I started ulpan (hebrew language classes) this week at Ulpan Akiva in Netanya. Monday was full of horribly inefficient testing. Tuesday and Wednesday were real classes, from 8:00 to 13:00 with an hour break. I feel comfortable in my class level, kitah bet (the second level), but I know I'll still be challenged because I have trouble conjugating verbs and we will learn past and future tenses.
I've been staying with my friend Gabe in Herzliya this week. Gabe made aliya (immigrated to Israel) and works as a security guard. He and I went to hebrew school together when we were growing up.
"Hebrew school" is a misnomer. You don't learn hebrew. You might learn the alef-bet (hebrew alphabet) and some prayers.
The teachers at ulpan told the students to watch TV, in hebrew, obviously. I have been watching the news in hebrew a little. I am skeptical that it will actually teach me anything. If I can only recognize one in ten words, am I just going to magically figure out the other nine? I've been studying vocabulary on my own. Hopefully I can get up to three out of ten words by the end of the month.
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