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When I first began preparing Aramaic vocabulary lists for students, the
simplest approach might have seemed to be this: go through the Gemara,
take every Aramaic word, write its translation next to it, and have the
children learn them all.

Over time, however, I came to the conclusion that this is precisely
where we need to be careful.

The goal is not to give the student the most comprehensive list
possible.

The goal is for him to learn the words and be able to use them when he
reads the Gemara.

And once that is the goal, we sometimes need to know not only what to
include on the list---but also what to leave out.

If You Try to Grasp Too Much, You May Grasp Nothing

A child beginning to learn Gemara is dealing with many things at once.

He needs to read accurately, become familiar with the language of the
Gemara, understand the words, and follow the flow of the sugya.

If we add a very long list of words to memorize, we may burden him
instead of helping him.

One of the principles that guides me, therefore, is the well-known rule:
"Tafasta merubah lo tafasta"---if you try to grasp too much, you may
end up grasping nothing.

This does not mean giving up on understanding the Gemara.

Quite the opposite.

While learning the sugya, we of course need to explain whatever the
child needs in order to understand it.

But there is a difference between a word that needs to be explained
now and a word that should become part of the student's permanent
working vocabulary.

Not Every Rare Word Belongs in the Core Vocabulary

There are words in the Gemara that a student will encounter again and
again.

The better he knows them, the easier it will be for him to read other
Gemaras.

Other words are much less common.

If such a word appears in the sugya we are learning, of course I will
explain it so that the student can understand the Gemara.

But I will not always require him to memorize it as part of the
vocabulary we are building.

The reason is simple: a child's time and energy are limited.

I would rather invest more review in words that will help him again and
again than place the same burden on him for a word he may rarely
encounter in the future.

Sometimes the Child Can Work It Out Himself

There are also words that do not necessarily need to be added to a
memorization list because the student can understand them from context.

To me, this is an important part of developing an independent learner.

We want to give a child tools, but we do not want to do for him every
task that he is already capable of doing himself.

When we read the Gemara together, there are times when the meaning of a
word becomes clear from the sentence as a whole.

In that case, we can explain it as needed during the learning without
necessarily turning every word into another item on the student's
memorization list.

This keeps the list more focused and allows the child to invest his
effort in the words that matter most.

What About a Word with More Than One Meaning?

This brings us to another point.

It is not always possible to say that one Aramaic word equals one
English word.

Some words change meaning depending on context.

A good example is the word "ba'i."

In different places, it can mean, among other things, "asks," "wants,"
or "needs."

If we teach a child only one meaning and leave him with the impression
that this is always what the word means, that may actually make things
harder when he encounters the word elsewhere.

For certain words, therefore, it is important to become familiar with
more than one meaning.

At the same time, there is no need to turn every word into a full lesson
in Aramaic.

The goal remains practical: to give the student the knowledge he needs
in order to understand the Gemara in which he encounters the word.

The Meaning That Fits the Gemara in Front of Us

This is also one of the principles I used when preparing the
Aramaic-Hebrew glossary for the opening pages of the perakim we learn.

In general, I tried to give the meaning that fits the word in that
particular passage of Gemara.

If a child is learning a particular sugya now, I want the glossary to
help him understand that sugya.

There is no need to burden him each time with every possible meaning of
a word when those meanings are not necessary for understanding the
passage in front of him.

Only when it is important to know several meanings---as in the example
of "ba'i"---is there a reason to include more than one.

In this way, the glossary remains a tool for learning rather than
becoming a goal in itself.

The List Itself Should Avoid Unnecessary Repetition

Another principle I have tried to follow is not to write the same word
again and again as though it were a new word every time.

If the student has already learned it, the goal is to review and
reinforce it---not to create a new list on every page that grows
unnecessarily.

This creates a combination of two processes:

On the one hand, the vocabulary list moves forward, adding new words
to the student's knowledge.

On the other hand, the learning goes back, making sure that the
older words are not forgotten.

This is where choosing the right words and reviewing them properly come
together.

The Glossary Is Not the Goal---the Gemara Is

This may be the most important point.

It is possible to invest a great deal in vocabulary, review, lists, and
tests---and forget why we started.

The goal is not to produce a child who excels at Aramaic vocabulary
tests.

The goal is that when he opens a Gemara, the words should not stand like
a wall between him and the sugya.

The more recurring words he knows, the less effort he needs to devote to
decoding each individual word, and the more attention he can give to
understanding the sentence and the flow of the Gemara.

That is why the words we choose should always be selected with that goal
in mind.

Not as many as possible.

But those that will be most useful.

Build a Vocabulary---Don't Overload It

When teaching children, there is sometimes a temptation to cover more:
another word, another page, another piece of information.

But over the years I have learned that progress is not measured only by
the amount of material we have covered.

Sometimes, choosing what not to add allows a child to acquire what
he does learn far more effectively.

When words are selected gradually, reviewed over time, and repeatedly
connected back to the actual language of the Gemara, the student
develops a practical working vocabulary.

And that vocabulary does not stand on its own.

It is another tool on the way toward the goal:

for the student to be able to open a Gemara, read its language,
understand what he is learning---and gradually, with Hashem's help,
learn independently.