Learning Hebrew Baille to Read Torah
The approach for this is a bit different than language learning in general, as we are not concerned with conversational Hebrew or writing Hebrew. This program is also not appropriate for children, as it is only adults who read from the Torah. Adults are defined as anyone over the age of 13. Therefore teaching this sequence will be geared for those over 10 years old and are literate in English.
The program will also assume that we are teaching those in the United States who know English. We will use English as a base language for teaching Hebrew.
1. The first step will be to confirm that the student knows English uncontracted braille. If they do not, the student will be referred to any number of organizations that specialize in this. Most can teach English braille remotely, so there is no need to find a local organization. Also most organizations do not charge for this service. This is a prerequisite for moving to the next step. If the student has no experience with braille, it is anticipated that this step could take from three months to one year to complete. The approach of the overall technique is to use English and English braille as a foundation for teaching Hebrew braille. Since most organizations that teach English braille also teach reading braille techniques, students will come to the Hebrew portion with these skills.
2. The second step will be to learn the Hebrew alphabet in braille. This includes vowels. We will provide a workbook to help in this step. We suggest that the blind or visually impaired student obtain a local helper to assist. It would be nice if they knew how to read written Hebrew and or knew Hebrew braille but it is not a requirement. The workbooks provided will have written English explanations of what the student has in braille so that the person can assist in learning the Hebrew alphabet. Two workbooks will be provided. One for the English visual reader and one in braille.
3. Hebrew Combinations - Workbooks will train the student in putting small groups of letters together so as to recognize how to read two, three and four letter combinations. The workbooks provided will have written English explanations of what the student has in braille so that the person can assist in learning the Hebrew alphabet. Two workbooks will be provided. One for the English visual reader and one in braille.
4. A workbook with the most common Hebrew words in the bible will be provided. Each word will be in written form in Hebrew, written English, a definition, and a braille dot numerical sequence in one workbook. A second workbook will have the words in English transliterated braille, in Hebrew braille, the dot sequence and the definition of the word in English braille. The student can go over and become fluent in these to act as a base for reading the Torah.
5. Torah Verse Sheets - we will provide pages in Hebrew braille with actual verses out of the Torah. The student will be given tools to hear the words and begin to identify and be able to speak the verses in preparation for doing it from the Hebrew braille scroll.
Currently we are not charging for the course workbooks. For more information or questions please see the contact page.