After a childhood spent listening to Yiddish songs, Annick became interested in the fine arts. She then combined her experience in arts and education to develop two illustrated Yiddish course

books aimed at children. Today she teaches both children and adults at the Yiddish Cultural Centre in Paris and participates in the Yiddish theatre company Troym-teater.

WITH EASESERIES

Yid

dis

hEurope’s top language learning method

Europe’s top language learning method

Yiddish

WITH EASE SERIES

- 85 comprehensive and progressive lessons- 171 exercises with answer keys - dual-language glossary - grammar summary

Common European

Framework Level

BEG IN

NERS and FA L S E BEGINNERS

B2

Passive phase

• Read through the dialogues using the phonetic transcription as a guide (or listen to the recordings if you have them).

• Repeat each sentence aloud.

• Read the translation on the facing page.

• Use the notes to understand distinctive features of the language.

• Test yourself using the two exercises (with answer keys) that accompany each lesson.

• Review what you have learned each week in

a concluding review lesson.

Active phase Once you are halfway through the course, you will know enough to go on to the active phase. As you learn each new lesson, you will also review an earlier one, following our instructions, and translate the dialogue from English into Yiddish. You’ll be delighted at the results!

With regular study, in just a few months you will be able to speak Yiddish fluently and naturally!

How to use your Assimil course

WITH EASE SERIES

Keeping the flame of Yiddish alight is Nadia’s passion: through teaching in associations and universities, participating in organisations that promote Yiddish culture, helping to create

a growing sound archive at the Yiddish Cultural Centre in Paris, and translating the works of major Ashkenazi authors, both classic and contemporary.

Heather Valencia was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but has lived most of her life in Scotland, where she was a lecturer in German language and literature at the University

of Stirling. In 1984, she began studying Yiddish and since then has published widely on modern Yiddish literature. In addition to teaching a weekly Yiddish class in Edinburgh, she has taught on Yiddish summer courses, sharing her interest in this fascinating language that she considers not only far from moribund, but enjoying an international resurgence of interest.

Europe’s top language learning method

-:HSMHKA=ZUZW]X:

YiddishLevel: BEGINNERS and FALSE BEGINNERS

About the Assimil methodAssimil is a revolutionary self-study method based on the simple, effective principle of intuitive assimilation. This is the natural process through which you learned your own language. With lively dialogues, simple notes and practical exercises, the Assimil method will bring you to a level where you can converse comfortably.

• In the first part of the course, the passive phase, you soak up the language by reading and repeating each lesson.

• You then move on to the active phase, applying the structures and automatic reflexes you have absorbed, while continuing to advance.

In just a few months, you will be able to speak effortlessly and naturally, without hesitation.

Strengths

• Lively, practical dialogues • Realistic situations from everyday life• A carefully designed system of grammatical progression• Systematic revision to consolidate what you have learned • Fascinating cultural insights • A unique witty style that is tried and tested

Recordings (4 audio CDs or 1 mp3 CD) of all the dialogues and translation exercises are sold separately under the title . Read by Yiddish speakers, they are a valuable learning tool.

All rights of the producer and th

e owne

r of t

he re

cord

ed w

ork

rese

rved

. Una

utho

rize

d co

pyin

g, p

ublic

per

form

ance

, bro

adca

sting

, hiri

ng or

rental

of this r

ecording prohibited.

לעקציעס26 - 1

1

© ASSIMIL 2010 ASSIMIL 2010

ASSYIDDISH1

יידיש

Setting the standard forlanguage self-study since 1929Annick Prime-Margules

Nadia Déhan-Rotschild

Heather Valencia

www.assimil.com24,90 €

Prix France TTC

ISBN : 978-2-7005-0528-3

B.P. 2594431 Chennevières-sur-Marne CedexFRANCE

© ASSIMIL 2014ISBN 978-2-7005-0528-3

Yiddish

by Annick PRIME-MARGULES

and Nadia DÉHAN-ROTSCHILD

Adapted for English-speaking learners by Heather VALENCIA

Illustrated by J.-L. GOUSSÉ

With Ease

• IV

Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................VIIHow to use this Yiddish course .......................................................... IXThe Yiddish alphabet ......................................................................... XI

Lessons 1 to 85.......................... !Good morning גוט־מארגן! 1  1.................................... !Yiddish יידיש! 2  9.............................. A question א פראגע 3  15... Leybl-Yankl and Yankl-Leybl לײבל־יאנקל און יאנקל־לײבל 4  21...................................... ?Why פאר װאס...? 5  25........................ Mine and yours מײנס און דײנס 6  33 7 Review .................................. 39....................... ?How are things װי גײט עס? 8  49...................... !Congratulations מזל־טוב! 9  55..................................... A joke א װיץ 10 61.................. I have two children איך האב צװײ קינדער 11 69................. !They speak Yiddish זײ רעדן יידיש! 12 75...................... !A Jewish family א יידישע משפחה! 13 8114 Review .................................. 87.............................. A message א מעלדונג 15 99......... ?You need more books דו דארפסט נאך ביכער? 16 103....................................... !Oh אוי! 17 109Cold? ......................................113 קאלט? 18Why does one need a doctor? ...119 צו װאס דארף מען א דאקטער? 19......................... Big problems געהאקטע צרות 20 12321 Review ................................ 131....................... !To the cinema אין קינא! 22 141You’re lucky! .............................147 איר זײט א מזלדיקער! 23....... !Thank you for the advice א דאנק פאר דער עצה! 24 151................ !To each his burden יעדער אײנער האט זײן פעקל! 25 157

