knitgrl Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 I'm trying to get dd13 to pick a foreign language. We have done a little Latin, but she got tired of Latin for Children, though we got through Primer B. She did pretty well with it. She's not into Latin or Spanish. Possibly German(?), but for months now, whenever the subject has been broached, she says Yiddish. because she thinks it would be fun and very unlike English. We are not Jewish, nor do we live close to anyplace that might have any kind of Jewish population. The closest city where there are synagogues is an hour away. I am at a little bit of a loss here. Any comments/suggestions are welcome. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreyaO Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 What is the objective? Simple exposure, fulfill school requirements, truly learn a language? Is she good with languages, does she stick with things? Truly learning a language is hard. Learning a language without support and exposure opportunities is harder. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 My son attended a summer program at the Yiddish Book Center last year -- they have some resources for learning Yiddish. 6 minutes ago, knitgrl said: Possibly German(?), but for months now, whenever the subject has been broached, she says Yiddish. because she thinks it would be fun and very unlike English. Yiddish is closely related to German, albeit written in Hebrew letters. So it's more unlike English than German is, but there are a lot of foreign languages that are much more dissimilar to English. I agree with Freya that learning a language without exposure opportunities is hard. Most of the people I know who speak Yiddish either have Yiddish-speaking family or are intensely interested in prewar Eastern European/American Jewish culture. The Yiddish Book Center that I linked also has lots of examples of Yiddish poetry, literature, etc; your DD may want to poke around and see if that subject matter interests her at all. 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knitgrl Posted July 24, 2023 Author Share Posted July 24, 2023 17 minutes ago, FreyaO said: What is the objective? Simple exposure, fulfill school requirements, truly learn a language? Is she good with languages, does she stick with things? Truly learning a language is hard. Learning a language without support and exposure opportunities is harder. She is a good student in many subjects. Right now it's hard for me to envision where she might end up because she has so many interests. I think the only thing that can be entirely ruled out is fine arts. She is generally compliant and ready to do whatever is required of her except pick a foreign language! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knitgrl Posted July 24, 2023 Author Share Posted July 24, 2023 @JennyD, thanks for the link! That looks both interesting and useful. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 You could just decide to be a "mean mom," like I was. One wanted to learn Korean, one wanted French, and one didn't want to learn another language at all. Too bad! I told my dc I could teach them Spanish, and that was what they were going to learn; living in the US, it was likely going to be very helpful to them at some point. They grumbled, but all three eventually thanked me, as they discovered knowing Spanish really was useful. The two who wanted to learn other languages have enjoyed learning the basics of several languages via Duolingo. There's nothing stopping them from going on to more. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 I was also going to mention the Yiddish Book Center program. And as a taster, Duolingo has it. One of my daughter's friends is minoring in it at Brandeis. Its SOUND is extremely close to German. There is of course the different alphabet, and evidently the grammar comes together somewhat differently. But in the day, Yiddish speakers and German speakers could definitely communicate. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knitgrl Posted July 24, 2023 Author Share Posted July 24, 2023 Yep. I might have to pull the mean mom card. I am not at all fluent in Spanish, but took 6 years of it between high school and college. I'm pretty sure I can get her through a preliminary course and send her to a tutor for the second year. And maybe we'll visit the Yiddish museum in the future since we have family out that way. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saw Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 She might be interested in the info here: https://yiddishsummer.eu/ They also have TikTok/Insta info in German, Yiddish and English. One of mine is working at the festival (running social media so I know the social media side will be okay to visit even if you don't like sm) so if your DD is interested in more info please lmk and I can ask my DD. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreyaO Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 You can choose to watch a lot of Netflix content dubbed or subtitled in several languages, but no Yiddish unfortunately. Maybe you could check other services? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 So Yiddish is almost but not quite German written in Hebrew characters. I speak German and was learning Hebrew, so I was watching a Hebrew language Tv show (Shtisel) about a Haredi family when all of a sudden I could understand everything. Then I realized they had switched over to Yiddish. That said, I think Yiddish is as much like English as German except with a different alphabet. If she wants something not like English there are much better choices. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted July 25, 2023 Share Posted July 25, 2023 In the show Rough Diamonds (Netflix) the characters speak in Yiddish, English, Flemish, and French, with a little (Ashkenazi-pronounced) liturgical Hebrew sprinkled in. It's one of the most interesting aspects of the show. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knitgrl Posted July 25, 2023 Author Share Posted July 25, 2023 3 hours ago, EmilyGF said: So Yiddish is almost but not quite German written in Hebrew characters. I speak German and was learning Hebrew, so I was watching a Hebrew language Tv show (Shtisel) about a Haredi family when all of a sudden I could understand everything. Then I realized they had switched over to Yiddish. That said, I think Yiddish is as much like English as German except with a different alphabet. If she wants something not like English there are much better choices. Maybe it's the different alphabet that she finds appealing/interesting? Given who we are, me with a very WASPy background and my cradle Catholic dh, and where we live, which is rural and not particularly diverse, her interest has come out of left field. The few Yiddish words that have filtered through popular culture I think are wonderful. I have found, "Oi vey," to be a very useful expression. Schlep is a great verb I use with some frequency for all the things I don't want to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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