Advanced Readings in Yiddish Prose

Class starts Mar 13 9:30am-11:00am

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.

Instructor: Vera Szabó

Who should take this course?
This course is appropriate for students at the higher intermediate and advanced levels.

What topics will this class cover?
In this class students will read, listen to, and discuss 20th century Yiddish short stories in a variety of forms and styles by authors such as Rokhl Auerbach, Avrom Reyzen, Sholem Asch, Yosef Opatoshu, and others. We will examine the texts from a literary and linguistic point of view. Relevant grammatical structures will be clarified, and oral and written exercises will be used to strengthen students’ language skills.

Is knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet required?
Yes, knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet is required.

Course Materials:

All required print and audio material will be provided by the instructor digitally via Canvas.

Recommended:

Iber der grenets / Über die Grenze / Crossing the Border. An Anthology of Modern Yiddish Short Stories. Edited by: Efrat Gal-Ed, Simon Neuberg and Daria Vakhrushova
Bochner/Beinfeld, Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary (verterbukh.org)
Schaechter-Viswanath/Glasser, Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary (englishyiddishdictionary.com).

It is highly recommended that students purchase the print version of both Comprehensive Dictionaries.

Questions? Read our 2024 Spring 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 five years in Jerusalem, where she resides. More information on her website: www.verele.com

**Become a member today, starting at $54 for one year, and pay the member price for classes! You’ll save on tuition for this course and more on future classes and public programs tickets.