Intermediate II Yiddish
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: Nina Warnke
Who should take this course?
This course is appropriate for those who have completed Intermediate I Yiddish or equivalent coursework.
What topics will this class cover?
This course builds on the materials covered in In eynem, Vols. I and II. The class begins with the Supplementary Chapter in In eynem, Vol. II. After that, the course will be organized around the reading of Motl peyse dem khazns by Sholem Aleichem. This edition for learners of Yiddish will introduce students to reading, discussing, and writing about a longer fictional text. Grammar and vocabulary will be based on the text and will include a review of previously studied grammatical structures and introduce possessive constructions, comparative and superlative, and relative clauses as well as other grammatical concepts found in the text.
Is knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet required?
Yes, knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet is required.
Course Materials:
- Sholem Aleichem, Motl Peyse dem khazns, edited by Sheva Zucker and Anne Gawenda (New York: League for Yiddish, 2017; Purchase).
- Bochner/Beinfeld, Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary (verterbukh.org)
- Schaechter-Viswanath/Glasser, Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary (englishyiddishdictionary.com)
It is highly recommended to purchase the print versions of both Comprehensive Dictionaries (Beinfeld/Bochner and Schaechter-Viswanath/Glasser).
Additional materials will be provided by the instructor.
Questions? Read our 2026 Spring Classes FAQ.
Nina Warnke grew up in Germany, where she started to learn Yiddish before studying in the Oxford Summer Program and receiving her Ph.D. in Yiddish Studies from Columbia University. During that time she directed the YIVO zumer program for a few years. Since then Nina has taught Yiddish language, literature and culture at Indiana University, the University of Texas at Austin and Vanderbilt University, as well at Gratz College, YIVO, and the Workers Circle. She has researched and written extensively about the Yiddish theater. Nina is also the lead editor of the Rebecca Gratz Digital Archive at Gratz College and is working as a translator of Yiddish and German texts.
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