Adventures in Yiddish: An Introductory Workshop for Beginners
Wed, Oct 08
|Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture
Join us in this interactive workshop for a taste of the joys of learning and speaking the Yiddish language
Time & Location
Oct 08, 2025, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture, 6184 Ash St, Vancouver, BC V5Z 3G9, Canada
Event Description
Yiddish has been the spoken language of Ashkenazi Jews in Eastern and Central Europe for a thousand years. It has served as the everyday expression of Jewish life -- secular, religious, and everything in between. Yiddish isn't just a language, it's a meeting point of different cultures, histories, and geographical locations. Fusing together Hebrew and Aramaic, German, and Slavic languages, the variation of dialects and regional pronunciations and the huge selection of idioms, expressions and catch-phrases make this language so expressive, rich, and beautiful.
In this interactive, 90-minute workshop we will learn a bit about the fascinating history of Yiddish and its formation, explore some of its distinct features, learn about some Yiddishisms that made it into English and their original meaning ("oy vey, that klutz definitely has some khutzpah to kvetsh like that!"), learn some basic expressions, and even sing in Yiddish.
Wednesday, October 8th, 2025 (7:00-8:30pm)
Kirman Yiddish Library at the Peretz Centre
6184 Ash Street, Vancouver
➤ How to Get Here / Building & Accessibility Information
Underground and street parking are available free of charge.
Spaces are limited and advance registration is required (no cost).
About the Speaker
Itamar Manoff (he/him) is co-executive director of the Peretz Centre. Itamar holds a PhD from the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia, where he conducted research focused on language education. Itamar has over 15 years of experience in language teaching for adults, including Hebrew, English and Yiddish, and is currently a Yiddish Pedagogy Practicum Fellow at the Yiddish Book Centre in Amherst, MA. In his teaching, Itamar focuses on conversational, communicative and theme-based approaches to the teaching of Yiddish language and culture, all the while emphasizing the importance of grammar and vocabulary acquisition.
Curious about learning Yiddish? Beginners Yiddish classes are starting at the Peretz Centre on Thursday, November 6th! Register here or learn more about our Yiddish programs here.