Lesson 3: Spitting Image of Each Other
Yud: Young
Zayin: Zipline
Vav: Very Straight
Resh: Rounded
Dalet: Diving Board
י
ז
ו
ר
ד
Dalet (ד)
The letter DALET makes a “d” sound like dog. The top is long and straight and protrudes out slightly at the angle. DALET looks exactly like a diving board which is why we refer to this letter as DIVING BOARD DALET. Here’s a picture of the pool and ladder I draw for my students so you can visualize exactly what I mean. I swear…my artistic abilities get worse and worse each passing year.
Resh (ר)
The letter RESH looks extremely similar to DALET; however, RESH is rounded at the top, hence the name ROUNDED RESH. It’s the best way to differentiate RESH from DALET because DALET is straight at the top. RESH makes a “r” sound like rainbow.
Vav (ו)
VAV’S lines are very straight which is why we named this letter VERY STRAIGHT VAV. The top line is slightly shorter than DALET’S top line and it doesn’t protrude out like DALET’S line does. Other than that, it is very similar. VAV makes a “v” sound like violin. VAV is a common letter and you will see it used in multiple forms down the line, so I recommend making sure you have this letter completely memorized before moving on to future lessons.
Zayin (ז)
We can refer to the letter ZAYIN as ZIPLINE ZAYIN because the top line is on a diagonal just like the incline on a zipline. Take a moment to picture yourself suspended in the air gliding down a cable in the middle of the rain forests of Costa Rica. Doesn’t that sound fun? The letter ZAYIN makes a “z” sound like zebra. And again, to clarify, whereas the top line of the letter VAV is short, straight, and horizontal, the top line of the letter ZAYIN is diagonal.
Yud (י)
The letter YUD is a bit of an outlier in our “spitting image” lesson. Why? Because it is half the size of every other Hebrew letter. It’s a baby-sized letter. And that is why we call it YOUNG YUD. YUD also looks identical to an apostrophe. YUD makes a “y” sound like yo-yo. I would say YUD is kind of like the fraternal twin to the rest of these letters. There are definitely similarities to the other letters we learned in this lesson, but it’s unique in that it’s the only letter that is half the size. I’m also teaching YUD to you now because it will come up again in our next lesson when we learn the EE vowel.