Intermediate I Yiddish (Sunday)

Class starts Feb 25 4:00pm-5:30pm

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: Karolina Szymaniak

Who should take this course?
This course is appropriate for those who have completed Beginner IV Yiddish or equivalent coursework.

What topics will this class cover?
This course will develop skills in reading, speaking, listening, and writing Yiddish for lower intermediate students. Students will learn with the help of both historical and contemporary materials, including songs and film excerpts. The class will broaden the scope of students’ vocabulary and structures. Grammatical topics will include a review of declensions of articles, adjectives, and pronouns, and will introduce the dative case. We will work on the past tense and learn new syntax structures. Vocabulary topics will include food, activities in town, and telling time. The class will work with the textbook In eynem, beginning with chapters 13 through 17. The communicative approach of In eynem will be complemented by a more structural approach to learning grammar.

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

Course Materials:
This course will use the following textbook:

In eynem: The New Yiddish Textbook, Vol II by Asya Vaisman Schulman, Jordan Brown, and Mikhl Yashinsky (Purchase)

The instructor will provide all other course materials digitally throughout the class on Canvas.

Questions? Read our 2024 Spring Classes FAQ.

Karolina Szymaniak is assistant professor at the Jewish Studies Department at the University of Wrocław and Research Fellow at the Jewish Historical Institute. Her research interests range across modern Yiddish literature, Polish-Jewish cultural relations, and translation studies. In addition to having taught Yiddish language and culture throughout Poland and Europe, she has also served as a consultant for the POLIN Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in Łódz. Her recent publications include Montages. Debora Vogel and the New Legend of the City and My wild goat. Anthology of women Yiddish poets (in Polish). She is also the editor of Rachel Auerbach's ghetto writings, which received the 2016 Polityka History Award.

**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.