EEES 181BYiddish I

Catalog

This is an introductory language class. We start from scratch and no prior knowledge or familiarity of any sort is assumed. Students learn simple conversational Yiddish and how to read and write, beginning with the alphabet. This foundation course is also meant as an entry-way into aspects of Yiddish-speaking cultures, past and present, and uses language themed instruction as a means to that end. Among the wide variety of topics that we consider: the phenomenon of Yiddish calques (aka Yinglish or Yiddish inflected speech in English); folk idioms, including street-wise Yiddish with its famous cursing talent, and Yiddish song (a rich musical repertoire born in Jewish Eastern Europe, and now has a home in the contemporary klezmer scene). Through all these mechanisms, students walk away from 101 with a foundational knowledge of Yiddish as a once vital, and still enduring linguistic and cultural phenomenon.