Chapter 1 - Fancy Terms in Plain English

• transliteration (1.1) - "translating the letters": writing one language in the letters of a different language

• begadkephat letters (1.5) - The letters B,G,D,K,PH,&T(taw only). Since this is a made-up word anyway, I prefer a word that is actually pronounce-able and remember-able: Bigfoot Kid letters: BiG-PHooT KiD

• daghesh lene/daghesh forte (1.5,2.13,3.5) - "little dot"/"big dot" (the dots are actually the same size, but can be "lene"/"little" in Bigfoot Kid letters to change the sound. (When Bigfoot Kid steps on the dots, they tend to get "little" and stop breathing.)

• gutturals (1.6) - "throaty" letters--they come from your throat, like the H in our throat-clearing word ahem.

Chapter 1 - Hebrew today

• Transliterate the name "McDonald's" into the Hebrew alphabet. Then click the picture to see the transliteration on this sign at a McDonald's in a Jerusalem bus station.



• See the Hebrew transliteration of "Wikipedia" at Hebrew Wikipedia:



• Unmentioned in PVP is the importance of proper spelling on your Hebrew tattoo. Caveat tattooer.



more on this from Tyler Williams

• See the Hebrew letters of the name of assassinated prime minister Yitzhak Rabin at Rabin's Gate for Peace:


• See the transliteration of street names on this trilingual sign in Jerusalem.

Chapter 1 - Key Concepts

• similar-looking letters (PVP p.4)

Chapter 1 - Key Verses

Judges 12:6

wayyō’mərû lwō ’ĕmār-nā’ šibōleṯ wayyō’mer sibōleṯ wəlō’ yāḵîn ləḏabēr kēn
They said to him, ‘Then say Shibboleth’, and he said, ‘Sibboleth’, for he could not pronounce it right.

Chapter 1 - Prayers

PVP doesn't include prayers, but for me, this has been a meaningful way for Hebrew to come alive, and for my study to be a liturgical and not just linguistic activity. Here are some basic prayers and invocations:

• The Shema


Also see Parsons on the Shema

• The Basic Blessing

• From Parsons:
Barukh hamelamed et yadi lesapper et ha’otiyot.
Blessed is the One who has taught my hand to scribe the letters.

Chapter 1 - Useful Exercises

• Try to name each letter when it turns maroon before the narration gives the name. see PVP p.1-2.

• Name the letter before the narration gives the name; this page is at the H-BANES website, which has some excellent resources and drills for learning the alphabet

• Match the English name to its Hebrew source; this list is from Cook & Holmstedt p.6



more exercises:
• Cook p.3-7
• Dobson Lesson 1
• Milingua
• Parsons

Chapter 1 - Linguistic Background

My interest in the history of the alphabet began with this fascinating book. It's helped me, as I learn the alphabet, understand why these letters literally took shape the way they did, and how important the Phoenician alphabet was as the common ancestor of the Hebrew and Roman alphabets.

Looking at the original forms of the alphabet--their pictures and meanings--can help explain why they look the way they do, and maybe even help keep similar-looking letters apart. But I didn't do too much of this at first because I didn't want more to memorize.

Here's Sacks on aleph: (also see Benner on aleph)