• VIV •

Wear them in good health! .....163 טראג געזונטערהײט! 26............................. !Simple פשוט! 27 16728 Review .............................. 173....... !Delighted to meet you זײער אײנגענעם! 29 183............. The old photograph די אלטע פאטאגראפיע 30 189....... !Talking to a brick wall רעד צו דער װאנט! 31 195Tomorrow’s another day! .....201 מארגן איז אױך א טאג! 32............... A nice neighbour א וװילע שכנטע 33 205................... !What a delight א מחיה! 34 21335 Review ............................. 219...... !Time doesn’t stand still די צײט שטײט נישט! 36 229... From Poland to Argentina פון פוילן ביז ארגענטינע 37 235.............................. !Cheers לחײם! 38 241What happened yesterday? ...249 װאס איז געשען נעכטן? 39............................. !Logical לאגיש! 40 253.......................... !A bargain א מציאה! 41 26142 Review ............................. 267....................... Eternal love אן אײביקע ליבע 43 281...................... A rendezvous א באשטעלונג 44 287..................... Continuation המשך 45 293.................... !Good shabes גוט שבת! 46 301........................... The guide דער װעגװײזער 47 307........................ An old joke א מעשה מיט א בארד 48 31349 Review ............................. 319Man proposes, ...................327 א מענטש טראכט און גאט לאכט! 50 God disposes!............. How does one find ווי געפינט מען א חתן? 51 333 a husband?...................... !Bon appétit מיט א גוטן אפעטיט! 52 341......................... In the café אין קאפע 53 349............................ !A dream א חלום! 54 355................... !No more work אויס ארבעט! 55 36156 Review ............................. 369.................. !What a cheek א חוצפה! 57 379............... !It doesn’t match עס פאסט נישט! 58 385.............. A few days in July א פאר טעג אין יולי 59 391

A story about a poor א מעשה מיט אן ארעמאן... 60 man .................................. 397...................... …a rebbe … ...מיט א רבין ... 61 403....................... and a goat ... ...און מיט א ציג 62 40963 Review ............................. 415........... A fervent vegetarian א פארברענטער וועגעטאריער 64 423 ?With an umbrella מיט א שירעם? אן א שירעם? 65 Without an umbrella? ........ 429......................... !Let’s pack לאמיר זיך אײנפאקן! 66 435..................... !Bon voyage פארט געזונטערהייט! 67 441.......... !Long live Columbus א לאנג לעבן קאלומבוסן! 68 447......................... In the plane אין אוויאן 69 45570 Review ............................. 461To the Jerusalem of קיין ירושלים דליטע 71 Lithuania ............................ 469................ A complete year א קײלעכדיק יאר 72 475 Bad feelings, but colourful בייזע געפילן נאר בילדערישע 73expressions ............................481 אויסדרוקן .................... !Parental pride נחת פון קינדער! 74 489A bill calculated is half paid ...495 אפגערעכנט איז האלב באצאלט 75 )שפריכווארט( Better three days healthy than בעסער דרײ טעג געזונט 76one day ill ..............................501 איידער איין טאג קראנק 77 Review ............................. 507..............................A recipe א רעצעפט 78 515 A recipe (continuation and א רעצעפט )המשך און סוף( 79 conclusion( ....................... 521..... Chelm, the town of fools כעלעם, די שטאט פון די נאראנים 80 529........ In the Jewish Museum אין דעם יידישן מוזיי 81 537....................... At a concert אויף א קאנצערט 82 545 :A song by Mark Warshavsky מארק ווארשאווסקיס א ליד: 83..................... The Alphabet דער אלף־בית 55184 Review ............................. 557.......................!A good start מיטן רעכטן פוס! 85 567

Grammatical appendix ..................................................................... 576Grammatical index ........................................................................... 620

• VIIIVII •

Bibliography .................................................................................... 624Glossaries ......................................................................................... 628

Transcription - Yiddish - English ................................................. 629English - Transcription - Yiddish ................................................. 668Yiddish - Transcription - English ................................................. 707

• 21 • eyns tsvey

ערשטע לעקציע ערשטע לעקציע 1 גוט־מארגן ①!

NGROM-TUG

גוט־מארגן! – 1 NGROM-TUG

2 – א ② גוט־יאר ③! * ROY-TUG A

gut-morgn! good-tomorrow

Good morning!

1 – gut-morgn! good-tomorrowGood morning!

2 – a gut-yor! a good-year Good morning!

Before starting the first lesson, please read the introduction carefully. It provides important information about pronunciation and how to make the most of your learning. In the first lessons, the

Pronunciation notesTitle גוט gut: Some of you may say, ‘What do you mean, gut? My grandmother used to say git!’ Well, your grandmother’s pronunciation was no doubt how it was said in her hometown )not far from Warsaw, perhaps?(. But in this course you will learn the standardized version of the language dating from the 1930s. This has two major advantages: it unites the different dialects (poylish Polish, litvak Lithuanian, etc.( and means that the words are pronounced as they are spelled.

• The letter ג g is always hard, as in garden (never as in gender(.• The letter ן n normally sounds exactly like [n] in English. But when it follows a consonant, it forms a separate syllable that is pronounced in a slightly nasal fashion. To do this, put your tongue against the roof of your mouth to make the [n] sound resonate slightly in your nose. It’s not difficult! The main thing is to put the stress in the right place. Generally speaking, the next-to-last syllable of a word is stressed.

