Yiddish is available on Duolingo. Once you have a handle on the alphabet you can read a lot by pretending it's slightly distorted German, but it's fun actually learning how it works, and picking up the vital non-German words - those from Hebrew and Slavic languages, for example.
My father came from Yiddish speaking family, my mother not so much. It was used in the house when the parents didn't want the kinde to know what was said. I remember Dad laughing at Mom when she tried to say something in Yiddish, but it came out wrong. The use of Yiddish was a sprinkling in the English. This made it fairly easy to figure out what was said that I wasn't supposed to hear. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. (My Hebrew name is actually Yiddish, I think).
What a great, fun article! Thanks, Reuben Salsa. A neighbor who thinks she knows everything about Jews and Judaism because she once dated a Jewish guy, says stupid things a lot, but the best was last week when someone asked how much cake she wanted— she motioned ‘small’ with her thumb and forefinger, and said, “just a schmekel.”
Yiddish is available on Duolingo. Once you have a handle on the alphabet you can read a lot by pretending it's slightly distorted German, but it's fun actually learning how it works, and picking up the vital non-German words - those from Hebrew and Slavic languages, for example.
Oy! Such a mensch, Reuben! I am kvelling!
My father came from Yiddish speaking family, my mother not so much. It was used in the house when the parents didn't want the kinde to know what was said. I remember Dad laughing at Mom when she tried to say something in Yiddish, but it came out wrong. The use of Yiddish was a sprinkling in the English. This made it fairly easy to figure out what was said that I wasn't supposed to hear. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. (My Hebrew name is actually Yiddish, I think).
What a great, fun article! Thanks, Reuben Salsa. A neighbor who thinks she knows everything about Jews and Judaism because she once dated a Jewish guy, says stupid things a lot, but the best was last week when someone asked how much cake she wanted— she motioned ‘small’ with her thumb and forefinger, and said, “just a schmekel.”