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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Hebrew Pronunciation Guide |
| In this series, you'll master Hebrew pronunciation. Proper pronunciation is essential in Hebrew, and in this series, you'll learn it in a fast, comprehensive, and easy way. |
| In this first lesson, you'll learn about the building blocks of the Hebrew pronunciation system that will help you in future lessons. |
| The Hebrew alphabet consists of 22 letters, all of which are consonants. A few of these consonants however, can act like vowels. |
| But be careful not to fall into a very common trap: as you're learning to *speak* correctly, you shouldn't concern yourself with all the letters. That's right -- forget them! You care about the *sounds* of Hebrew, and here they are: |
| There are 20 consonant sounds, and 5 vowel sounds. Each symbol that you see here, represents a single sound determined by the IPA, which is a standardized way to represent sounds *without* the baggage that often comes with traditional letters. By using all of these sounds, you can form every single word in Hebrew. |
| Still seem complicated? Well how about this: of the 20 consonant sounds in Hebrew, you *already know* 15 of the original sounds. That's right, if you're a native English speaker, then you already make these sounds every day. |
| You can also ignore all of the vowel sounds for the same reason. |
| The only thing standing between you and Perfect Hebrew Pronunciation is 4 new consonant sounds. You can handle that! |
| Now let me introduce Yaara, who will be helping you to master these new sounds. |
| "Hello, I'm Yaara" in Hebrew |
| Yaara will be giving you native pronunciation examples to imitate. But for this first lesson, just sit back and listen to the unique sounds of Hebrew: |
| Resh רע "bad" |
| Tzadik צבע "color" |
| Khaf אוכל "food" |
| Aleph מאמר "article" |
| In the next lesson, we'll look at the top 5 pronunciation mistakes Hebrew learners make. You'll want to make sure not to fall into these common traps. |
| After that, we'll begin going through the vowels and consonants of Hebrew. This is your chance to learn how to correctly say all of the words you just heard. |
| We'll finish up the series by covering some special topics that will really make your Hebrew sound natural! |
| To close this lesson, here's a question for you. |
| Why is it important to spend time on learning proper pronunciation, even if you're already an advanced speaker? |
| The answer... |
| You will be understood, and this will help you build more confidence as you communicate in Hebrew. As beginners, you're creating a strong foundation to build on. And for more advanced students, this is your chance to improve your accent and lose any bad habits you may have picked up. |
| What is the hardest part of Hebrew pronunciation? Tell us about it in the comments. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Hebrew Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
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