summer 2025 Yiddish Classes
Chicago YIVO Society is pleased to offer three levels of Yiddish language classes. Courses run between 7 and 12 weeks. Tuition varies between $125 and $210 depending on length of the term (or a reduced rate between $85 and $140.) Class descriptions are below, and you can register here.
Zoom classes require stable internet access and facility with online technology. All classes require textbooks as noted.
Beginner Beginner
Tuesdays
6:15pm - 7:45pm
IN PERSON at the Harold Washington Chicago Public Library 400 S State St.
7 sessions
April 22, 29
May 6, 13, 20, 27
June 3
This is a fun, serious, and dynamic group course using the newly published In Eynem textbook, which encourages conversation, self-expression, and contemporary usage. We will start with a review of chapter 3, with an expectation that students have good control of reading, writing, present tense verb conjugations, and foundational vocabulary.
Anye Koyfmentsh has been learning Yiddish for 25 years, and teaching for 6. She trained as a Yiddish teacher through the Yiddish Book Center, and as a Talmud teacher through Svara. As an enthusiastic member of a vibrant Yiddish speaking community, she is eager to include more people so they can make their own friendships, art, and relationships with Yiddish. She translated the Yiddish novel Your Comrade, Avreml Broide, which was released in November, 2024.
Advanced Beginner
Thursdays
6:30pm - 8:00pm CST
Virtual on Zoom
12 sessions
May 8, 15, 22, 29
June 5, 12, 19, 26
July 3, 10, 17, 24
This is a fun, serious, and dynamic group course using the newly published In Eynem textbook, which encourages conversation, self-expression, and contemporary usage. We will start in chapter 9, with an expectation that students have good control of reading, writing, present tense verb/converb conjugations, basic word order, negation, and adjectives in the nominative case. We will also continue reading Moshe Nadir's Marionetshpil.
Chana Toth-Sewell is a PhD student in Slavic Languages and Literatures. She has taught Yiddish at the University of Chicago and participated in the Yiddish Book Center's Pedagogy Fellowship and the Yiddish in Berlin Lerer Seminar. She has also studied Yiddish at the Yiddish Book Center's Steiner Summer Yiddish Program and the YIVO Intensive Summer Program.
Intermediate
Wednesdays
6:30pm - 8:00pm CST
Virtual on Zoom
8 sessions
May 21, 28,
June 11, 18, 25
July 2, 9, 16
This is a continuation of the previous term of Intermediate Yiddish, but will accept new students. We will pick up with Chapter 17 in Yiddish: An Introduction to the Language, Literature and Culture, Volume II. We will also be reading from Motl Peyse dem Khazns, by Sholem Aleykhem
Benna grew up speaking Yiddish at home with her mother. She has studied Yiddish at the YIVO Intensive Yiddish Summer Program and, most recently, at the Maison de la Culture Yiddish in Paris. She has attended the annual Yugntruf Yidish Vokh every year since she was two, and has been teaching for YIVO Chicago for 6 years.
Tuition
Tuition rates for all courses are below. You will receive a link to make a payment at the time you complete registration, or you can pay here.
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7 week term (Beginner)
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$125 full tuition
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$85 reduced tuition
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12 week term (Advanced Beginner)
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$210 full tuition
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$140 reduced tuition
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8 week term (Intermediate)
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$135 full tuition
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$95 reduced tuition
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We also offer the Khane-Faygl Turtletaub Memorial Scholarship to cover full tuition for one student in need every semester. To apply for the scholarship, please email yiddishchicago@gmail.com
No student is turned away for inability to pay, to arrange an alternative payment plan please write to us at yiddishchicago@gmail.com.
Course Materials
Course materials are referenced in class descriptions. An English-Yiddish/Yiddish-English dictionary is always strongly recommended, but not required. A great option is the Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary edited by Gitl Schaechter-Vishwanath and Paul Glaser
together with the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary edited by Solon Beinfeld and Harry Bochner.
Please be in touch with the instructors for guidance about prerequisites and how to prepare to join a class.