NotesThe notes will help you start to decipher Yiddish. Throughout the book, the phonetic transcription and English translation are on the left, and the Yiddish is on the right. Remember, Yiddish is read from right to left. Underneath the Yiddish dialogue, you will see its transliteration (the Latin letters that correspond to the letters of the Yiddish word). These transliterations are also read from right to left! All other transcriptions, however, are written from left to right, as in English.

morgn. The word morgn means tomorrow, but when it מארגן ①is paired with the adjective gut, it means good morning.

a a/an. This is the singular indefinite article; it is the same as א ②a/an in English.

yor year. The word yor actually means year, but in יאר ③greetings, gut-yor or a gut yor is the reply (it is only ever used in reply( to good morning, good evening and good night.

1 First lesson [ershte lektsye]

dialogues are short to allow you to familiarize yourself gradually with reading and writing Yiddish.

• 43 • dray fir

11 Reading and writing: the Yiddish alphabet and its transcription

Even if you know Hebrew, you will have to work a bit to learn the Yiddish alphabet: unlike Hebrew, Yiddish contains both consonants and vowels. As you will see, this makes reading easier. Since the Yiddish alphabet does not contain any capital letters, there is just one set of characters to remember for the printed and handwritten alphabets.

Here are the letters used in the first dialogue, in the order of their appearance.

After learning each new letter, it is a good idea to practice writing it. We suggest that you get a notebook specifically for this. Start from the end of the notebook, following the right-to-left direction of the Yiddish script. That means starting on the right-hand side of the right-hand page! ג

gThis consonant is called giml (to pronounce this, note that the [l] sound forms a separate syllable when it follows another consonant(. It produces the sound [g], which is always hard, as in garden.Handwritten form: Start the letter at the top. The bottom of the letter can sit on the line of the notebook or go below it. ג............................................................................................................................................................

וu

This letter is called vov and is pronounced like the [u] in pull.Handwritten form: Start at the top of the letter. This one is not too hard!ו...............................................................................................................................................................

טt

This letter, which corresponds to the English [t], is called tes. Note the opening at the top of the printed letter.Handwritten form: Begin on the right, make the downstroke, and then ascend to make the rounded shape.ט............................................................................................................................................................

מm

mem. This letter is pronounced like the English [m].Handwritten form: The written form resembles a capital N, but don’t forget that Yiddish letters are written from right to left! Start at the top right of the letter and descend, then go diagonally up and descend again.מ............................................................................................................................................................Look closely to spot the difference between the printed letters tes and mem. The former is open at the top, and the latter is closed. Luckily, it is hard to mistake the handwritten forms, as they are totally different! מ mem ט tes א

oThis is the first letter of the alphabet: it is called alef. Notice the T-shaped symbol just under the letter. This is called a komets. The vowel formed by putting the two together is called komets alef and is pronounced like the short [o] sound in loft.Handwritten form: Start by forming the round section from the top downwards, as if you were writing a C, then make the vertical stroke, and finish by putting the komets under the letter. א...........................................................................................................................................................

רr

The letter reysh is the equivalent of the English [r] (but unlike in some British accents, the letter is always sounded(. It can be either rolled or guttural, depending on the origin of the speaker.Handwritten form: Start from the top.ר...........................................................................................................................................................

ןn

Here we have our first example of the final form of a letter: that is, the form that is found at the end of a word. This is the langer nun (long nun(. Both the nun at the beginning or in the middle of words )which we will come to later( and the final langer nun are pronounced like the English [n].Handwritten form: The letter needs to descend below the line to differentiate it from the handwritten vov.ן...............................................................................................................................................................

• 65 • finf zeks

11 אa

Well done if you recognized that this is also an alef! However, this time the symbol under it is a pasekh (the kh is pronounced like the [ch] sound in the Scottish word loch or the name of the German composer Bach(. Pasekh alef is pronounced like the short a in snap. Like the letter a in English, pasekh alef is not only a vowel, but also the indefinite article a/an.Handwritten form:א...........................................................................................................................................................

יy

yud. When this letter is placed – as it is in this dialogue – before a vowel, it is a consonant and is pronounced like the [y] in young.Handwritten form: This is the smallest letter of the alphabet, much smaller than vov. It doesn’t touch the line, but hovers above it!י...............................................................................................................................................................Now you know your first Yiddish letters. Before introducing you to the others (there are 22 in all, as well as 5 final forms), here are some exercises to whet your appetite. Don’t forget that Yiddish is read and written from right to left. So when doing the exercises, start at the back of your notebook and turn the pages from left to right. Remember that there are no capital letters in Yiddish. Practice the examples in the book, and after a few lessons you’ll be surprised at your progress! Another thing to remember – the letters are never linked, even in handwritten script.

Here is the dialogue in handwritten letters

גוט־מארגן! 1 - גוט־מארגן! 2 - א גוט־יאר!Here are some important words used in the exercises, with their phonetic transcriptions. Notice where the stress falls:genitung exercise געניטונגzetst iber translate זעצט איבערdergantst complete דערגאנצטa punkt iz glaykh an os each dot corresponds to a letter א פונקט איז גלײך אן אות

Exercise 1 – 1 געניטונג genitung 1Say the following syllables aloud and write down their pronunciation using Latin letters.

גא – גא – טא – טא – טו – יא – יא – יו – מא – מו – מא

Answers to Exercise 1(The first syllable – on the left – corresponds to the first syllable on the right in the Yiddish equivalent.)ga – go – ta – to – tu – ya – yo – yu – ma – mu – mo

*** ***

גוט־מארגן!

