Oh yea, it’s raaaather for advanced peeps 😎
Anything missing? Let us know!
And, if you’re feeling inspired to learn try our free class now!
