The Best Hebrew Lessons

Friday, March 24th

2023 Hebrew Lesson Reviews

Rosetta Stone

• Immersion-based approach
• 3-day free trial
• TruAccent feature for perfecting your pronunciation
• Award-winning app plus desktop access
• Can use both offline and online
• Seek & Speak tool (iOS only)
• 30-day money-back guarantee

If you ask anyone where you should go to learn a language through self-study, their first suggestion is probably going to be Rosetta Stone. There's no other learning system with more name recognition: more than 12,000 corporations, 9000 organizations, and 22,000 educational institutions have implemented Rosetta Stone at one time or another, with millions of learners worldwide.

Now featuring affordable online access

Rosetta Stone used to be delivered in CD-ROM format alone - and at pretty hefty prices. Not anymore. You may still be able to find some legacy software if you really want to go old school, but why bother when you can access all of their content plus their newest features with an affordable online subscription? Your Hebrew lessons here will cost $35.97 for three months of access or $143.88 for a full year. That's less than $12/month, making Rosetta Stone one of the most economical language packages on the market. And, if you're working on being a polyglot and love the idea of having lifetime access to all of the 20+ languages offered here, $299 gets you in the door forever. Whichever route you choose, you've got a 30-day money-back guarantee to fall back on if needed.

Costs

• 3-day free trial
• $35.97 for 3-month subscription
• $143.88 for 12-month subscription
• $299 for lifetime access to unlimited languages

Try it for free

We highly recommend you start your Hebrew studies by taking advantage of Rosetta Stone's 3-day free trial. All you'll need to provide is an email address and you'll be taken right to the main page for their lessons. You'll be asked to indicate whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or proficient user of Hebrew. Next, choose whether you're learning for travel, work, family or "basics and beyond" .

Learning plan based on your language level

That will set up your learning plan. For example, at the beginner level of Basics and Beyond, we were given a 30-minutes-per-day setup, assuming 5 days of studying per week, which would last us about six weeks. We could see at a glance that this would cover basic sentences and everyday items in the first week, colors/sizes and clothing/quantities in the second week, and so forth. There's also a button that lets learners skip ahead to a future week's materials: a useful feature if you think you're pretty skilled up in a designated topic already.

Useful speech recognition feature

As you get started, you may need to set your browser to allow microphone use. This is important because Rosetta Stone uses proprietary TruVoice software to help you work on your accent through speech recognition. That's also why you'll have to choose your voice type in the setup process: adult male, adult female, or child.

Immersion-based teaching model

And then you jump right in! You'll see pictures of boys and girls and learn to identify which sounds and characters represent each one, then sentences like "the girl drinks" and "the boy eats" . Feel lost? Don't panic! All of Rosetta Stone's languages use a teaching approach known as Dynamic Immersion, intended to imitate how we learn our first language: by exposure to it in context, not with lengthy grammatical worksheets and high-level explanations. That can feel frustrating at first, especially if you're the kind of person who doesn't like the "error" part of learning by trial-and-error. But, stick with it for a while and you'll soon realize that you're picking up on words, phrases and even grammar without realizing it (at least, that's the idea!).

Scavenger hunt tool for new vocabulary

When you've gotten comfortable with the Hebrew lessons on desktop, give Rosetta Stone's mobile app a try. All lessons can be used both on- and offline, but there's a fun See & Speak tool (for iOS only, apologies to Android users) that makes learning Hebrew more like a scavenger hunt for new vocabulary based on the world around you.

Committed to preserving endangered languages

We commend Rosetta Stone for working to protect "endangered languages" , preserving and revitalizing them through partnerships with indigenous communities around the world. While you won't be able to access those materials through Rosetta Stone (because the communities own the materials and their sales/distribution rights), you can rest assured that Rosetta Stone values all languages, not just the ones that make money for them. To date, some of the communities working with Rosetta Stone include the Chickasaw Nation, Navajo Nation, and the Inupiat Tribe.

A few typos

Our only hesitation with Rosetta Stone is the number of typos we found on their main Learn Hebrew page. It left us wondering just a little bit if these Hebrew lessons don't get much attention as their more popular language counterparts.

