Back in 1994, I first began to learn Hebrew. Most books were just too difficult; for example, I ordered the "Foreign Service Institute" course. It taught the entire alphabet on one page, then jumped into complex lessons with no vowels.
Finally, I found an exercise book that was dedicated to just teaching a person to read the Hebrew letters. This book would teach one letter, and a few vowels in the first chapter. The second chapter would follow-up with the same letter, and add another letter and another vowel or two. In Hebrew, the vowels are written below or above the Hebrew letters, and they are called Nikud.
In this style, I was able to work through the book, and finally learned to read Hebrew. However, the downside of a book is that it had now way to pronounce the word audibly for me. I was left to my own guess of what the pronunciation should be.
Even the books were lacking. What I needed was a person (or computer) sitting there with me, validating whether I was pronouncing the Hebrew words correctly or not. Oh vey - if only I would have had a personal tutor. But as a software programmer, I knew that I could get the computer to take the place of the tutor that I didn't have.
It was a challenge finding the Hebrew true-type fonts back then, but there were several multimedia software programs emerging on the market, and I chose one called "Toolbook". It creates online "books" with a turn-the-page model. The teacher (or programmer) creates the pages or lessons, and the program presents the pages to the student. Of course, the student can skip around, and doesnt' have to go through the lessons in any specific order.
Part of creating the program was to choose the hundreds of exercises. Another challenging part was finding a good quality microphone, and creating and editing over 2700 voice files. My fingers were almost raw from looking up so many words in a Hebrew dictionary.
To make the product look professional, I had to hire an artist to create the CD/ROM jacket. She did a beautiful job, and we had to print something like 5000 minimum covers, even though I only create 100 CD/ROMS or less at a time. The program became a success, and since 1994, our company has sold hundreds of the tutorial.
Creating my first published software tutorial "At Home with Hebrew" was a challenge and a labor of love. It was not an immediate financial success, but I learned a lot, and it introduced me to the world of internet marketing. After the first program, I went on to create two additional Hebrew tutorials and created a successful website marketing dozens of other peoples products. - 16459
Finally, I found an exercise book that was dedicated to just teaching a person to read the Hebrew letters. This book would teach one letter, and a few vowels in the first chapter. The second chapter would follow-up with the same letter, and add another letter and another vowel or two. In Hebrew, the vowels are written below or above the Hebrew letters, and they are called Nikud.
In this style, I was able to work through the book, and finally learned to read Hebrew. However, the downside of a book is that it had now way to pronounce the word audibly for me. I was left to my own guess of what the pronunciation should be.
Even the books were lacking. What I needed was a person (or computer) sitting there with me, validating whether I was pronouncing the Hebrew words correctly or not. Oh vey - if only I would have had a personal tutor. But as a software programmer, I knew that I could get the computer to take the place of the tutor that I didn't have.
It was a challenge finding the Hebrew true-type fonts back then, but there were several multimedia software programs emerging on the market, and I chose one called "Toolbook". It creates online "books" with a turn-the-page model. The teacher (or programmer) creates the pages or lessons, and the program presents the pages to the student. Of course, the student can skip around, and doesnt' have to go through the lessons in any specific order.
Part of creating the program was to choose the hundreds of exercises. Another challenging part was finding a good quality microphone, and creating and editing over 2700 voice files. My fingers were almost raw from looking up so many words in a Hebrew dictionary.
To make the product look professional, I had to hire an artist to create the CD/ROM jacket. She did a beautiful job, and we had to print something like 5000 minimum covers, even though I only create 100 CD/ROMS or less at a time. The program became a success, and since 1994, our company has sold hundreds of the tutorial.
Creating my first published software tutorial "At Home with Hebrew" was a challenge and a labor of love. It was not an immediate financial success, but I learned a lot, and it introduced me to the world of internet marketing. After the first program, I went on to create two additional Hebrew tutorials and created a successful website marketing dozens of other peoples products. - 16459
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