I lurk occasionally in the Coffee Room, and don’t post often. I came to this thread because I too have been trying to learn Yiddish. In case you are interested in flaming me for this, I already speak and read Hebrew. Hebrew is the language of instruction in the college courses that I teach (I live in Israel).
I don’t understand what the problem is. My older, and also some younger relatives can’t stand that I don’t get their jokes. Frankly, I do feel stupid myself when I miss the punchline. When in Europe, it is still very useful for communication in the Jewish communities. Lastly, as a professional in Israel who works with children and adults, I occasionally don’t have a common language to communicate with my patients and Yiddish would help. I don’t think that any of these reasons are political, or should be charged with as much emotion as I have read on this thread.
Thank you to all those who posted practical suggestions and can everyone else calm down please.