Best overall option for Hebrew lessons

If you can work through the sometimes-maddening immersion approach Rosetta Stone uses, you'll find yourself feeling victorious as you figure out exactly what's being said without being told. After all, if you were just dropped off in Tel Aviv and had to sink or swim, you'd probably be learning exactly that way: struggling at first to gather information, but gradually picking up on the words and phrases you need. Rosetta Stone has been at the forefront of language learning for many years, and with their frequent improvements and lower-than-ever pricing, there's no reason not to consider them first when choosing where to take Hebrew lessons. Rosetta Stone continues to earn our first place ranking.

Mondly

• Gamified platform to keep learning Hebrew fun
• Lots of content available for free, no credit card or email address required
• Practice real conversations with Chatbot and Augmented Reality
• Speech recognition capabilities for more authentic accents
• Kids' version available

Mondly is based in Romania and is on a mission to help people connect through fun, easy language learning. Featured by Forbes, CNN and Bloomberg, this platform has received multiple awards for being a best-loved app. As one of the 40+ languages offered on Mondly, the Hebrew lessons here are fun - and almost addictive!

Learn Hebrew - from many other source languages

Something unique to Mondly: English isn't the only language you can start from when learning a new one. For example, if your first language is Italian and you want to study Turkish, you don't have to use English at all. Lots of platforms assume you're beginning Hebrew as a native speaker of English, so this is a refreshing change.

Lots of free content, no account required

You can get plenty of instruction in Hebrew without even creating an account. Just choose your starting language and then Hebrew as the language you want to learn, then your approximate fluency level. You'll see right away that Mondly is heavily gamified: there are challenges, leaderboards, badges and rewards to collect, all to help you stay motivated and constantly gaining more exposure to the language.

Not much direct grammar instruction

Grammar is a little light on Mondly, but it's getting better. In one of the beginning exercises, we got a pop-up letting us know we could get a conjugation list for the verb "to be" in the present tense. There aren't any lengthy explanations: Mondly wants you to learn whole sentences and phrases, with grammatical details almost as an afterthought. That's not everyone's cup of tea, maybe especially for anyone who has already learned a second language (or third, fourth, etc.) and craves the structure and mapping they've come to expect from lessons.

Read lessons in Hebrew alphabet or with English transliteration

We loved being able to toggle back and forth between Hebrew characters and the more familiar Latin alphabet, particularly during our very first lessons on the platform. There are daily, weekly and monthly bonus lessons in addition to the lesson topics, and those were a big jump at first! It got a lot easier when we could view the English pronunciation approximation instead of trying to read Hebrew characters we didn't even know yet.

Free accounts offer limited features and content

So, with all of that for free, is there a reason to pay for the Premium subscription? Absolutely. Their no-cost platform only gives you access to the first six lessons, one vocabulary section, one Chatbot conversation (more on that later), and the daily/weekly/monthly bonus lessons. It's enough to give you a no-time-limit preview of the app, but not much else.

Premium = Chatbot and Augmented Reality features

You want the Premium package because of two features that set Mondly apart from other Hebrew lessons: the chatbot/conversations and the augmented reality component. Chatbot and conversations lets you rehearse the back-and-forth you might have with a friend, store employee, or a stranger on the street. This helps you cement the phrases you'd actually need in real life, not just a series of memorized vocabulary words. Then, if you have an AR-capable device and download the separate Mondly AR app, you can get prompts from a "digital human" superimposed over your own environment - and the speech recognition will determine how close to native your response sounds! It's a little tough to explain, so we encourage you to take a peek on the Mondly site and see for yourself.

Costs

• $7.99/month for one month of access to one language
• $38.39/year for one language
• $99.99 for lifetime access to all 41 languages

Affordable - but variable - pricing

Pinning down pricing at Mondly is tricky. On our first visit to the site, there was a promotion offering lifetime access to all 41 languages on the platform for $89.99 (regular price: $99.99). But, when we went back the next day, that was no longer an option. Instead, the featured offer was $47.99 for a year of access to everything on Mondly. It seems that their everyday pricing is $7.99/month or $38.39/year if you just want Hebrew lessons - but it's very likely that there'll be something on "limited time offer" when you go to sign up.

