Duolingo adds Yiddish to the menu

The popular language learning app Duolingo offers a wide variety of languages ​​in its list of courses. Although it is known for teaching famous tongues such as French, Spanish and Chinese, it has also added courses in languages ​​that are less widely used, such as Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Hawaiian – and now, 6 By April, its 40th language: Yiddish

While Yiddish in America is known for some words that have entered the popular lexicon (“He’s such a schmuck!”), It is actually a full-scale language. An amalgamation of High German, Hebrew, and Aramaic with a smattering of Slavic languages ​​(and more recently, English) before World War II, it was widely spoken by Jewish communities living throughout Central and Eastern Europe.

These days, Yiddish as a day-to-day language is primarily spoken in Chassidic and Haradi (ultra-Orthodox) Jewish communities, although Yiddish has a keen interest in many of the descendants of European Yiddish speakers.

For example, while my family no longer speaks Yiddish daily, my parents grew up speaking the language and sent me to an after-school program for several years so that I too could learn it. Although I am nowhere near as fluent now as I once was, I can still manage “a Bislade Yiddish” (a little Yiddish), so I asked Duolingo if I could take my Yiddish course. I can try ahead of time to see that it has worked.

I’m not unfamiliar with Duolingo – I’m using the app to try to reinvent my high school Spanish – and I found that the Yiddish course follows the app’s familiar methodology. It starts by testing you on your existing knowledge of the language, assuming that you are not starting from scratch. (Mine turned out to be fair but not great.) It starts again, through repetitions and examples, taking you through the basics and then in conversation, using different topics (such as going to a restaurant) .

The version of the app I was working with still had some beta glits. For example, each time you click on a word, a voice must repeat louder, and some words were missing. I was also interested to learn that some words were pronounced quite differently than I was pronounced, but I wasn’t sure if this was an indication of another beta glitch or dialect.

And it is a catch in teaching any language. Because Yiddish was once spread over a wide range of countries, there was also a wide range of dialects. I remember my grandparents were very happy because the dialect I was learning in school was so different that they had grown up. According to Duolingo, its Yiddish course uses Chassidic Hungarian pronunciation as it is currently most commonly used, while the grammar is based on a standardized version by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (which is the grammar I have been taught).

I look forward to finding out where these differences show me as I move forward to more advanced levels. Meanwhile, to promote his new Yiddish curriculum, Duolingo has made arrangements with several Delis around the US – Katz’s Deli in NYC, Manny’s Deli in Chicago, Factor’s Famous Deli in Los Angeles, Baker’s in Miami Pigeon Bagels at Baker & Pittson – April 6 to give free bagels with a skimmer (cream cheese) to customers who try to order at Yiddish (with the help of some onsite signs).

For those of us who do not live close to one of those places, or who are still avoiding onsite shopping, we have to do it with noshing food from our own fridge while we learn a Yislish. Available on Duolingo Ios, Android, And The trap; The basic app is free, or you can get rid of ads and track your process for $ 7 per month.