Beginner IV Yiddish (Sunday)
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 Google Classroom. Students will be granted access to the class on Google Classroom 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 Beginner III Yiddish or equivalent coursework.
What topics will this class cover?
Students in this course will continue to develop their listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills in Yiddish. The class will cover relevant grammar in Chapters 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, and 21 of In eynem, Vol. II as well as parts of the holiday chapters 8 and 12 in Vol I. Topics will include physical appearance, food, the home, and expressions of time. Students will also read poems, songs, short fiction as well as materials about Purim and Passover. Grammar study will address personal pronouns, direct and indirect objects, prepositions and prepositional phrases, dative and accusative cases, past tense, future, verbs of position, word order, sentence structure, and more.
Is knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet required?
Yes, knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet is required.
Course Materials:
This course will use the textbook In eynem: The New Yiddish Textbook, Vol I & II by Asya Vaisman Schulman, Jordan Brown, Mikhl Yashinsky (Purchase).
Questions? Read our 2026 Fall 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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