No refund policy

Downsides? Other than not having much in the way of overt grammar instruction, the only thing we could point to is Mondly's lack of a refund policy or satisfaction guarantee. But, honestly, you can see enough of what they offer to have a pretty good idea of whether or not you'll enjoy learning Hebrew here - without even entering your name or email address. That's even better than a refund policy, in our opinion!

Separate app for kids

By the way, there's also a version of Mondly for kids (preschool through early elementary). It's 100% app-based and available for both iOS and Android. Just be aware that it's a separate subscription, and it's similar to the original Mondly in that it offers a bunch of free content but you'll have to pay for the more advanced features.

Most entertaining Hebrew lessons

Mondly infuses a ton of fun into its Hebrew lessons. We found ourselves wanting to go back and squeeze in just one more on a regular basis, and it would be really hard to get bored with this ever-expanding service. Because Mondly is one of the most entertaining and affordable options for Hebrew lessons, we think most people will have a positive learning experience with this service.

LinguaLift

• Customized learning roadmap
• Tutors always on hand to help
• Lots of cultural context provided
• Includes videos with native speakers
• First three lessons free
• 24 total lessons across three levels
• 30-day money-back guarantee

LinguaLift has an impressive "pedigree" . Developed after more than six years of research by experts from Oxford, Stanford and Harvard, these Hebrew lessons prioritize clarity in their teaching methods: always letting you know what comes next in your progress, giving plain English explanations of grammar and other concepts, and making sure that examples are always provided with context for meaningful use.

No commitment required to try it out

We love that LinguaLift lets you try the first three Level 1 Hebrew lessons commitment-free: no credit card, no anything other than your name and email address. (Hint: you don't have to use a real email address, because you're taken right to the first lesson after you submit the form.) You'll find a lot of content there, from an introduction to how the Hebrew aleph-bet works to some insights into Hebrew greetings and meanings. If you'd like to unlock one more free lesson, you can share LinguaLift on Facebook: look for that link under the Library heading at the top of the site.

Good if you're disciplined enough to practice on your own

While there are little quizzes here to see how you're coming along in your knowledge, don't expect the same kinds of drill-and-kill repetitive exercises you see with many other Hebrew lessons. You're going to have to do some studying on your own to master the lessons. For example, in one of the intro lessons it goes through the alphabet and the sounds made by each letter; you're expected to review them separately from LinguaLift (again, no repetition exercises to help you do that) so that you can correctly identify them in the provided quiz. In other words, you're going to have to apply some discipline to get the most out of these lessons.

Every lesson ends with a reward

One really fun feature of LinguaLift is adorably known as "cake" . Cake, you say? Yes, because who doesn't love cake! On this platform, it refers to the section (usually at the end of a lesson) where you get to watch fun video clips that have some reference to Hebrew. For example the "cake" at the end of the free sample lesson shows snippets from TV shows and movies like The Simpsons and MASH where characters used Hebrew words and phrases. It's an entertaining way to take a break from more formal studying and enjoy seeing Hebrew in the world around you. (We might have spent too much time watching Victoria Hanna's Kabbalistic rap videos after seeing one in the second "cake" reward on the site. Don't judge us.)

One-on-one help from tutors included

Another great feature of LinguaLift is the complimentary access to tutors at any time during your language learning. In fact, even from the time you access the free content, you'll get a chat pop-up letting you know that if you have any questions, need clarification or an alternate explanation of a grammatical concept, you can ask away. This is no chatbot: you're connected to one of their Hebrew language team members who will give you the help you need. Be warned: they can also give you homework assignments to develop your fluency even further!

500 hours of pure content

In total, you'll get about 500 hours of lesson content when using LinguaLift to study Hebrew - not including the time you'll spend on your own to review, practice and internalize what you're learning.