• 87 • zibn akht

11 Exercise 2 2 געניטונג Write out the same syllables in handwritten Yiddish letters.

Answers to Exercise 2גא – גא – טא – טא – טו – יא – יא – יו – מא –

מו – מא

Exercise 3 3 געניטונג Read the following words and translate them.

❶ גוט ❷ יאר ❸ א ❹ א יאר ❺ גוט־מארגן!

Answers to Exercise 3(The phonetic transcription is shown first, followed by the translation.)❶ gut – good ❷ yor – year ❸ a – a ❹ a yor – a year ❺ gut-morgn! – Good morning!

Exercise 4 4 געניטונג Replace each dot with the correct missing letter. Those who are talented at drawing can try to reproduce the printed letter; otherwise write the handwritten letter in both cases.

Phonetic Handwritten form Printed formgut ❶ גו . ❶ גו .morgn ❷ מ . רגן ❷ מ . רגן

yor ❸ . אר ❸ . אר

Answers to Exercise 4

year יאר יאר ❸ tomorrow מארגן מארגן ❷ good גוט גוט ❶

What’s this goat doing here? Well, the goat is present in all aspects of Yiddish culture. It features in the dietary laws of the Bible (‘You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk’) and in the visions of the prophets. It wanders through Talmudic legends and is prevalent (usually in white or golden form) throughout Yiddish folklore, in lullabies, sayings and tales. It has been part of the pesakh )Passover( celebrations ever since the end of the 16th century, when the song Khad Gadyo )One Little Goat( was incorporated into the Passover ritual. Jewish literature has made good use of it in prose and verse, and it also appears in paintings (for example, by Chagall and Lissitzky). An anthology could be made of this motif ... in fact, one already exists, in Yiddish, which you can find on the internet when you have advanced a bit more in the language!

You’ve come to the end of your first lesson. Congratulations! We realize that it took a lot of effort, but you’ll soon be well rewarded by the pleasure of becoming proficient at reading and writing in Yiddish, which will get increasingly enjoyable as you work through the lessons.

• 328327 • dray hundert zibn un tsvantsik dray hundert akht un tsvantsik

50 Fiftieth lesson [fuftsikste lektsye] פופציקסטע לעקציע 50 פופציקסטע לעקציע

Man proposes, God disposes! (A human-being thinks and God laughs!)

1 – When is (falls) Pesach? 2 – The first Seder falls [on] the 28th [of] April. 3 – [What] a pity: my brother-in-law and sister-in-

law have invited (are inviting) us to (in) Israel, 4 but the school holidays finish [at the] end [of]

March.

א מענטש טראכט און גאט לאכט!ווען פאלט אויס ① פסח ]פייסעך[? – 1

דער ערשטער ② סדר ]סיידער[ פאלט – 2 אויס דעם אכט און צוואנציקסטן אפריל ③.א שאד: מײנע שוואגער־און־שוועגערין ④ – 3 לאדן אונדז אײן ⑤ אין ישראל ]ייסראעל[,

4 אבער די שול־וואקאציעס ענדיקן זיך Pronunciationסוף ]סאף[ מערץ.

1 … falt oys … 2 … akht un tsvantsikstn april 3 … shvoger-un-shvegerin ladn undz ayn … 4 … shul-vakatsyes endikn …

Notes falt oys. Did you spot that this is a separable-prefix פאלט אויס ①

verb? The infinitive is אויספאלן oysfaln, which means to fall on, to occur on, to be on when speaking about a date. The separable prefix אויס gives the verb a different nuance from the simple verb פאלן faln to fall.

ערשטער ② der ershter the first. If you’ve been paying דער attention to the Yiddish lesson numbers, you’ll be familiar with the ordinal numbers )i.e. first, second, third, etc.(. They are adjectives that decline normally, and, like many other adjectives, they can form adjectival nouns (lesson 49, section 2(. After the number 20, their forms are regular, but look back over the lesson numbers to see the slight irregularities in the lower ordinal numbers.

dem akht un tsvantsikstn דעם אכט און צוואנציקסטן אפריל ③april ]on[ the 28th of April, literally, ‘the eight and twentieth April’. As in English, ordinal numbers are used for dates, but

Yiddish does not use ‘of’. Nor is there a preposition before the date. Instead, the date is always in the accusative, unless it is the subject of a sentence.

shvoger-un-shvegerin brother-in-law שוואגער־און־שוועגערין ④ and sister-in-law. Like שווער-און-שוויגער shver-un-shviger father-in-law and mother-in-law or parents-in-law, this

compound noun referring to a couple is formed with the help of און and hyphens. A similar construction is טאטע-מאמע tate-mame parents )lesson 37(. When referring to couples in Yiddish, the masculine noun usually comes first.

aynladn אײנלאדן ladn undz ayn: the verb is לאדן אונדז אײן ⑤to invite. If the object is a personal pronoun, it comes between the conjugated verb and the separable prefix. If the object is a noun, this does not happen: מיר לאדן אײן דעם לערער mir ladn ayn dem lerer. We are inviting the teacher.

’in yisroel to Israel: when expressing the idea of ‘to אין ישראל with the names of towns or countries, either the preposition ikh for איך פאר קיין פאריז. :in is used אין keyn/ken or קייןkeyn pariz. I am travelling to Paris.

• 330329 • dray hundert nayn un tsvantsik dray hundert draysik

5050 5 – [Do] you really enjoy travelling (You have very dear to travel)?

