Reading the words: vowels and the 'drag'

In his words

Reading comes first and stands alone. Word by word he dictates the vowels, naming each one by its shape so no one gets lost: Underneath the hei is a straight line, patach. 14:25 A tzeirei is "two dots next to each other", a segol a "tripod", a kamatz a "little t", a sheva a "stoplight".

Then comes his "drag": the vowelled word on the paper is moved beside the bare word in the text until the paper isn't needed. Read the word on the paper, drag it to your right, and read the corresponding word of the Mishnah one word at a time 20:43, until all of them can be read without it.

Worked example from a class

With the Gittin group (14:00 onward) he vowels the nine words of הַמֵּבִיא גֵּט מִמְּדִינַת הַיָּם, has them read back from the paper, then from the Mishnah alone (20:26). Several Westwood recordings are titled "Vowels", "Vowels to Rashi words" and "Vowels to Tosfos words": the same step applied to the commentaries.

Hear him teach it

346 moments found so far in 326 transcribed classes; more appear as transcription continues. Tap one to play from that moment.

1. Westwood · Advanced class, Dec 9, 2011 · 6:47“Let's put in the punctuations of the words that we just wrote. First word, Elo, segol under the aleph, and the komatz under the lamed”Dictating the nekudos for each written word, naming each vowel and where it sits.
2. Westwood · Beginner class, Dec 28, 2011 · 14:09“before you even do that, just read through the Hebrew first from the sheet. Just to make sure you're fluent with the pronunciation.”With hard words, get fluent on the sheet first, then drag it beside the Gemara.
3. Westwood · Advanced class, Dec 30, 2011 · 3:53“A dot in the Tof, a comatz, little t, under the Tof, and a dot to the left side of the Vav.”Dictating and naming the vowels to write on the paper for each word.
4. Westwood · Advanced class, Jan 1, 2012 · 18:02“Underneath the aleph is one dot. Next word, under the hey, is a tseri, two dots next to each other.”Dictates the vowels for each word of Rashi so students can read it.
5. Westwood · Beginner class, Jan 4, 2012 · 40:15“You take the sheet out, remember? And you put it to the left side of the G'morrah, remember?”He reviews the drag: read from the vowel sheet, then from the bare Gemara, five words at a time.
6. Westwood · Advanced class, Jan 6, 2012 · 34:46“Underneath the Aleph is a Tzereh, two dots next to each other.”Dictates the vowels for each word, then has students read the Hebrew alone.
7. Westwood · Advanced class, Feb 29, 2012 · 35:10“So there's a patach under the Rashi, a dot in the base, and a little t commas under the base.”Students name every vowel, letter by letter, to read the words correctly.
8. Westwood · Advanced class, Mar 21, 2012 · 4:38“So let's just put in the vowels of the words. First word is a straight line patach under the mem.”Dictates the nekudos for each word of the step.
9. Encino, Apr 17, 2012 · 28:24“That's always when there's a patach under a ches at the end, it's like yoreyach, luach.”Pronunciation rule: a final ches with a patach is read 'ach' (hinuach).
10. Westwood · Beginner class, Apr 18, 2012 · 38:30“Take the paper, you put it next to here, and you do Hebrew, Hebrew. You take from the sheet, put it in here, word by word.”The drag technique for home review, practiced five to seven words at a time until perfect.