Students in level Alef-Bet are complete beginners and they have
yet to master the Alef-Bet letters. Their primary need therefore,
is to be acquainted with the letters in which will, in turn,
facilitate the acquisition of the spoken language. There is a
special accompanying workbook for this stage, (the acquisition of
reading skills), and up to 2 days out of the ten are dedicated to
this. This program is a vital component in laying down the
foundation on which all further language will be laid and is in
such of all importance. At this stage basic sentence
structure and parts of speech are encountered and the most basic of
vocabulary is introduced. The three main materials that we
use are Sefer Alef-Bet, Sefer Alef, and Sihon (students who show
high learning skills might also start Sefer Hapoal which is the
grammar book). All the materials are recorded and a full CD set is
provided for each student. Students are strongly encouraged
to listen and to re-listen to all the explanations and materials
covered in the lesson time with the teacher. These audio
materials also give the student the opportunity to hear the correct
pronunciation of the vocabulary, in addition to them being able to
hear the pace of speech. "Sefer Alef" is the main text book in this
course and introduces the basic vocabulary and sentence structure
used in the Hebrew language. It is a fundamental part in the course
and majority of its content is covered during the directed learning
sessions. The Sihon book (conversation manual) allows the
student to acquire general conversational skills using dialogues
that are taken from every day, real life situations. A
precise methodology is used here in order to enable the student to
make the change from his mother tongue to Hebrew. Sefer Hapoal
(verb Book) introduces and familiarizes the student with the Hebrew
verb system. It demonstrates systematically how different groups of
verbs are generated using the Hebrew roots of the words and the
basic structure of each verb "family". During lessons dedicated to
grammar, the level Alef-Bet student becomes familiar with the most
basic rules that are necessary to help him to speak. Grammar is
arguably the most complex component when learning a new language
and it is easy for him to become confused and frustrated. In order
to prevent this from occurring and to avoid 'overload' only once
the teacher feels the student has grasped and feels comfortable
with a certain notion, does he move the student forward to other
material. All efforts are made for the student to draw maximum
benefit from all that he or she covers and thus a constant balance
is preserved during classes.