6 – If I could I would go travelling (travel) four times a year!

7 [In] spring I would visit the most beautiful cities in Europe,

8 [in] summer I would relax at the seaside (at the edge sea),

9 [in] autumn I would go to (in) the forest(s),10 and [in] winter I would be in the mountains.11 – But man proposes, God disposes!

דו האסט זייער ליב צו ⑥ פארן? – 5 ווען איך וואלט געקענט ⑦ וואלט איך – 6

געפארן פיר מאל א יאר!פרילינג וואלט איך באזוכט ⑧ די 7

שענסטע ⑨ שטעט ⑩ אין אייראפע,זומער וואלט איך זיך אפגערוט בײם 8

ברעג ים ]יאם[ ⑪, 9 הארבסט וואלט איך געגאנגען אין די

וועלדער ⑫,און ווינטער וואלט איך געווען אין די 10

בערג.* אבער א מענטש טראכט און גאט לאכט! – 11

7 … bazukht … eyrope 8 … opgerut …

Notes du host zeyer lib tsu forn? Do דו האסט זייער ליב צו פארן? ⑥

you really enjoy travelling? )‘Do you have very dear to travel?’( When the verb ליב האבן is followed by another infinitive, the word צו is obligatory before the infinitive.

ven ikh volt gekent if I could. If you ווען איך וואלט געקענט ⑦need a reminder about forming the conditional of verbs, refer to lesson 49.

]friling volt ikh bazukht ]in the פרילינג וואלט איך באזוכט ⑧spring I would visit. As with dates )note 3(, no preposition is used with seasons.

שענסטע ⑨ di shenste the most beautiful )plural(. The די superlative of an adjective is formed by adding the suffix סט. The adjective then declines normally according to number, gender and case. If there is a vowel change in the comparative )lesson 35(, the same vowel change is found in the superlative:

sheyn beautiful, shener שיין, שענער, דער/די/דאס שענסטע)ר( more beautiful, der/di/dos shenste(r) the most beautiful.

.di shtot the town, city די שטאט shtet is the plural of שטעט ⑩ים ⑪ ברעג bam breg yam at the seaside; )‘at the edge בײם

sea’(. With some expressions of place, there is no preposition

between the two parts of the expression, e.g.: אין עק שטאט in ek shtot at the edge of town )‘in end town’(.

,der vald the wood דער וואלד velder is the plural of וועלדער ⑫forest.

Here is the dialogue in handwritten letters

א מענטש טראכט און גאט לאכט! 1 - ווען פאלט אויס פסח? 2 - דער ערשטער סדר פאלט אויס דעם אכט און צוואנציקסטן אפריל. 3 - אישראל, אין אײן אונדז לאדן שוואגער־און־שוועגערין מײנע שאד: 4 - אבער די שול־וואקאציעס ענדיקן זיך סוף מערץ. 5 - דו האסט

זייער ליב צו פארן? 6 - ווען איך וואלט געקענט וואלט איך געפארן פיר מאל א יאר! 7 - פרילינג וואלט איך באזוכט די שענסטע שטעט אין אייראפע, 8 - זומער וואלט איך זיך אפגערוט בײם ברעג ים,9 - הארבסט וואלט איך געגאנגען אין די וועלדער, 10 - און ווינטער וואלט

איך געווען אין די בערג. 11 - אבער א מענטש טראכט און גאט לאכט!

• 332331 • dray hundert eyn un draysik dray hundert tsvey un draysik

5050 געניטונג 1: זעצט איבערוואך. איין אויף אײן מיך לאדט אייניקל ❶ מײן

❷ ס׳וואלט דיר געפעלן צו פארן מיט מיר? ❸ אדרבא*! זאג מיר פשוט* ווען. ❹ איך וואלט געוואלט ס׳זאל זײן הארבסט. ❺ פרילינג האב איך זייער ליב צו שפאצירן

אין די בערג.

Answers to Exercise 1❶ My grandson/granddaughter is inviting me for one week. ❷ Would you like to travel with me? ❸ Certainly! Simply tell me when. ❹ I would like it to be in autumn. ❺ In spring I really enjoy walking in the mountains.

געניטונג 2: דערגאנצט )א פונקט איז גלײך אן אות(❶ If I drove a car, I would travel far.

. . . . איך . . . . . געפירט אן אויטא, וואלט איך . . . . . . ווײט.❷ The most beautiful shoes are sold here (Here one sells the most

beautiful shoes).

. . פארקויפט . . . די . . . . . . שיך.❸ She comes to visit [us] three times a month.

זי קומט . . . . . . דרײ מאל . חודש*.❹ He said he would relax at the seaside.

ער . . . געזאגט . . ער . . . . זיך אפרוען בײם ברעג ים*.❺ If I could, I wouldn’t work in winter!

אויב איך . . . . . געקענט, . . . . . איך נישטגעארבעט . . . . . . . !

