Although I am thoroughly enjoying the Daf Yomi shiurim of Rabbi Elefant and his colleagues, I sometimes struggle to understand some of the words used in the explanation of the Gemara. Part of this is due to my Hebrew having been learned in Israel and my therefore having trouble with Ashkenizic pronunciation. I have stuck with the OU Radio podcast, however, because I am using the ArtScroll Bavli, and its transliterations are Ashkenazic. So even though the pronunciation style is unfamiliar, at least I have consistency.
My main problem is understanding words that Rabbi Elefant uses: this week I am stuck on “hegdish”, “aitsa”, and “diyuk”, for example. I usually ask my Rabbi what these words mean, but I don’t want to become a pest. Sometimes I mis-hear the words, also, and baffle the Rabbi by asking him, for example, what a “peretz” is, when Rabbi Elefant was actually saying “teretz” (the sound isn’t so clear sometimes). The most frequently used words I am learning through constant exposure ("ossur", “muttur”, “shiela”, “kashe”, “poskin”, etc) My minimal Yiddish also helped me understand what a “Gevaldige vort” was!
I would be grateful for suggestions as to how to deal with this issue. Is there is a list somewhere, perhaps, of the Hebrew/Yiddish terms most frequently used in discussion? Maybe you’d be willing to translate some of these terms? Maybe you have the same issue I do and would like to share answers?
My thanks to the OU for making the podcast available, by the way. I listen on my iPod during the morning and evening commute and now actually look forward to the trip!