FALL 2023 Yiddish Classes
Chicago YIVO Society is pleased to offer four Yiddish classes online starting in October. Each class meets 10 times, and not during the week of Thanksgiving. Tuition is $170 (or a reduced rate of $115.) Class descriptions can be found below, and you can register here.
These classes will be held online via Zoom and require stable internet access and facility with using online technology.
playing with yiddish
Thursdays
6:30pm - 8:00pm CST
10 sessions (not meeting Thanksgiving week)
October 5 through
December 14, 2023
Lomir Shpiln mit Yidish is an easy going, games focused elementary beginners Yiddish course. No stress, no shame, just good fun and collaboration. Each week we will learn about a new element of the Yiddish language, and how it works. If you are a passionate self-learner, this class makes a great enrichment to your own studies. All classes are recorded for review. All materials will be in Yiddish, English and transliteration.
Avi Fried became enchanted with the Yiddish language in 2015. He received his deep love of learning from Rabbi Benay Lappe, the Rosh Yeshiva of Svara (The Traditionally Radical Queer Yeshiva). He sees himself as a one person welcoming committee for Yiddish beginners since 2018. He lives in Chicago.
Yiddish Class, Beginner I
Thursdays
6:30pm - 8:00pm CST
10 sessions (not meeting Thanksgiving week)
October 5 through
December 14, 2023
This is a course designed for people who have passion for Yiddish, but no prior knowledge of the language. We will use the newly published In Eynem textbook, which encourages conversation, self-expression, and contemporary usage. By the end of the semester, students will be able to read, write, and have simple conversations.
Anye Koyfmentsh has been learning Yiddish for 20 years, and teaching for 5. She trained as a Yiddish teacher through the Yiddish Book Center, and as a Talmud teacher through Svara. As an enthusiastic member of a vibrant Yiddish speaking community, she is eager to include more people so they can make their own friendships, art, and relationships with Yiddish. She translated the Yiddish novel Your Comrade, Avreml Broide, which will be released in 2024.
Yiddish class, advanced beginner I
Tuesdays
6:30pm - 8:00pm CST
10 sessions (not meeting Thanksgiving week)
October 3 through
December 12, 2023
This is a continuation of the Beginners course that ran in the spring. We will explore more conversation, literature, and music, and continue our study in In Eynem, starting around Unit 3. This class will be a great fit for anyone who knows how to read and write Yiddish, and basic sentence structure. Please be in touch with the instructor with questions about how to prepare to join the group.
Anye Koyfmentsh has been learning Yiddish for 20 years, and teaching for 5. She trained as a Yiddish teacher through the Yiddish Book Center, and as a Talmud teacher through Svara. As an enthusiastic member of a vibrant Yiddish speaking community, she is eager to include more people so they can make their own friendships, art, and relationships with Yiddish. She translated the Yiddish novel Your Comrade, Avreml Broide, which will be released in 2024.
Yiddish class, intermediate I
Wednesdays
6:30pm - 8:00pm CST
10 sessions (not meeting Thanksgiving week)
October 4 through
December 13, 2023
This is a continuation of the Advanced Beginners course that ran in the spring. We will be using Sheva Zucker's book Yiddish: An Introduction to the language, literature, and culture, Volume I, starting around chapter 10, and Sholem Aleichem's Motl Peyse dem Khasns, in the learner's edition. Please be in touch with the instructor with questions about how to prepare to join the group.
Benna grew up speaking Yiddish at home with her mother. She has studied Yiddish at the YIVO Intensive Yiddish Summer Program and, most recently, at the Maison de la Culture Yiddish in Paris. She has attended the annual Yugntruf Yidish Vokh every year since she was two. And she has has previously taught Beginner and Intermediate Yiddish for Yiddish Chicago.
Tuition
Tuition rates for all courses are below. You will receive a link to make a payment at the time you complete registration, or you can pay here.
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$170 full tuition
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$115 reduced tuition
We also offer the Khane-Faygl Turtletaub Memorial Scholarship to cover full tuition for one student in need every semester. To apply for the scholarship, please email yiddishchicago@gmail.com
No student is turned away for inability to pay, to arrange an alternative payment plan please write to us at yiddishchicago@gmail.com.
Course Materials
If you register for a class, you'll receive an email from your teacher a couple weeks before your first class to confirm what materials you will need. An English-Yiddish dictionary is always strongly recommended, but not required. A great option is the Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary edited by Gitl Schaechter-Vishwanath and Paul Glaser.