Many years ago I purchased my first set of Seforim. It was a "Shulchan Aruch HaRav" which I had mistaken for a "Shulchan Aruch." I was not anywhere near able to read it at that time but I hoped to work through it word by word. I didn't, but I should have. At the time it seemed impossible. I did realize that purchasing seforim was much more economical than purchasing "books" and I began to build my library not based on my ability but rather on my expectations of myself.
It was only later after signing up for online shiurim on Hilchos Shabbos did I implement my plan to sit down in front of the Shulchan Aruch and work through it word by word. In doing so I was able to reach the point where I could learn inside the text, especially when I was familiar with the topic. Today I can generally follow along in most seforim, but the Gemara has a great deal more Aramaic and my goal now is to discipline myself to better quire the language skill necessary to be successful.
I believe that others might benefit from this approach, so here are my suggestion.
1. Get a notebook. Each time you look up a word that you don't know write it down. It may allow you to quickly look up a word you know you've already run across, but more importantly it will help you remember. Don't worry if you find it easier to look a word up in the dictionary again than in your notebook, the process help you remember. When you look a word up again, write it down again. Keep track of the location you are studying in the margin of the notebook to give the words a little context. While it might not always be efficient to look up a word in your notebook, it does serve as a map of difficult words as you review the text it is based on.
2. Invest in dictionaries. My first dictionary was Jastrow's which I got from my wife on my 21st Birthday. I have a link to an online copy but I highly recommend purchasing one so they keep printing it. It's very useful and relatively inexpensive. My next recommendation is "the Practical Talmudic Dictionary" available from Feldheim. It is great because it will often locate not only the keyword you are looking for but an entire phrase. It is much more useful than it's predecessor, "the Impractical Talmudic Dictionary" (I'm sorry I couldn't resist). It is actually largely adapted from the "Aramaic Hebrew Dictionary" which has been expanded to the "Aramaic Hebrew English Dictionary" by Rabbi Ezra Zion Melamed. This is a great work as well, it is exhaustive like Jastrow and clear and crisp like the PTD. It can be a little difficult to locate words at times because of how it is alphabetized. While these works are geared towards the Talmud, I began learning Shulchan Aruch. While many dictionaries of Modern Hebrew didn't always reflect Hebrew used in classic seforim, Reuben Alcalay's "The Complete English Hebrew Dictionary" often had what I needed. I have also found cases where a Yiddish dictionary is handy since terms that are of recent origin or transliterated from other languages seem more likely to vary in modern Hebrew. Finally a book on Roshei Teivos (abbreviations) would be helpful but some of the works already listed and others I will mention have enough that I generally don't need one.
3. Nekudos. When possible try to get menukad versions, those with vowels printed. You will be able to converse much more intelligently if you learn to pronounce the words correctly rather than fake you way through it (like I did initially). In addition to the Artscroll's Gemara which give a vowelized original line by line with the translation, Tuvia's publishes a number of Gemara's which have the standard Vilna page with vowels for not only the Gemara but Rashi and Tosephos. There are versions of the Chayei Adam, Mishneh Berurah, and Kitzur Shulchan Aruch available with nekudos. I have a pocket sized set of Shulchan Aruch (which does not include commentaries) which is menukad but I do not know if it is still available.
4. Translations. It helps to have translations to narrow down the meaning when the usage is ambiguous or cannot be found. It also helps you get a feel for the flow of the language. Most importantly it keeps your understanding on the right track. Artscroll publishes the Talmud in English, Moznaim the Mishneh Torah, Feldheim the Mishnah Berurah. Kehot has a number of volumes worth of the Shulchan Aruch HaRav translated. Judaica Press has several volumes worth of the Chochmas Adam translated and there are several translations of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch.
5. Perseverance. No excuses. Forget 2-4. You can make real progress with just a notebook, your sefer, and a dictionary (and a pen).
Give it a try. If it works for you too, please let me know.
5 comments:
i maintain that the best way to learn aramaic is still reading through the chumash with targum. It makes you aware of how close the aramaic is to hebrew, and where it differs, also where letters are generally exchanged.
In this way you can build on your existing knowledge of hebrew.
On the other hand, the language of the Gemara is cryptic, even when you understand aramaic, because it has a style of its own. So in that sense, there's no short cut to acquiring gemara learning skills other than to jump in and learn it.
If the dictionary-approach doesn't work for you, (it doesn't for me--i never learned english via dictionary so it seems unnatural to use a dictionary (even) to learn a non-native language) you can try the targum approach. simply reading a foreign language side by side with its translation (ie. the hebrew text of the humash) (or even without its translation) trains you very quickly in the flow and syntax of the language--something invaluable in understanding a word in context, and something your brain is actually wired to do.
All through gradeschool and highschool they tried to teach us Gemara with the dictionary approach and it seemed like a joke, stopping at every other word to look up the wrong meaning in the context when you don't even understand the general subject matter drove me crazy.
this is just a rant to let people know that there are those out there who will suffer and give up before they will succeed with the dictionary approach --- it's important to know what works for you.
"i maintain that the best way to learn aramaic is still reading through the chumash with targum."
This would require one first become fluent in Biblical Hebrew, which is ideal, but....
As I said I can pick up most seforim and have an idea of what is being said, but this is probably least true of Chumash/Tanakh. The narrative style is considerably different than most other texts we are concerned with.
Ultimately though, I'm not sure the method you described is that much different. I suggest using a translation to guide you, the difference is that while you may get a great feel for the language with the translation I don't think that the meanings of the words are going to stick with you if your not looking them up and writing them down. This is, of course, based on my anecdotal experience.
June 1, 2008 8:35 PM
In the post, you mention the Shulchan Aruch menukad. Just recently I found both pocket and 8x10 versions in menukad. I acquired the pocket from Eichlers in Boro Park (not a rep just sharing my source) and the other I believe from ZBerman. Hope this helps anybody looking.
As for learning Gemara, I found that I did better with a dictionary but also a small grammar. I am still very much a beginner. The grammar gave me some signposts which made context a little better.
But the Targum is Palestinian Aramaic, while the Talmud is Babylonian Aramaic - somewhat disparate dialects.
When I was trying to learn to read Gemara on my own (not a skill they taught in my yeshiva HS), I found that a) the Soncino English, and later b) the Practical Talmudic Dictionary by Yitzhak Frank, helped me learn to deal with the language. Use the Soncino as a dictionary, rather than as a thing to read - you need to break your head over the text and the Rashis to really understand what's going on.
When you get a little better at it, switch to Frank. He covers the common words, and is much easier to use than Jastrow. The hard stuff, such as lists of nouns, or narrative, is usually translated by Rashi or Rabbenu Chananel (the little square letters in the lower margin of the standard page).
I spent a lot of mornings on the subway, with these books spread out on the seat. That half hour a day - well, keep it up every day, it's the only way to learn a language, working on it every day.
Thanks, Thanbo. I find your suggestion to use Soncino as a dictionary very intruiging. Kind of obvious I guess, but even when I've used translations for the definition because I just can't find the word in the dictionary I've always noted it differently in the notebook (the same as if its a word I think I remember etc).
I'm going to see about trying your suggestion.
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