Answers to Exercise 2וען – וואלט – געפארן – ❷ דא – מען – שענסטע – ❸ – צו גאסט– ❶ ו

א – ❹ – האט – אז – וועט – ❺ – וואלט – וואלט – ווינטער

The Jewish calendar is lunar, unlike the Western (or Gregorian) calendar, which is solar. This means that the dates of Jewish religious festivals are not fixed according to the internationally accepted Western civil calendar. But since the biblical festivals are associated with specific periods of the year, to avoid them slipping too much due to the difference between the solar and lunar year, a thirteenth month is periodically added to the twelve others.

peysakh Passover, Pesach falls in the spring. It פסחcommemorates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery and their departure from Egypt, led by Moses. The word פסח itself means passing, skipping over, and it refers to the episode from the tanakh Bible when God sent the Angel of Death to kill all the תנךfirst-born sons in Egypt, but spared the Israelites by passing over their houses, the doors of which had been marked with the blood of the sacrificial lamb. Pesach is celebrated for seven days in Israel and eight days in the diaspora. On the first two nights, a particular festive ritual takes place: the סדר Seder, seyder in Yiddish. The participants read the הגדה haggada, hagode in Yiddish, which relates the story of the Exodus. The reading is followed by a special meal with various symbolic foods. During the whole period of פסח it is forbidden to consume or even own any leavened bread or food made with yeast, in order to remind Jews that before their hasty departure from Egypt, the Israelites did not have time to allow their bread to rise before baking it.

• 334333 • dray hundert dray un draysik dray hundert fir un draysik

5151

51 Fifty-first lesson [eyn un fuftsikste lektsye] איין און פופציקסטע לעקציע 51 איין און פופציקסטע לעקציע

How does one find a husband (bridegroom)?

1 – How did you find your husband? 2 – I was a very young, shy, lonely student.

ווי געפינט מען א חתן ]כאסן[?ווי אזוי האסטו געפונען ① דײן חתן? – 1

איך בין געווען זייער א יונגע ②, – 2 שעמעוודיקע, עלנטע סטודענטקע.

You are about to embark on a new phase of your learning – the ‘second wave’. What does this mean? It’s very simple. After studying each new lesson, you’ll go back to a lesson from the beginning of the course – we’ll tell you which one at the end of each lesson – but this time you should reverse the process and translate the English texts into Yiddish. Don’t be afraid to read out loud and articulate clearly. Repeat the text as many times as you like and check your pronunciation if necessary. Then, if you wish, translate the English into Yiddish in writing. The aim of the second wave is to reinforce what you’ve learned. You’ll see that you know more than you think!

Second wave: lesson 1

Pronunciation 1 … gefunen … 2 … shemevdike elnte …

Notes געפינען gefunen is the irregular past participle of געפונען ①

gefinen to find.

zeyer a yunge a very young. Notice the position זייער א יונגע ②of the adverb זייער: it comes before the indefinite article, not after it, as in English.

סʹוואלט דיר געפעלןצו פארן מיט מיר?

• 568567 • finf hundert zibn un zekhtsik finf hundert akht un zekhtsik

85 Eighty-fifth lesson [finf un akhtsikste lektsye]

פינף און אכציקסטע לעקציע 85 פינף און אכציקסטע לעקציע

A good start (With-the right foot)!

1 Thanks to Assimil and your courage, you now know (know you already) a fair amount (a considerable little-bit) [of] Yiddish!

2 You can be proud [of yourself]! 3 Before you started (Before you have yourself

taken to the work), 4 would you have dreamed that you would master

(would-have itself to-you dreamed to master) such a rich vocabulary?

5 There’s one of two possibilities (One of the two):

מיטן רעכטן פוס!א דאנק אסימיל און דעם מוט אײערן 1 קענט איר שוין א היפש ביסל יידיש!

איר מעגט זײן שטאלץ! 2 איידער ① איר האט זיך גענומען ② צו 3

דער ארבעט,וואלט זיך אײך געחלומט ]געכאלעמט[ ③ 4

צו באהערשן אזא רײכן וואקאבולאר?איינס פון די ביידע: 5

Notes① We’ve seen איידער eyder in the sense of rather than (lesson

76(, but here it’s a conjunction meaning before, followed by a clause. The preposition meaning before is פאר. Compare:

איידער מיר וועלן פארן וועלן מיר זיך געבן א קוש. eyder mir veln forn veln mir zikh gebn a kush. Before we )will( leave, we will give each other a kiss.

(Remember that both parts of a sentence referring to the future are in the future tense in Yiddish.(

פאר דער רײזע וועלן מיר זיך געבן א קוש. far der rayze veln mir zikh gebn a kush. Before the journey we will give each other a kiss.גענומען ② zikh genumen. The irregular past participle of זיך

genumen. With a reflexive גענומען nemen to take is נעמעןpronoun, and followed by a noun preceded by צו, this verb means to start: .זייגער א אכט ארבעט דער צו זיך נעמט ער

er nemt zikh tsu der arbet akht a zeyger. He starts work at eight o’clock. If נעמען is followed by the infinitive of another verb, it means to start (doing something):

.er nemt arbetn akht a zeyger ער נעמט ארבעטן אכט א זייגער He starts working )‘to work’( at eight o’clock.

In this case there is no reflexive pronoun. volt zikh aykh gekholemt would וואלט זיך אײך געחלומט ③

you have dreamed …? The verb חלומען kholemen to dream is used normally if it doesn’t have an object: .איך חלום יעדע נאכט

ikh kholem yede nakht. I dream every night. But if it is followed by an object )what is being dreamt of( then it is used as an impersonal verb in the third-person singular with a reflexive pronoun in the dative case.

Pronunciation 1 … asimil … ayern … 4 ... gekholemt … bahershn … vokabular

• 570569 • finf hundert nayn un zekhtsik finf hundert zibetsik

8585 6 if you have succeeded (is to-you succeeded) in remembering (to remember) all that you have read here

7 since you started to study the language, that’s really (after-all) good;

8 if not, [it] is also good, 9 [because] you will have the pleasure of

rereading (again to read-through) the book (little-book)!

