Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Yiddish

by Benjamin Blech

Book Overview

You're not idiot, of course. You can serve up a mean s'il vous plait in a French bistro, live la vida loca for a night of margaritas, and manage a sayonara after sushi, sake, and karaoke. But when it comes to throwing around a little Yiddish, you feel like a total nebbish Don't throw your hands in a helpless "Oy, vey" just yet The Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning Yiddish is your guide to this unique tongue, whether you're tackling rules of grammar...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0028633873
• ISBN13: 9780028633879
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley)
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

For the Jew or the Goy

I have been attempting to learn Hebrew, but I could never find a book that gave information on Yiddish. When I discovered this book in my local bookstore my heart did a dance, I absolutely love it. Rabbi Blech did a wondrous mitzvah in writing this instruction book for the Goy or the Jew. :)

Fun and Easy

This is a great book, it was very enjoyable and easy to learn from. It will definitely give you a working start with Yiddish.

Charming and fun

I gave this book to my twelve-year-old daughter, who just started learning Spanish as well -- she's half-Hispanic and all Jewish -- and she's been quoting it to me ever since. Thank you, Rabbi Blech, for such an enjoyable read. This book and "Haiku for Jews" are the current favorites in our house.

Speaking, Not Just Quoting, Yiddish!

After purchasing numerous Yiddish language tapes and books, I have finally found the source that teaches you, not just the nouns and blessings/curses, but the pronouns and verbs. This is a user-friendly book that gives a brief (5 chapters!) history of the language, then nose-dives into the language. It teaches the reader how to conjugate verbs, eschew common mistakes, and reading the Hebrew aleph-bet (this part is optional, don't be scared!). It is superbly written. I haven't stopped reading it yet!

Absolutely superb, wonderfully informative and entertaining!

Honestly, I was as put off by the "Complete Idiot's" part of the title as you probably are but the unfortunate choice of title shouldn't dissuade you from purchasing this book. It's absolutely superb, well-written and informative without being unduly pedantic. Every paragraph is lucidly presented and done so in a manner that is terrifically entertaining. Rabbi Blech's sense of humour is without parallel and you really should try both of his other books - "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jewish History and Culture" and "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism". I postponed purchasing all of these titles for quite some time because I really find that "Complete Idiot" designation to be both offensive and insulting towards its intended audience. The publishers really need to re-think this concept because it's leading people to avoid purchasing books that are a real treat to read. Perhaps they might want to rename the series "The Complete Novice's Guide to ...". These are intelligent books written for intelligent people and they should be marketed that way. This book is really a relatively effortless way to become fluent in Yiddish (or at least clever enough to fake it) provided you're willing to put in a little time and effort.