Help הילף

The graphic-rich interface is intended to help users navigate the site without a previous knowledge of Yiddish, since we believe that your learning will be accelerated by being in an immersive Yiddish experience. Additionally, YiddishPOP is designed for an international audience—using this approach, speakers of any language can learn Yiddish without relying on translations or subtitles.

YiddishPOP lessons encompass three interconnected sections: a movie featuring an animated story that uses new vocabulary and new grammar; the Vokabular which explains the vocabulary of each movie; and the Gramatik which highlights the new grammar used in the movie. Each section can be repeated as many times as necessary. Users can click on the following features which accompany each lesson:

Nokh Protim – explains the grammar points in the lesson.

Verter, Verter, verter – illustrates and drills the new vocabulary.

Leyen – teaches the alphabet and reading skills. As the lessons increase in difficulty, Leyen progresses to offer short reading comprehension exercises.

Shrayb – offers instruction and practice writing the letters and words introduced in Leyen, leading to guided writing exercises.

Her un zog nokh – allows the student to practice pronouncing words and phrases from the movie.

Shpil! – is a game that reinforces what has been taught in the lesson.

Genitungen – is where a student can review what was learned before taking the quiz.

Du kenst oykh – is a quiz that helps assess the student’s mastery of the lesson material.

Farn Lerer — This part of the program is aimed at educators and parents. It provides a conceptual overview of the lesson, a section delving into the cultural richnesses touched upon by the lesson itself, and separate guiding materials for teachers with suggested activities and exercises for use in a classroom. All these materials appear in both Yiddish and English.

YiddishPOP is a Yiddish language program for children and adults that teaches Yiddish in a lively way through short, animated movies and interactive activities online. It assumes no prior knowledge, and each lesson builds on the material taught previously. Our team is continuing to work at creating new lessons for the website.

To send us feedback, or to ask a question, please contact us. You can sign up on the contact page to be notified when new lessons are added.

The centerpiece of each lesson is an animated movie in three parts:

• A story that presents new vocabulary and grammar in a lively, entertaining context.
• וואָקאַבולאַר: An animated presentation of the new vocabulary.
• גראַמאַטיק: Systematic examples, accompanied by animation, that demonstrate the new grammar.

Each section can be repeated as many times as necessary.
In addition, the following features provide support for teachers, and interactive activities that help students learn and review the new material in the lesson:

פֿאַרן לערער

• Lesson ideas in both Yiddish and English.
• Images related to the movies that you can download and print.
• Starting in unit 3, צוגאָבן, or worksheets that support both oral activities and reading and writing.
• קולטור: information, in Yiddish and English, on a topic in Yiddish/Jewish culture related to the lesson.

נאָך פּרטים

• More information about the grammar points in a particular lesson, in Yiddish and English.

הער און זאָג נאָך

• Students practice pronunciation by repeating phrases from the movie.

שפּיל

• Interactive game that reinforces the new vocabulary and grammar.
• Game formats include matching, board games and fridge magnets.

געניטונגען

• Interactive activity that reinforces the new vocabulary and grammar and prepares students for the quiz (דו קענסט אויך).
• Includes aural and reading comprehension, with more emphasis on reading in later lessons as students’ reading skills improve.

דו קענסט אויך

• Interactive quiz, covering the new vocabulary and grammar. Students choose one of four pictures that corresponds to a sentence they hear. Later, as reading skills improve, quizzes also include fill-in-the-blank sentences, with four answers to choose between.
• This feature is particularly suited for use in class: teacher or students can make up sentences to describe the pictures that are not the “right” answer.

לייען and שרײַב

• Practice reading skills, starting with the alef-beys, and progressing to short texts.
• Practice writing skills, starting with the alef-beys, and progressing to sentences, then paragraphs.
• Look in the לייענען און שרײַבן tab of פֿאַרן לערער for ideas about how to use these materials in class.

Mac Users We recommend you use the most updated version of Safari, which comes standard with Mac OS X. Access "Software Update" from your Apple menu to ensure you’re using the most recent version.

If you have Mac OS 9, be sure you’re using your computer’s most recent version of Internet Explorer. Microsoft no longer offers downloadable updates. Mac users may also run BrainPOP ESL with the Firefox browser, available here.