10 Before (the) parting, we wish all of you all the best (all the good).

11 Don’t forget to read at least once (one time) a week.

12 The best thing (For-the best) would be [to read] every day [for] about twenty minutes.

13 In this way you will read faster and faster.

איז אײך געלונגען ④ צו געדענקען אלץ 6 וואס איר האט דא געלייענט

זינט איר האט אנגעהויבן ⑤ זיך לערנען 7 די שפראך, איז דאך גוט;

אנישט, איז אויך גוט, 8 וועט איר האבן דאס פארגעניגן ווידער 9

איבערצולייענען דאס ביכל!פארן געזעגענען זיך ⑥, ווינטשן מיר 10

אײך אלעמען אל דאס גוטס ⑦.פארגעסט נישט צו לייענען כאטש ⑧ 11

איין מאל א וואך.צום בעסטן וואלט געווען יעדן טאג 12

ארום צוואנציק מינוט.אזוי ארום ⑨ וועט איר לייענען גיכער 13

און גיכער.6 … gelungen … 7 … ongehoybn … 9 … ibertsuleyenen … 10 … gezegenen …

Notes s’iz aykh gelungen. Here is another verb ס׳איז אײך געלונגען ④

gelingen to succeed( which is used impersonally געלינגען)in the third-person singular, with the subject of the verb in the dative case. Remember that verbs of sensation (to feel hot, cold, ill, etc.( have a similar construction: .איר איז קאלט ir iz kalt. She’s cold. )‘To-her it-is cold.’( )lesson 21(.

ongehoybn begun, irregular past participle of אנגעהויבן ⑤ onheybn to begin. The infinitive that follows this verb אנהייבןmay be preceded by צו, though this is not compulsory.

farn gezegenen zikh ‘before-the parting פארן געזעגענען זיך ⑥ourselves’. Like adjectives, infinitives can be made into nouns, which are always neuter. These translate into the English -ing form: .שיין איז ביכער יי�דישע פון לייענען dos leyenen דאס

fun yidishe bikher iz sheyn. Reading (‘The reading of’(Yiddish books is nice. In line 10, the dative neuter definite article contracts with the preposition פאר far. The verb in this phrase has one slight irregularity: its stem is געזעגנ, but the infinitive and the first- and third-person plural have an extra ע before the נ that does not appear in the other persons.

,al dos guts all the best. This is a fixed expression אל דאס גוטס ⑦which is why it is a little irregular in grammatical terms.

khotsh. We’ve seen this as a conjunction meaning כאטש ⑧although )lesson 52(. Here it is an adverb meaning at least.

arum on its own )line 12( means about, around (with ארום ⑨numbers or estimates(. The adverbial expression ארום אזוי azoy arum )line 13( means thus, in this way.

• 572571 • finf hundert eyn un zibetsik finf hundert tsvey un zibetsik

8585 14 Also (And), meet as often as possible with people to have (catch) a little chat in Yiddish;

15 that won’t do any harm (it can’t harm)!

און טרעפט זיך וואס אפטער ⑩ מיט 14מענטשן צו כאפן א שמועסל ⑪ אויף

יידיש,* ס׳קען נישט שאטן! 15

Notes :a comparative adverb means as ... as possible + וואס ⑩

אפטער פריער ;vos ofter as often as possible וואס vos וואס frier as early as possible.

khapn a shmuesl to have a little chat. This כאפן א שמועסל ⑪expression contains the verb כאפן to catch, seize. And seizing the opportunity for a chat in Yiddish is exactly what you should do! Note also the diminutive שמועסל.

Here is the dialogue in handwritten letters

מיטן רעכטן פוס! 1 - א דאנק אסימיל און דעם מוט אײערן קענט איר שוין א היפש ביסל יידיש! 2 - איר מעגט זײן שטאלץ! 3 - איידער איר האט זיך גענומען צו דער ארבעט, 4 - וואלט זיך אײך געחלומט צובאהערשן אזא רײכן וואקאבולאר? 5 - איינס פון די ביידע: 6 - איז אײך געלונגען צו געדענקען אלץ וואס איר האט דא געלייענט 7 - זינט אירהאט אנגעהויבן זיך לערנען די שפראך, איז דאך גוט; 8 - אנישט, איז

אויך גוט, 9 - וועט איר האבן דאס פארגעניגן ווידער איבערצולייענעןאײך מיר ווינטשן זיך, געזעגענען פארן - 10 ביכל! דאס כאטש לייענען צו נישט פארגעסט - 11 גוטס. דאס אל אלעמען ארום טאג יעדן געווען וואלט בעסטן צום - 12 וואך. א מאל איין צוואנציק מינוט. 13 - אזוי ארום וועט איר לייענען גיכער און גיכער. 14 - און טרעפט זיך וואס אפטער מיט מענטשן צו כאפן א שמועסל

אויף יידיש, 15 - ס׳קען נישט שאטן!

*** ***

געניטונג 1: זעצט איבעראויף ביכער לייענען צום פריער וואס זיך ❶ נעם יידיש. ❷ איר האט אנגעהויבן שפילן טרומייט. ❸ דו גוטס. דאס אל און יאר גוט א דעם טאטן ווינטשסט איין כאטש שווײגן זאלן זיי געוואלט וואלט ❹ איך

פערטל שעה* א טאג. ❺ ער מעג זײן שטאלץ: זײנע קינדער זײנען ביידע דאקטוירים.

