The Yiddish Book Center's

Wexler Oral History Project

A growing collection of in-depth interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, whose stories about the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture offer a rich and complex chronicle of Jewish identity.

"Like Studies in the Kheyder (Heder)”: Reading and Translating In My Beginning Yiddish Class

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Joanna Nalewajko-Kulikov, Chair of the Polish Association for Yiddish Studies, recounts her earliest experiences in Yiddish class in Poland.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Joanna Nalewajko-Kulikov.

This excerpt is in English.

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This interview is part of the Yiddish in the Academy: scholars, language instructors, and students series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

"Go to a Seder and See What It's Like": Creating Connections Between Jewish Studies and Jewish Life

2 min 21 sec

“If You Want to Really Appreciate Him, Teach Yourself Yiddish”: Itzik Manger & How I Started with Yiddish

2 min 48 sec

Researching the Haynt Daily Yiddish Newspaper

3 min 37 sec

"Everybody Hated It": The Drama of the Yiddish Press

1 min 51 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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