Biblical Hebrew is the language of most of the Old Testament. Parts of Daniel and Ezra are Aramaic, a related but different language. This course teaches the square Hebrew script used in printed Bibles and the Masoretic vowel signs. Ancient inscriptions also use earlier letter shapes; those are a later area of study.

Read Hebrew from right to left. A Hebrew word has consonants, often vowel points above or below them, and sometimes accents. English explanations still read left to right. Do not try to pronounce every mark at once: first recognize letters, then vowels, then word groups.

Use a short daily rhythm: learn one idea, retrieve it without looking, apply it to a phrase, and revisit it tomorrow. The course uses a conventional classroom pronunciation as a reading aid. Modern, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and reconstructed pronunciations differ; none is a recording of an ancient speaker. Advanced reading develops through sustained practice beyond any single course.