Answers to Exercise 1❶ Start reading (the reading of) books in Yiddish as early as possible. ❷ You have begun to play the trumpet. ❸ You wish your father a good year and all the best. ❹ I would like them to be quiet at least [for] a (one) quarter of an hour a day. ❺ He can be proud: his children are both doctors.

• 574573 • finf hundert fir un zibetsik finf hundert finf un zibetsik

8585 געניטונג 2: דערגאנצט )א פונקט איז גלײך אן אות(❶ Before I go for a walk, I will finish the lesson.

. . . . . . איך וועל גיין . . . . . . ., וועל איך ענדיקן די לעקציע. ❷ Yesterday she succeeded in writing without any mistake[s].

ס׳איז . . . נעכטן . . . . . . . . צו שרײבן אן קיין שום טעות.*❸ Say goodbye to us (Part from us) and bon voyage!

. . . . . . זיך מיט אונדז און פאר . . . . . . . . . . . . !❹ Since she has been living (is living) in New York, she calls him

once a month.

. . . . זי וווינט אין ניו יארק, . . . . . . זי אים . . איין מאל א חודש.*

❺ It won’t do any harm to know some folksongs by heart!

אויף פאלקסלידער עטלעכע קענען צו נישט . . . . ס׳קען ! . . . . . . . . . . . .

Answers to Exercise 2– איר – געלונגען – ❸ געזעגן – געזונטערהייט איידער – שפאצירן – ❷ ❶

❹ זינט – קלינגט – אן – ❺ – שאטן – אויסנווייניק

This is the end of the first wave. Hopefully you feel that all your hard work and perseverance has paid off! Would you have believed that you could learn so much in so little time? You can be proud of yourself! But don’t forget to continue with the second wave, reviewing one lesson every day, right up to the last lesson.

!yasher koyekh! Well done יישר כוח!

Second wave: lesson 36

מיטן רעכטן פוס!

575 • zeks hundert nayn un akhtsik

After a childhood spent listening to Yiddish songs, Annick became interested in the fine arts. She then combined her experience in arts and education to develop two illustrated Yiddish course

books aimed at children. Today she teaches both children and adults at the Yiddish Cultural Centre in Paris and participates in the Yiddish theatre company Troym-teater.

WITH EASESERIES

Yid

dis

hEurope’s top language learning method

Europe’s top language learning method

Yiddish

WITH EASE SERIES

- 85 comprehensive and progressive lessons- 171 exercises with answer keys - dual-language glossary - grammar summary

Common European

Framework Level

BEG IN

NERS and FA L S E BEGINNERS

B2

Passive phase

• Read through the dialogues using the phonetic transcription as a guide (or listen to the recordings if you have them).

• Repeat each sentence aloud.

• Read the translation on the facing page.

• Use the notes to understand distinctive features of the language.

• Test yourself using the two exercises (with answer keys) that accompany each lesson.

• Review what you have learned each week in

a concluding review lesson.

Active phase Once you are halfway through the course, you will know enough to go on to the active phase. As you learn each new lesson, you will also review an earlier one, following our instructions, and translate the dialogue from English into Yiddish. You’ll be delighted at the results!

With regular study, in just a few months you will be able to speak Yiddish fluently and naturally!

How to use your Assimil course

WITH EASE SERIES

Keeping the flame of Yiddish alight is Nadia’s passion: through teaching in associations and universities, participating in organisations that promote Yiddish culture, helping to create

a growing sound archive at the Yiddish Cultural Centre in Paris, and translating the works of major Ashkenazi authors, both classic and contemporary.

Heather Valencia was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but has lived most of her life in Scotland, where she was a lecturer in German language and literature at the University

of Stirling. In 1984, she began studying Yiddish and since then has published widely on modern Yiddish literature. In addition to teaching a weekly Yiddish class in Edinburgh, she has taught on Yiddish summer courses, sharing her interest in this fascinating language that she considers not only far from moribund, but enjoying an international resurgence of interest.

Europe’s top language learning method

-:HSMHKA=ZUZW]X:

YiddishLevel: BEGINNERS and FALSE BEGINNERS

About the Assimil methodAssimil is a revolutionary self-study method based on the simple, effective principle of intuitive assimilation. This is the natural process through which you learned your own language. With lively dialogues, simple notes and practical exercises, the Assimil method will bring you to a level where you can converse comfortably.

• In the first part of the course, the passive phase, you soak up the language by reading and repeating each lesson.

• You then move on to the active phase, applying the structures and automatic reflexes you have absorbed, while continuing to advance.

In just a few months, you will be able to speak effortlessly and naturally, without hesitation.

Strengths

• Lively, practical dialogues • Realistic situations from everyday life• A carefully designed system of grammatical progression• Systematic revision to consolidate what you have learned • Fascinating cultural insights • A unique witty style that is tried and tested

Recordings (4 audio CDs or 1 mp3 CD) of all the dialogues and translation exercises are sold separately under the title . Read by Yiddish speakers, they are a valuable learning tool.

All rights of the producer and th

e owne

r of t

he re

cord

ed w

ork

rese

rved

. Una

utho

rize

d co

pyin

g, p

ublic

per

form

ance

, bro

adca

sting

, hiri

ng or

rental

of this r

ecording prohibited.

לעקציעס26 - 1

1

© ASSIMIL 2010 ASSIMIL 2010

ASSYIDDISH1

יידיש

Setting the standard forlanguage self-study since 1929Annick Prime-Margules

Nadia Déhan-Rotschild

Heather Valencia

www.assimil.com24,90 €

Prix France TTC

ISBN : 978-2-7005-0528-3