Costs

• First three lessons free
• $19.99/month for recurring month-to-month subscription
• $16.95/month ($50.97 total) for 3-month subscription
• $14.99/month ($89.94 total) for 6-month subscription
• $12.99/month ($155.88 total) for 12-month subscription

30-day money-back guarantee

How much does it cost? You can subscribe to LinguaLift on a month-to-month basis for $19.95. If you think you're going to stick with these Hebrew lessons for a while, you can pay $50.97 for three months of access, $89.94 for six months, or $155.88 for a full year. The great news is that this company gives you a 30-day money-back guarantee: cancel at any time within that first month and you're eligible for a refund. That's plenty of time to see if these Hebrew lessons are a good match for your learning style and study habits.

No speech recognition component

The only reason LinguaLift doesn't get a five-star rating is the lack of speaking exercises in their lessons. You can play the audio at will and imitate anything you like, but there's nothing built in that lets you say a word or phrase and compare your accent with a native target. We really hope to see that kind of functionality in the future!

Excellent Hebrew lessons with unique features

LinguaLift is fun, affordable, and a fantastic way to not just learn the language of Hebrew but also the culture and the "why" of it. The ability to reach out to tutors and get help on demand is another big perk offered here that you won't find with most language platforms. And, with a generous amount of free content that doesn't even require a credit card to access it, you can really get a good feel for LinguaLift before subscribing. This is a great place to start your journey as a beginning student of Hebrew!

Hebrew Pod 101

• Free to try
• 4 subscription levels to choose from including a free version
• 7-day free trial
• 60-day money-back guarantee
• Personalized tutoring and instruction at Premium+ level
• Lessons incorporate audio and video
• New content added weekly

Hebrew Pod 101 is one of 40 languages presented by Innovative Language Learning since 2005. Their method of teaching Hebrew lessons includes exposure to native speakers with different voices and speaking styles, new content released weekly that incorporates current events and pop culture, all of which is reviewed by certified Hebrew instructors.

Still needs to be more transparent

In previous evaluations of Hebrew Pod 101, one of our criticisms was the high-pressure sales tactics - especially having to sign up for a "free" account before being given much information about the program, like how it works or what it costs. That hasn't changed. In fact, their homepage is even more vague now: other than being told that it uses audio and video lessons, gives you study tools, and provides you with a Premium Plus subscription option for working with a teacher one-on-one, you'll have zero idea what you're getting (or how much you'll pay for it) until you sign up with an email address. Why all the secrecy, Hebrew Pod 101?

Have to dig to access previews

Doing some digging, we found a way to see behind the curtain (so to speak). On Hebrew Pod's Facebook page, there were links to some free downloadable flashcards and infographics - and, lo and behold, those links took us to an alternate homepage for Hebrew Pod 101! Again, we don't love that we had to use such a roundabout way to sleuth out information that most Hebrew lesson platforms tell you upfront.

Costs

• Free to try
• Basic: $8/month to $96 for two years
• Premium: $25/month to $240 for two years
• Premium Plus: $47/month to $549 for two years

Four subscription options

You can expect four different subscription levels with Hebrew Pod 101:

• Free: this gives you lifetime access to the first three lessons in every "learning pathway" (e.g. Conversational Phrases, Hebrew Alphabet Made Easy, Essential Hebrew for Emergencies). New lessons are added every week.
• Basic: This is the first of the paid membership tiers, and you'll pay $8/month (with discounted options if you pay for 3, 6, 12 or 24 months upfront). You'll get access to all of Hebrew Pod 101's lessons with no restrictions, as well as in-depth lesson notes with translations and explanations.
• Premium: For the middle subscription tier, pricing jumps to $25/month (also with discounts if you prepay for 3-24 months). But, the features also expand significantly, with line-by-line audio dialogue, HD video, and many more tools to help you retain the Hebrew you're learning (e.g. interactive lesson quizzes, flashcards, voice recording tools, and customizable word lists).
• Premium Plus: The big add-on at the Plus level is one-on-one learning. You'll be assigned a teacher who will personalize your learning program, give you assignments, and assess your progress. This subscription is surprisingly affordable: you can pay $47/month, or save anywhere from 11% to 51% by paying for a 3, 6, 12, or 24 month plan.

7-day free trial, 60-day refund policy

Hebrew Pod 101 gives you a 7-day free trial to their Premium level, and a 60-day money-back guarantee when you become a paid subscriber. We recommend you take advantage of both, to really put this platform to the test and see if it connects well with how you want to study Hebrew.