PC Users We recommend you use the most updated version of Internet Explorer, which comes standard with Windows. Access "Windows Update" from the Tools menu to ensure you’re using the most recent version.

While most of YiddishPOP’s content will load correctly with Firefox for Windows, you may experience some unpredictable glitches with our Flash animation. We work to fix these issues as they come to our attention, but we do not recommend Firefox for Windows users.

A Note on Browsers If you use one of the many other browsers available - Opera, Camino, or Chrome, for instance - and encounter specific problems using YiddishPOP, please let us know so that we can attempt to fix the issues. Regardless of your browser, you will need to download the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player.

If you're experiencing difficulty viewing YiddishPOP, there are two things that may help:
If the movies are not loading at all, you will want to clear your browser's cache, then close your browser, reopen it, and try to view the movie again.
If the movies are loading but not playing correctly, make sure you have the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player. If your Flash player is up to date, check and see what browser you are using. If you are using Mozilla Firefox, we recommend that you use the default browser for your operating system instead (Internet Explorer for Windows, and Safari for Apple).

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7

1. Go to Tools on the menu bar
2. Choose Delete Browsing History
3. Under Temporary Internet Files, click Delete Files
4. Press Yes and when process is complete, Close
5. Close the browser, reopen it, and return to www.brainpopesl.com

Mozilla Firefox

1. Go to Tools on the menu bar
2. Choose Clear Private Data
3. Uncheck all of the options except for Cache
4. Press Clear Private Data Now
5. Close the browser, reopen it, and return to www.brainpopesl.com

Safari

1. Go to the Safari menu in the upper-left corner
2. Choose Empty Cache
3. Click Empty
4. Close the browser, reopen it, and return to www.brainpopesl.com

Google Chrome

1. Click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar
2. Select Tools
3. Select Clear browsing data
4. In the dialog that appears, check the box next to cache
5. Choose Everything from the pull-down menu
6. Press OK
7. Close the browser, reopen it, and return to www.brainpopesl.com

If you continue to experience problems after updating the plug-in and emptying your cache, we recommend that you re-install Flash, making sure to follow these simple steps before doing so. Go to Adobe Flash Support and download the appropriate uninstaller for your operating system. When this is finished downloading, run the uninstaller and let it complete the process. Visit the Adobe Flash Player page and download the most recent version.

If you are using a Macintosh (OS 9 or below) and are still having problems, we suggest allocating more RAM to your browser. To do this:
Quit the browser
Select the application's icon in the Finder.
Select GET INFO from the File Menu

In the Memory section of the window that appears, increase the Preferred Size to at least 25,000 KB. Go even higher if your computers have enough RAM. (You can see how much free RAM is available by selecting About This Computer from the Apple Menu while the Finder is in use.)
Re-launch the web browser application.

Occasionally, QuickTime may try to incorrectly associate itself with Flash files. When this happens, you can try the following.

1. Close your web browser completely (File > Exit)
2. Open the QuickTime application
3. From the menus, select: Edit > Preferences > QuickTime Preferences
4. Select Browser Plug-in from the drop-down list
5. Click on the button marked MIME Settings
6. Expand the Miscellaneous file format section by clicking on the plus sign in the upper left corner
7. Uncheck the Flash file checkbox
8. Click Apply and then OK
9. Close QuickTime
10. Open your web browser and see if the fix worked. YiddishPOP's homepage contains multiple Flash files and is a good place to check.

If you're still having trouble, contact us.

The speed at which our movies play depends largely on the speed of the computer on which they’re being viewed.
For most people, the difference in speed is barely noticeable, but older computers do run more slowly.

1. Is the volume turned up on your computer? Check your control panels.
2. If there are speakers connected to your computer, are they powered on? Is their volume turned up?
3. Has someone left a pair of headphones plugged into the computer? If so, unplug them.
4. Are you using Mozilla Firefox? At the moment, there is a current incompatibility between Firefox and Flash which often occurs as a lack of sound. Try using Internet Explorer.
5. Can you hear when running other applications? If you can't, and you've tried the above steps, then the problem may have something to do with your computer’s sound card or operating system.

We’re always working to keep our movies as up-to-date as possible, but every now and then, mistakes crop up. If you notice an error anywhere on the site, please contact us and let us know.