Hebrew is the language of both ancient and modern Israel. It uses its' own alphabet (alef-bet) and is both written, and read, from right-to-left.

There are several forms of Hebrew script which can confuse learners. Printed Hebrew can look absolutely nothing like handwritten Hebrew, and special religious artefacts such as Torah scrolls are written in yet another form, called Ketav Ashurit meaning "Exalted Script." This refers to a special calligraphy that has been transmitted from generation to generation, and is sometimes called STA"M script.

But perhaps you have already learned some Hebrew at school? Did you ever learn the song Shalom Haverim? This is actually a beautiful and sad song in Hebrew about leaving to go away somewhere and saying goodbye.

The first word you should learn in Hebrew is Shalom. This one word means many things - Hello, Goodbye, Peace, Welcome, How Are You? It can also be used as a name, for example the famous folk-art painter Shalom of Safed.

Here are three versions of the word Shalom -

The four letters in the word Shalom are shin, lamed, vav and the "final" mem. Here is the whole alef-bet -

Some of the letters change form when they come at the end of a word (sofit).

To say "Hello, how are you?" in Hebrew, you literally say, "what's your peace?" You address men and women differently, like so -

mah shlom-ech for a lady

mah shlom-cha for a man

To reply "fine, thanks" you say "tov, toda" -

Some other Hebrew expressions you might hear are