Advanced Yiddish Course for Yiddish Instructors
The Yiddish Book Center’s online Advanced Yiddish Course is open to qualified Yiddish instructors who are currently teaching and looking to improve their active Yiddish language production in a supportive environment. Conducted entirely in Yiddish with a focus on writing and speaking, this course combines advanced language topics with cultural activities in an intensive format.
The course is divided into three “semesters” of three weeks each, with breaks in between each semester to complete written assignments. Classes are held for two hours once a week. Students can expect to spend two additional hours per week on asynchronous preparatory learning activities.
Participants will have the option to sign up for one or more semesters. To receive credit towards Yiddish Pedagogy Certification, you will need to complete three semesters in total.
2023–2024 Advanced Yiddish Course
Semester 1:
Wednesdays, November 8, 15, 22
12–2 p.m. Eastern Time
Semester 2:
Wednesdays, January 24, 31, February 7
12–2 p.m. Eastern Time
Semester 3:
Wednesdays, March 6, 13, 20
12–2 p.m. Eastern Time
Eligibility Requirements:
This course is open to Center alumni who are currently teaching Yiddish classes or will resume teaching in the coming year. * Space is limited and enrollment is first come, first served.
All candidates must have a minimum proficiency in Yiddish at the low-advanced level or higher. As spots in the course are limited, candidates must commit to attending all classes and completing all assignments.
*If you are new to the Center's pedagogy programs, we ask that you apply by sending us a video of a Yiddish class you’ve taught entirely or mostly in Yiddish. The recording should be about 20 minutes long and should show you teaching in a university, school, or community/group class (with multiple students, not one-on-one tutoring). If your video is longer than 20 minutes, please indicate the timestamps of the portion you’d like us to watch. Videos can be sent to [email protected].
If you are not currently teaching Yiddish but are interested in attending, please email us at [email protected].
Fee Information:
This course requires a fully-refundable deposit of $100 to enroll. Upon successful completion of the course, including all written assignments, participants will get a full refund of their deposit. Anyone who does not complete the course will not be refunded.
About the Instructor:
Tal Hever-Chybowski is a historian, editor, and translator who resides in Paris and Berlin. He has been the director of the Paris Yiddish Center—Medem Library (Maison de la culture yiddish—Bibliothèque Medem) since 2014, where he teaches Yiddish literature and Jewish history and culture. In 2016 he founded Mikan Ve’eylakh: Journal for Diasporic Hebrew (Berlin & Paris), of which he is editor-in-chief. He is founder and coordinator of the "Yiddish in Berlin: Summer Program for Yiddish Language and Literature" at the Free University in Berlin. Recently, he directed the apocalyptic tragicomedy Jacob Jacobson, written in Yiddish in 1930 by Aaron Zeitlin, which premiered at Paris’ Theater of the Oppressed (Théâtre de l'Opprimé) in October 2021. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in history at the Georg-August University in Göttingen.