No games or leaderboards here

This is especially important if you're the type of person who needs your language learning to be "gamified" or to provide you with regular, specific feedback on how you're progressing. Why? Hebrew Pod 101 is decidedly not that kind of learning system. While you'll see a progress bar showing you how many lessons you've completed within a series, that's about it other than the quizzes included with the Premium and Plus packages.

Move freely through topics and fluency levels

On the other hand, Hebrew Pod 101 makes it really easy to move around through topics - and language levels - as you like. Maybe you've already got a decent level of fluency in travel vocabulary but you need to pick up more slang or even social media terminology. With these Hebrew Lessons, you can move around from Absolute Beginner to Advanced and back down to Intermediate on demand. The same goes for focusing on the type of lessons you want: you can use the sort feature on the left side of the page to show you just audio or video content, or only in the category you need on a given day (like conversation, grammar or culture).

More content for beginners than intermediate/advanced students

Be aware that the amount of content drops off sharply from Beginner to Intermediate. If you've already got a good grasp of basic Hebrew, you might not want to buy a 24-month subscription to Hebrew Pod 101 because you could run out of new material to learn from.

Best access to contemporary speech and current events

Despite our frustrations with Hebrew Pod 101's homepage, we've still given these Hebrew lessons a bump in our ratings since our last evaluation. We can't help but be impressed with the consistent drops of fresh content with this platform. Language isn't static: it changes all the time as culture shifts and people interact in new ways, so why shouldn't your Hebrew lessons? We found a lot of comments from people who love Hebrew Pod 101 for exactly that reason: it gives them consistent exposure to different accents, new vocabulary, and the ability to speak in a way that's contemporary instead of mimicking some audio file that was recorded ten years ago. We wish that this program had the ability to recognize the learner's speech and compare it against those audio samples - because some of Hebrew Pod 101's rivals do have that - but that's not a dealbreaker as far as we're concerned.

Good choice for exposure to authentic, modern Hebrew

Hebrew Pod 101 gets high marks for offering students the ability to hear and learn authentic language: Hebrew the way it's being spoken right now by native speakers. We really appreciate the 7-day free trial and the ability to upgrade to one-on-one tutoring if desired. There are still a few features missing here that you'll get with some of Hebrew Pod 101's competitors, but overall this has become a solid choice for Hebrew lessons.

Pimsleur

• 7 day free trial
• Can try the complete Hebrew Level 1, Lesson 1 with just an email address
• Two options: Premium or Audio Only
• No internet access required to use downloaded lessons
• Can be shared by up to four people in a household

The Pimsleur Method has been around for almost 50 years. Dr. Pimsleur was a pioneer in self-taught language instruction, starting with Modern Greek, then branching out into French, Spanish, and German, and now with over 50 available languages. Pimsleur is well-known for its strong emphasis on learning by listening, first with cassettes, then CDs, and now with an online subscription that incorporates content that can be used anywhere, anytime.

Definitely try the complete first Hebrew lesson

We recommend that you start by taking Pimsleur's free Hebrew Level 1 lesson. Even if you're not a beginner, it still gives you a good hands-on (or ears-on?) introduction to how Pimsleur works. It's very different from many Hebrew lessons in the way that it bases your learning on 30-minute conversations, picturing the scenario and taking things syllable-by-syllable and word-by-word until you master a sentence first and then a dialogue. You'll only need to provide an email address and password to create an account. There's also an option for a 7-day free trial, but you'll have to enter your credit card and remember to cancel before the week is up.

Costs

• 7 day full access free trial
• $19.95/month for Premium
• $14.95/month for Audio-Only

Big drop in price

One reason many Hebrew learners used to choose a language platform other than Pimsleur was the cost: from $335 to $695, just a few years ago! Fortunately, the company has joined the ranks of their competition and now offers a much more affordable monthly subscription to their online platform. You'll pay $14.95/month if you want the Audio Only package, and $19.95/month for Premium. Your subscription can be cancelled at any time, but there are no refunds for anything paid previously. You can still buy packaged lessons, both digital and on CD, but they continue to be pretty expensive (e.g. $350 for 90 digital lessons, $495 for 60 lessons on CD).

