M'reishiyt Hebrew Basics
Levels of Commitment
Each student joins a Hebrew class with not only their own expectations, but also their own personal circumstances. These circumstances can include available time, family members or other people who can influence the level of commitment, cultural and language background, religious affiliation and so on.
Hebrew classes generally fall into two categories: The academic kind where students buy a grammar book and the lecturer will give a lesson. It will be up to the student to try and absorb the information and the end product is often the result of the number of hours the student spent trying to absorb the information. It's very often up to the student to find extra resources to explain what they don't remember from class. Then we have the kind of "Hebrew made easy" courses, where most of the academic is removed and the student is given the lecturer's studies, but very often not taught how to get to the answers themselves.
In the M'reishiyt course we have identified three groups of students:
(1) the student who has a love for God and Scripture and wants to just learn how to dig a bit deeper into the treasures of Scripture. This student wants to learn some of the Hebrew language, but doesn't want to be bogged down by grammatical terms and having to do all kinds of assignments. He just wants to learn about God and His Word. This student is like the baby who eventually gets to crawling, walking and talking, but he wants to do it at his own pace.
(2) the second student also has a love for God and Scripture, but wants to step out a bit and learn the language. He wants to learn to start shoveling for that treasure. This student doesn't mind to battle through terms and the hows and what nots and exercises and assignments, just as long as he can learn more. He wants to study the treasure map and dig the hole.
(3) the third student is every teacher's nightmare! He's the one who finishes the assignment and then looks around for more, and more. He's the one who goes home and surfs the internet. He wants to not only study the treasure map and dig the hole, he wants to research and investigate each jewel! He's that baby who walks when others crawl and runs when others walk.
Classes and lesson material will target the second group of students, but we are designing homework assignment levels for each of the three groups. Students will be able to choose their level of commitment by choosing one of these homework levels:
Homework assignment levels:
Level 1 - for the student who wants to learn some Hebrew and who wants to learn how to study Scripture on a deeper level, without getting into the grammar too much. Homework assignments will be based on the lesson of the week and will consist of six 5-minute exercises per week.
Level 2 - for the student who is willing to step out of their comfort zone a bit and tackle the challenges of learning the grammar of a new language. Students who choose this level, will be expected to do the Level 1 homework, as well as additional exercises. Exercises will be based on the level of the week, plus some vocabulary, as well as revising what we've done up to date. As we progress, this level of homework assignments could grow to between three and five 10-15 minute exercises per day.
Level 3 - for the student who wants to do more and learn more and has the time and ability to fit in extra time. These extra assignments will start sometime after Lesson 3 and will give students the opportunity to do some extra word studies or research. Level 3 students will be expected to also do the Level 1 and 2 homework of the week.
Students will choose their level of commitment when they sign up and during the course of the first 3 lessons this level may be changed once. "Chopping and changing" between levels throughout the course, will not be allowed.
Hebrew classes generally fall into two categories: The academic kind where students buy a grammar book and the lecturer will give a lesson. It will be up to the student to try and absorb the information and the end product is often the result of the number of hours the student spent trying to absorb the information. It's very often up to the student to find extra resources to explain what they don't remember from class. Then we have the kind of "Hebrew made easy" courses, where most of the academic is removed and the student is given the lecturer's studies, but very often not taught how to get to the answers themselves.
In the M'reishiyt course we have identified three groups of students:
(1) the student who has a love for God and Scripture and wants to just learn how to dig a bit deeper into the treasures of Scripture. This student wants to learn some of the Hebrew language, but doesn't want to be bogged down by grammatical terms and having to do all kinds of assignments. He just wants to learn about God and His Word. This student is like the baby who eventually gets to crawling, walking and talking, but he wants to do it at his own pace.
(2) the second student also has a love for God and Scripture, but wants to step out a bit and learn the language. He wants to learn to start shoveling for that treasure. This student doesn't mind to battle through terms and the hows and what nots and exercises and assignments, just as long as he can learn more. He wants to study the treasure map and dig the hole.
(3) the third student is every teacher's nightmare! He's the one who finishes the assignment and then looks around for more, and more. He's the one who goes home and surfs the internet. He wants to not only study the treasure map and dig the hole, he wants to research and investigate each jewel! He's that baby who walks when others crawl and runs when others walk.
Classes and lesson material will target the second group of students, but we are designing homework assignment levels for each of the three groups. Students will be able to choose their level of commitment by choosing one of these homework levels:
Homework assignment levels:
Level 1 - for the student who wants to learn some Hebrew and who wants to learn how to study Scripture on a deeper level, without getting into the grammar too much. Homework assignments will be based on the lesson of the week and will consist of six 5-minute exercises per week.
Level 2 - for the student who is willing to step out of their comfort zone a bit and tackle the challenges of learning the grammar of a new language. Students who choose this level, will be expected to do the Level 1 homework, as well as additional exercises. Exercises will be based on the level of the week, plus some vocabulary, as well as revising what we've done up to date. As we progress, this level of homework assignments could grow to between three and five 10-15 minute exercises per day.
Level 3 - for the student who wants to do more and learn more and has the time and ability to fit in extra time. These extra assignments will start sometime after Lesson 3 and will give students the opportunity to do some extra word studies or research. Level 3 students will be expected to also do the Level 1 and 2 homework of the week.
Students will choose their level of commitment when they sign up and during the course of the first 3 lessons this level may be changed once. "Chopping and changing" between levels throughout the course, will not be allowed.