Yiddish for Advanced Beginners (semester 5)

Welcome to continue our journey in a millennium old language, part and parcel of Ashkenazi Jewish civilization and a pathway to a rich cultural treasure. This course is designed for participants who already have a foundational knowledge of Yiddish grammar and can follow simple conversations. We will converse in Yiddish, delve into advanced grammatical topics (such as conditional structures and aspects), and read and appreciate literary texts in Yiddish. As always, we will contextualize the language within its broader cultural and historical background.

ברוכים הבאים
Bruchim H’boim, welcome!

The course is given in English, in collaboration with International Yiddish Center Vilnius, Paideia – the European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden and Jiddischsällskapet i Stockholm.

Paideia folkhögskola also offers the online courses Yiddish for Advanced Beginners (semester 5) and Yiddish conversation (in Yiddish/Swedish) during the spring semester of 2025. Please see more information under each course’s webpage.

Prior knowledge

Participants need proficiency in reading and writing Yiddish. Understanding of present, future, and past tenses. Familiarity with grammatical cases, sentence structure, and various verb types in Yiddish.

To apply for this course, you need basic computer skills and knowledge of how to use the digital platform Zoom. The school offers Zoom manuals and a training opportunity before the start of the course.

Course material

Course material is included in the cost for this course. Grammar and literature resources will be provided to participants via email.

About the teacher

Dr. Yaad Biran got his Ph.D. in Yiddish literature in the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He teaches Yiddish language and culture in Beth Shalom Aleichem in Tel Aviv, in Haifa University and in the Tel Aviv summer course. He is also a writer and a translator, the author of a short stories book Laughing with Lizards (Hebrew) and the writer of Esther’s Cabaret, a contemporary Yiddish Cabaret in Tel Aviv. He is also guiding Yiddish tours in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Photo: The image is of a painting by Jean Hessel.