Advanced I Yiddish (Monday)
Tuition: $480 | YIVO members: $375**
Students: $240 (Must register with valid university email address)
This is a live, online course held weekly on Zoom. Enrollment will be capped at about 15 students. All course details (Zoom link, syllabus, handouts, assignments, etc.) will be posted to Canvas. Students will be granted access to the class on Canvas after registering for the class here on the YIVO website. This class will be conducted in Yiddish and English.
Instructor: Vera Szabó
Who should take this course?
This course is appropriate for those who have completed Intermediate IV Yiddish or equivalent coursework.
What topics will this class cover?
This class is for students who are already familiar with the basics of Yiddish grammar and are interested in further improving their reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills as well as their understanding of grammatical structures. We will be reading folk songs and folktales, poetry and prose by Sholem Ash, Avrom Reyzen, Yosef Opatoshu and others, abridged and adapted for students. Relevant grammatical structures will be reviewed in detail as they emerge from the readings. Various oral and written exercises will strengthen all language skills.
We will be using College Yiddish as a grammar reference book.
Is knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet required?
Yes, knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet is required.
Course Materials:
- College Yiddish: An Introduction to the Yiddish Language and to Jewish Life and Culture by Uriel Weinreich. (Email info@yivo.org to purchase.)
- Bochner/Beinfeld, Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary (verterbukh.org)
- Schaechter-Viswanath/Glasser, Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary (englishyiddishdictionary.com).
- Additional print and audio material will be provided by the instructor (students will have free digital access through Canvas).
Recommended:
- Yitskhok Niborski, Verterbukh fun loshn-koydesh-shtamike verter in yidish, Paris, 2012.
- It is highly recommended to purchase the print versions of both Comprehensive Dictionaries.
Questions? Read our 2025 Fall Classes FAQ.
Vera Szabó was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary. She holds an M.A. in Yiddish Studies from Columbia University as well as an M.A. in English and German Studies from ELTE University, Budapest.
She has taught Yiddish language, literature and folklore at various universities in the US (University of Michigan, Stanford, the University of Washington) and in Israel (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) as well as in various intensive summer programs (NYU/YIVO, Vilna, and Tel Aviv University.) She currently teaches various levels of Yiddish at Beth Shalom Aleichem.
Vera also translates literary and non-literary texts from Yiddish and Hungarian into English. Her research interest is Yiddish folklore. A certified yoga teacher, Vera has been teaching yoga in Yiddish for the past few years in Jerusalem, where she resides. More information on her website: www.verele.com
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