Friday, October 22nd
2021 Hebrew Lesson Reviews
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.
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The 8 Best Hebrew Lessons
Where Can You Find the Best Hebrew Lessons?
Unless you're moving to Israel and benefitting from the hours-long sessions at an ulpan, you'll need to find Hebrew lessons that are a good fit: for your time, your ideal learning mode, and your budget! It's not easy to get in-person lessons for all ages, especially if you don't live in an area with a university or a significant Hebrew-speaking population.
Fortunately, there are plenty of online options to choose from. Do you learn best by listening? Some Hebrew lessons place strong emphasis on acquiring the language that way: work through audio files of syllables, words, phrases and sentences and repeat after the speaker. Not your style? No problem! Choose a Hebrew language platform that makes everything into a game, from grammar lessons to writing practice and even speech recognition software that compares your recorded language to that of a native speaker.
Hebrew Lesson FAQ
Continued from above...
Better yet, almost all online Hebrew lessons take great care to include cultural and historical information as you study. Hebrew has such a rich history and symbolism; you can't fully understand the language without knowing where it has come from and how it's used in context today.
As you look through the various possibilities for Hebrew lessons, it's easy to feel overwhelmed trying to figure out which one to use. Don't worry! Here are some criteria you can consider as you narrow down your choices:
- Approach to teaching Hebrew. What kind of learner are you? Think about your time in school: did you learn best by seeing something written down, hearing it explained, or just good, old-fashioned memorization? While many Hebrew lessons seek to incorporate all learning modalities, some place heavy emphasis on listening and speaking instead of reading and writing.
- Ease of use. How intuitive is the language platform? Does it offer a clear learning path or do you have to figure it out on your own?
- Free trial or lesson sample. The best Hebrew lessons let you try it out before you commit. We highly recommend that you take advantage of any risk-free trials or lesson examples: it's the best way to see if a particular teaching style works well for you in practice, not just in theory!
- Value. It isn't just about the subscription price or one-time fee. How much language instruction will you get for what you pay? Will you have enough material to progress through your specific fluency level in Hebrew? How many features does the service offer? Consider popular tools like speech recognition, access to personalized lesson plans or tutors, and game-based recognition like badges and leaderboards to keep you motivated (if you like that sort of thing!).
TopConsumerReviews.com has evaluated and ranked the best options for taking Hebrew lessons today. We're confident that this information will help you improve your fluency in reading, writing, and especially speaking Hebrew!
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