Much more robust features with Premium level

So, what's the difference between Audio Only and Premium? With both subscriptions, you'll get access to all lessons, so you can choose the topic and the difficulty level you prefer. There are also reading lessons that complement the 30-minute conversational lessons: you learn the sounds of individual letters and phonemes to be able to read Hebrew as well as speak it. The Premium membership adds features to help you review the Hebrew you've learned and understand the language more deeply; these include flashcards and speed round games, a "Speak Easy" role-playing tool, cultural insights, and more.

Up to four users in the same household

Do you have more than one person in your household that wants to take Hebrew lessons? Pimsleur has you covered. You can share the subscription with a total of four people across unlimited devices: desktop, tablet, or smartphone. There's even a Driving Mode for practicing while in the car - not just a terrific way to make good use of your daily commute, but also an effective way to do the speaking practice that's a huge part of the Pimsleur Method.

Best Hebrew lessons if you learn by listening

We're really happy to see that Pimsleur is much more affordable than before: many people have used this provider over the years with a good amount of success. If you're an avid podcast listener, you like to learn while you drive or run or work around the house, or you just love the idea of learning Hebrew without textbooks or boring grammar lessons, Pimsleur is a trusted, dependable option. It doesn't have the speech recognition tools or game-based approach you'll find with other Hebrew lessons, but not everyone needs those to make progress. We're confident that Pimsleur's free sample will give you all of the information you need to see if this is the right way for you to learn Hebrew.

Glossika

• Personalized content for beginners to advanced learners in 60 languages
• Hebrew lessons contain 6600+ sentences, 2500+ words, ranging from A1-C1 levels
• 7-day free trial
• Month-to-month subscriptions can be cancelled anytime
• Annual plan comes with a 60-day prorated refund policy
• Can use many languages other than English as your native/" starting" language

Ever heard of a language platform that's AI-powered? That's Glossika. Designed to help you speak "better and faster in the shortest time possible" , these Hebrew lessons prioritize full-sentence practice through personalized sequences of instruction based on your learning patterns over time.

Can learn Hebrew from almost any source language

If English is not your first language, some Hebrew lessons may be even more challenging - because they assume you're starting from English as you learn. Not so with Glossika: when you set up your account, you can choose from a long list of "source languages" . Whether your first language is Czech or Thai, or maybe you want to make use of a second language like Spanish or Russian as your platform for learning Hebrew, you can do that through Glossika.

Can start as a beginner or more experienced student

You can also set your level as "complete beginner" or "I've already learned some" , so that the platform can begin to customize your learning path. There's a placement test you can take too: you'll play a recording of several sentences in Hebrew and choose the right translation; we got all of the answers right and were placed at an Upper-Intermediate (B2) level; keep that in mind if you're an even more advanced learner, because you might still have to start with a few things you already know.

Listening Only or Full Practice learning modes

Glossika places strong emphasis on learning complete sentences through repetition. You can get exposure to the written materials if you choose "Full Practice" mode, or you can go with "Listening Only" . Full Practice lets you listen, speak, read and write in Hebrew - and you can type the Latin alphabet approximation until you learn the Hebrew alphabet (and how to use a keyboard to type it!).

Watch the demo before you start

Glossika can be very confusing, especially to brand-new Hebrew learners. We strongly recommend that you watch the demo guide video before you start: otherwise, Glossika just jumps right in and gives you the first five sentences to learn and you're probably going to feel lost! You'll find that under the Resources tab at the top of the page (and you'll get a link to it in your confirmation email, once you've verified your account).

Not the most user-friendly format

Even using the guide, we still felt frustrated with trying to use the Glossika interface. It allows you to record your speech, but it's up to you to play it back and see how it compares: there's no automatic speech recognition here. Is a brand-new language learner the best judge of how close their spoken Hebrew matches a native speaker's?

