Yiddish ייִדיש
From the alef-beys to real reading — gender and plurals, tenses, loshn-koydesh words, and the diminutives that carry all the warmth.
Reading & Alphabet
Reading Yiddish: Vowels Are Letters!
Why Yiddish spelling is more phonetic than Hebrew: vowel letters, combinatory letters, and final forms.
beginner · 3 min read
YIVO Transliteration in 10 Minutes
The standard system for writing Yiddish in Latin letters — so you can read any textbook.
beginner · 3 min read
Grammar Basics
der, di, dos & the Plurals
The three genders, the definite article table, and the main plural endings (-n, -s, -er).
beginner · 3 min read
Pronouns & the Three Cases
ikh / mir / mikh and friends: nominative, accusative and dative without the headache.
beginner · 4 min read
Yiddish Word Order (Verb-Second)
The verb always second in statements, first in yes/no questions, last in subordinate clauses.
beginner · 3 min read
Verbs
Present Tense + zayn & hobn
Regular present-tense endings, plus the two irregular verbs you need everywhere.
beginner · 3 min read
The Past Tense — ikh hob gezen
Forming the past with hobn/zayn + participle, and which verbs take zayn.
beginner · 3 min read
Modal Verbs & Saying “No” (nisht / keyn)
veln, kenen, muzn, darfn, zoln conjugations, and the two ways to negate.
beginner · 3 min read
Vocabulary & Culture
The Hebrew Component (Loshn-koydesh)
Why shabes doesn’t sound like shabbat: the Hebrew-Aramaic words inside Yiddish and how they’re pronounced.
beginner · 3 min read
Greetings, Polite Words & the -ele Diminutive
Sholem-aleykhem and friends, please/thank you, and the suffix that makes everything cute.
beginner · 3 min read
Reading
Everything here is free. The lessons are where it goes deeper.
I'm Yaacov — a native Jerusalemite teaching Modern Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew, Yiddish and Aramaic. This reference library and the daily words are open to anyone, no account needed. If you want someone to actually read with you, that's what the lessons are for.
No card required for the trial. Real lesson, real teacher, 30 minutes.