Hebrew Language Courses at PSU
Learning the Hebrew language will open you to the complexities of a culture that is as passionate about art, media, and technology as it is about history and archaeology. Modern Hebrew is a language that is written in the same alphabet as the Hebrew Bible, and uses mostly the same words and grammatical structures, but oftentimes with different meanings. How does Modern Hebrew maintain continuity with an ancient language and yet stay viable in the realities of the 21st century? By using grammar creatively and coining new vocabulary to express modern concepts. The result is a language that is poetic, multi-layered, dynamic, and expressive.
Learning a new language is so valuable because any language and every language is full of metaphors. Metaphors enrich your view of life and help you understand the thinking patterns of people from other cultures. - Laureen Nussbaum, PSU Professor Emerita, World Languages and Literatures
The renaissance of the Hebrew language is one of the greatest cultural rebirths in recent history. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a largely unspoken liturgical and sacred tongue was revived as a vernacular language of modern life. Today, Hebrew is the language of the State of Israel: its newspapers and poems, pop music and politics, elite culture and street life.
Studying Modern Hebrew not only gives you access to the riches of traditional Jewish religious texts from the Bible onward, but also to the fascinating literary and intellectual products of modern Jewish and Israeli culture. From the Bible to the internet, from Tsarist Russia to twenty-first century Tel Aviv, the Hebrew language is a key to knowledge, beauty, and inspiration.