Learn Yiddish at the Peretz Centre
"It is true that they are saying that we are a dead language already 500 years ago, but as far as I'm concerned, Yiddish is going to be a dying language for the next 2000 years."
-- Yitzhak Bashvis Zinger (1904-1991)
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. When we learn Yiddish vocabulary, we encounter Hebrew and Aramaic, German, and Slavic languages that shaped the unique experience of Jewish life in Eastern Europe.
Yiddishland isn't just the physical places where Yiddish-speaking Jews lived, it is also "a republic of letters." When we learn Yiddish, we tap into a treasure trove of stories, poetry, philosophy, history, politics, and the records of everyday life. We will draw on these texts to deepen our connection to our history and culture.
By engaging with Yiddish language and culture, we locate ourselves at the threshold of Jewish modernity, encountering thinkers, rebels, revolutionaries, sages, and storytellers of our past and present.
Vocabulary & Grammar
We will focus on developing the building blocks of Yiddish vocabulary and grammar: sentence structure, forming questions, using descriptive language, pronunciation, and tenses.
Reading & Writing
We will read short poems, children's stories, biographies, Wikipedia articles, historical newspapers, contemporary online magazines and more to explore the written world of Yiddish.
Conversation
The best way to learn a langauge is to speak it! We will practice talking about different themes and topics ranging from cooking, daily routines, all the way to classic fables and newspapers.
Yiddish Language Classes in Vancouver
Beginners' Yiddish Classes
Start your Yiddish language learning journey at the Peretz Centre with Beginners' Yiddish!
In this introductory class, we will dive into the language and culture of Eastern European Jews, and explore the fascinating world of Yiddishkayt. Using a communicative and task-based approach, we will practice basic conversational skills, learn important verbs and adjectives to describe our daily life, and learn to read and write in Yiddish! During our classes we will also learn Yiddish folks songs and get exposed to Yiddish film, art and, culture.
Yiddish for Continuing Students
Deepen your understanding of Yiddish with interactive, text-based classes
This course is based on a conversational, interactive and communicative approach to Yiddish. In it, we will focus on deepening our conversational and expressive skills in Yiddish, all the while deepening our grammatical to allow us to engage in authentic conversation in Yiddish. In addition, we will learn Yiddish songs, read short stories and poems, watch Yiddish films, clips, interviews and more!
More Yiddish Language Programs at the Peretz Centre
Register for Yiddish Courses
Deepen your understanding of the Yiddish language with intermediate classes
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Open up the world of Yiddish language, culture, and history this fall!
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Curriculum Creator
Itamar Manoff is co-executive director of the Peretz Centre. A PhD in Educational Studies, Itamar is a community educator, language teacher and learner, and Jewish history enthusiast.
He is a graduate of the Wallis Annenberg Helix-Yiddishkayt Fellowship (2018–2019), and the Yiddish Book Center's Yiddish Pedagogy Fellowship (2025–2026). Itamar is also the co-founder of This is Not an Ulpan, a grassroots, cooperative language school dedicated to the principles of critical pedagogy and emancipatory education in Palestine and Israel.