How learning Yiddish can get you a free bagel next Tuesday
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By David Ian Klein March 31, 2021
If you weren’t already interested in learning Yiddish, Duolingo may have given you another reason, — free bagels!
That’s right, in honor of the launch of a new Yiddish course on the popular language-learning platform, Duolingo is offering to pay for your bagel order at a handful of stores around the country when the course goes live on April 6.
They include Katz’s Deli in New York City, Factor’s Famous Deli in Los Angeles, Chicago’s Manny’s Cafeteria, as well as Pittsburgh’s Pigeon Bagels and Miami’s Zak the Baker, which are both certified kosher.
However, there’s a catch. You have to order in Yiddish.
Since the deal is only available on launch day, you probably won’t have much time to verse yourself in the traditional language of Ashkenazi Jewry before breakfast, so here are a few terms with which to familiarize yourself. Consider this cheat sheet our gift to you.
Can I have a bagel — Ken ikh hubn a beygl
Toasted — Tsubroynte
With — Mitn
Cream Cheese — Shmirkez
Butter — Puter
Onions — Tsibele
Garlic — Knobl
Tomato — Pomidor
Lox — Loks (it’s an easy one)
Egg — Eyer
Everything bagel — Altsding-beygl
So how to put it all together at the counter?
“Can I have an onion bagel with cream cheese, lox and tomato?” would be “Ken ikh hobn a tsibele beygl mitn Skmirkez, loks un Pomidorn?”
Or, my go-to order, a toasted everything bagel with butter, would be: “Ken ikh hobn an altsding-beygl tzubroyntn mit puter”.
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
