Hebrew from zero with the interlinear

Open Genesis 1:1. The first word, בְּרֵאשִׁית (bereshit), appears split into two cards: בְּ ("in") and רֵאשִׁית ("beginning"). That is Hebrew: words built like blocks — prepositions, articles and conjunctions attached to the front of the root.

Tap each card: you'll see the transliteration (how it sounds), the gloss (what it means) and the grammar in plain language. Don't memorize anything yet. Just get used to looking.

Walk through Genesis 1 verse by verse and notice how many begin with וַ (va, "and then"). It is the narrative vav: the engine chaining all Hebrew narrative — "and He said... and it was... and He saw..."

When you see it marked in the interlinear as "narrative vav — chains the story," you are looking at the seam of the original text, the one almost no translation fully keeps.

In Genesis 2:4 the Name appears for the first time: יהוה. In the interlinear you see it word by word, next to אֱלֹהִים (Elohim, "God"). Distinguishing when the text says one or the other changes the reading of entire chapters — and it is invisible in most translations, which print "LORD" and "God" without notice.

Exercise: walk through Genesis 2 and mark where the Hebrew says the Name. Then reread the chapter in translation with that in mind.

The Hebrew verb does not mark "past/present/future" like English: it marks completed or ongoing action. That is why the interlinear tells you "perfect — completed action" or "imperfect — ongoing or future action."

Look at בָּרָא (bara, "created") in Genesis 1:1: perfect, a finished act. Compare יְהִי (yehi, "let there be") in verse 3: jussive — "let it be." Grammar is theology in miniature.

You now have the complete method:

1. Read the week's parashah in translation.
2. When a verse stops you, open it in the interlinear.
3. Tap the words: root, grammar, meaning.
4. Read the passage explanation and verify every citation.

Hebrew is not learned in a month — it is inhabited week by week, portion by portion. The annual cycle is your teacher.