Plenty of material included

How much content can you expect with Glossika's Hebrew lessons? You'll learn 6600+ sentences with a total of 2500+ vocabulary words, which will put you anywhere from an A1 to C1 level in proficiency. (In case you aren't familiar, those levels are heavily used in Europe as an indicator of fluency: A1 is an absolute beginner, while C1 is considered proficient. There's only one level higher, C2, and it indicates native-like mastery.) If you've got a particular set of vocabulary themes you want to focus on (or any you want to avoid), go to the Topics tab and select/deselect what you prefer. For example, if you don't want any sentences about Finance, or you only want the ones related to Banking and not Investment or Retirement, you can get that granular with the themes presented by Glossika for your learning.

Costs

• 7 day free trial
• $30 for a month-to-month membership
• $24.99/month for a one-year membership (billed annually, not monthly)
• $13.50/month if you can validate your student status

Memberships include every Glossika language

Glossika offers a full-access free trial for 7 days. All you have to do is sign up, no credit card required and no obligation. Put Glossika to the test and see if it's a good match for how you want to learn Hebrew. And, by the way, your subscription includes every language on the Glossika platform. That's part of why it's a little more expensive than some Hebrew lessons, from $24.99 to $30 per month (based on whether you pay annually or monthly). But, if you're a student and can verify your enrollment, you can get Glossika for just $13.50/month.

Limited refunds

There's a limited refund policy on these Hebrew lessons. If you're paying month-to-month, you can cancel at any time and not be charged for future months. Or, if you've purchased an annual subscription, you've got 60 days to request a refund - but it'll only be the prorated amount for the 10-11 months remaining on the plan.

Working to preserve lesser-known languages

As an aside, Glossika is one of just two language platforms we evaluated that is actively working on language preservation. But, unlike their rival, Glossika actually gives you access to those lessons for free. At the time of this review, those languages included Catalan, Manx (UK), Welsh (UK), Kurdish (Iraq), Taiwanese Hokkien (Taiwan), Hakka (Taiwan), Wenzhounese (China), and Gaelic (Scotland).

Worth a try

Glossika is interesting, we'll give it that. And if you want to start out your Hebrew lessons at a more advanced level than a beginner, this platform lets you do it. But, these Hebrew lessons are pricey and not the most comfortable learning mode particularly for new students. If you've got the time and the money, and you really like learning whole sentences with strong emphasis on listening skills, give Glossika's free trial a go. However, we think a lot of people will find Glossika's rivals to be an easier learning experience while still producing improved fluency in Hebrew.

Hebrew Podcasts

• Heavy focus on audio learning
• Lesson guides provide writing/reading practice
• Extensive content, especially for advanced Hebrew students
• Free lesson samples available
• New lessons released monthly

As you'd guess from the name, Hebrew Podcasts focuses on teaching contemporary conversational Hebrew through listening activities. Available since 2008, this platform connects with Hebrew learners of all ages from around the world and new lessons are released monthly.

Printable PDFs for each audio lesson

Each podcast comes with a lesson guide. These guides have full transcripts: in standard Hebrew, with nikkud, and also with transcription of the Hebrew using the Latin alphabet to make it easier for English speakers to follow and imitate the pronunciation. The lesson guides are offered as PDFs and have exercises you can do for practice, but you might want to print them out to make it easier.

Not the most advanced interface

Hebrew Podcasts does incorporate some video lessons into their teaching structure. But, they're not much more than slideshow presentations over an audio podcast: you won't see actors portraying the scene that's being represented, just static images that show you the written Hebrew as it goes along. You'll soon see that this is far from being the most technologically-advanced platform for Hebrew lessons. The games are just flashcards and a hangman-style fill-in-the-letters, and the quizzes are pretty basic too.

Costs

• $69 for 6 months ($50 for renewals)
• $89 for 1 year ($79 for renewals)

Save money when you renew

These Hebrew lessons have gone up in price over the past few years. You'll pay $69 for a 6-month subscription or $89 for one year of access. If you like Hebrew Podcasts well enough to renew your membership, you'll get discounts of $10-$19 in your second year of membership, and another discount for years three and onward.

No more money-back guarantee

The company has also dropped its 60-day money-back guarantee. Prospective subscribers are encouraged to try all of Hebrew Podcasts' free lesson samples before paying for a membership: you'll find those on their main page under "Try a free sample of lessons of different levels" , as well as in the Recent Lessons section where the audio portion is marked as "Listen Now Try Free" .

