Colloquial Hebrew

The “Colloquial’ series by Routledge are generally useful, handy introductions to a language.  In Colloquial Hebrew Routledge sticks to its mission, providing conversational Hebrew from a beginning to a more advanced level.

It is also honest about how the language is spoken in casual conversation, versus the more formal spoken and written language of proper social occasions.  The book is complete and generally not corny (there are a few spots where it slips into the ridiculous).

In my hands this book has tones of irony.  A while back I reviewed Colloquial Yiddish.   At the beginning of the twentieth century, Colloquial Hebrew would not have been as useful and Colloquial Yiddish.  Now, a century later, a Holocaust later, a State of Israel later, and the tables are turned.