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114
JEWISH BOOK ANNUAL
In Palestine there were th ree teachers who had each devel
oped methods for teaching according to the Natural Approach
without being aware o f the efforts o f his colleagues: Yehudah
Grazovsky (Gur), David Yellin and Yitzhak Epstein.6 Both Yellin
and Epstein p repa red texts based on the Natural Approach.
Yellin’s
Le-Fi ha-Taf,
(1900-1901) and Epstein’s
Ivrit be-Ivrit,
(1901) were widely used in Palestine as well as in the “Reformed
H adarim ” in Europe , which adop ted the Natural Approach.
This approach also became known as Ivrit be-Ivrit.
With the Influx o f Hebrew teachers from Europe there a r
rived in the United States teachers from the “Reformed Ha
dar im ” who b rough t with them the Ivrit be-Ivrit approach. Z.H.
Neumann, who established a Hebrew school in Brooklyn in
1893, is considered a p ioneer o f the Natural Approach in the
United States. It appears, however, that already in 1851 there
was a Hebrew teacher by the name o f Simon Noot, who taugh t
spoken Hebrew according to his own Natural Method in Con
gregation Bnai Israel in New York.7. It is not clear, however,
whether he adop ted his approach from the literature dealing
with foreign language instruction o r that he arrived at it in
tuitively. The same may be said regard ing similar efforts made
in the middle o f the 19th century by Joseph Halevi, who began
to teach Hebrew as a living language in 1850, and by his disciple
Baruch M itrani.8
Beginning with the end o f the 19th century various textbooks
were published on the basis o f the Natural Approach both in
Palestine and the Diaspora. Many variants o f the Approach were
developed. The first Ulpan Approach, followed du r ing the
years 1949-1961, was such a variant, bu t it was less successful
than the earlier approaches o f Yellin and Epstein. To this day
Hebrew is being taugh t in many schools according to one o f
the many variants o f the Natural Approach .9
READING APPROACH
With the advent o f the 20th century two contrasting trends
were seen regard ing the aims o f Hebrew language instruction
6. See
My Three First Teachers
(in Hebrew, Jerusalem: 1984).
7. Note 2, pp. 418-424.
8. See my
Three Who Preceded Ben-Yehuda
(in Hebrew, Jerusalem: 1972).
9. See my
The Ulpan Method
(in Hebrew, Jerusalem: 1972), pp. 63-80; 108-124.