Best Hebrew lessons for advanced learners

On the other hand, we have upgraded the rating on these Hebrew lessons since our last review. Why? We found overwhelmingly positive feedback about the advanced content available here. Other providers tend to start out really strong at the beginner levels but the amount of learning offered to more experienced students is almost nonexistent. In contrast, Hebrew Podcasts seems to offer more instruction as you get better at using Hebrew. The range of topics they cover is impressive: everything from day-to-day life like registering for preschool and dealing with a power outage, to culturally-relevant themes like the Israel National Trail and the Maccabiah.

A decent option for learning by listening

Because Hebrew Podcasts has such a heavy emphasis on auditory learning, it's not going to be the platform of choice for anyone that wants a lot of reading and writing practice. On the other hand, the podcasts make it easy to learn on the go - especially for advanced Hebrew students who might not find many other options out there to challenge them and keep improving their fluency. We give Hebrew Podcasts a decent three-star rating: there are more robust, tech-savvy Hebrew lessons out there, but some students will find that this is an affordable, helpful resource that's worth using.

Living Language

• 3 levels of instruction included (Beginner to Advanced)
• Subscriptions ranging from 3 months to 1 year

Living Language has been around a long time - over 70 years! It's one of the longest-standing names in the DIY language learning industry and is a division of Penguin Random House.

46 total lessons across 3 levels

Living Language has content for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Hebrew. You'll get 10 lessons at the first level, and then the Intermediate and Advanced courses are broken down into multi-lesson units (for a total of 20 lessons in Intermediate and 16 in Advanced). These topics include Essential Expressions, People and Family, Everyday Life, Work and School, and Shopping. Some students who have used Living Language say that the intermediate and advanced lessons really aren't as in-depth as they expected for lessons beyond beginner; if you already have a good working knowledge of Hebrew, you will probably need to choose a different platform to really expand your fluency.

No explanation of teaching methods

How does Living Language go about teaching you to read, write and speak Hebrew? They don't really tell you! They describe their "method" as vocabulary, grammar, audio conversations and cultural notes around real-world themes (like the ones mentioned earlier), with engaging games and puzzles and an online community of language experts and fellow language learners. That's great, but it doesn't answer how the program is structured, or how you track your progress. We also noticed that any kind of speaking exercises aren't mentioned; most of Living Language's competitors give you the chance to compare your spoken Hebrew against voice recognition software to improve your accent.

No free trial or sample lessons

We think it's fair to say that Living Language isn't as transparent as it needs to be. They used to have a free resource called Language Lab linked right from their main page. We weren't even sure it was still being offered, but eventually by digging through the FAQs in the Support section, we found it. Even then, all you get are vocabulary practice games. There's no other way to see how this service teaches language: no free trial, no sample lesson, nothing. That's a huge disadvantage compared with other Hebrew lessons out there.

Costs

• $39 for 1 month
• $50 for 3 months
• $75 for 6 months
• $150 for 1 year

No refund or satisfaction guarantee

To make it worse, the company offers zero satisfaction guarantee or refund policy. If you start a $39 monthly subscription or pay for several months in advance, you can cancel at any time but you won't get a prorated refund of any payments already made. It doesn't inspire much confidence when a service offering Hebrew lessons won't show you how they teach before you sign up - and then they won't give you your money back if you don't like it!

Fewer features now, not more

And, one of the features that used to bring Living Language up in our rankings was their e-Tutoring service included with a Platinum package they carried. Unfortunately, that was discontinued back in 2018 - along with other services like their iOS app.

Choose a higher-rated Hebrew lessons platform

It's hard to find any reason to recommend Living Languages for studying Hebrew. The company doesn't seem to be putting any effort into expanding their program, providing current content, or adding more tech-savvy features to keep up with their rivals. And, with no sample lessons or a refund policy, you'll be wasting your money if you don't wind up liking what Living Languages has to offer. Even most of today's free language learning apps give you the opportunity to match your accent to a native speaker's, and this platform doesn't even go there. You're going to get a lot more for your money with one of the higher-rated Hebrew lessons packages in our review.