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Who Wants to Study Hebrew?
Most of the requests that I
have had for lessons in Hebrew have been from doctors who are
planning on going to Israel on an internship.
How Do We Study?
When
new immigrants arrive in Israel they all go through a process
of acclimatization to get used to the idiosyncrasies of Israeli
culture and mentality. One of the most exciting preparations of
integration is learning Hebrew. New immigrants learn Hebrew at
Hebrew language centres called 'The Ulpan'. Ulpan means studio in
English.
The Ulpan
An ulpan is an institute or school for the intensive study of
Hebrew. Ulpan (אולפן,
plural ulpanim - אולפנים) is a
Hebrew word meaning
basically studio or teaching, instruction.
The ulpan is designed to teach
adult
immigrants to
Israel the basic
language skills of conversation, writing and comprehension. Most
ulpanim also provide instruction in the fundamentals of Israeli
culture, history, and geography. The primary purpose of the
ulpan is to help new citizens to be integrated as quickly and as
easily as possible into the social, cultural and economic life
of their new country.
Taken from
Wikipedia
There are 'Ulpanim'
(the plural for Ulpan in Hebrew) all over Israel which offer courses
in Hebrew at various levels of difficulty. Courses are intensive and
are held 5 hours a day, 5 days a week and extended over six months.
The aim is to give
new immigrants the opportunity to learn Hebrew as soon as they
arrive in Israel while they are free from job commitments. After the
course, immigrants are able to communicate in Hebrew which opens up
employment opportunities in their new country. The 'Ulpan' is
an institution in Israel which has existed from the establishment of
the state in 1948.
How I Was Taught and How
I Teach.
I studied Hebrew at
university in New York. Hebrew language was part of my degree which
was in Biblical criticism, Jewish history and Hebrew linguistics. My
first two courses were three hours a week over two semesters as part
of my degree program. My department then recommended I take an
intensive Hebrew grammar course at the Jewish Theological Seminary
of America on a part scholarship which the department offered me.
The course ran 5 hours a day,
5 times a week over 10 weeks. This was an amazing personal and
educational experience which prepared me—as far as language is
concerned—for my move to Israel two months after completing the
course.
Both
the first two courses at Hunter College and the intensive course at
the seminary were loosely modeled after the 'Ulpan' method. The
professors used little English and tried to get us to express
ourselves in Hebrew by using real life situations and scenes and
topic related vocabulary, reading, grammar and activities.
I use
a similar method by which I get students to act out real life
situations by using pictures and role-plays and by providing topic
related vocabulary and exercises and activities.
Please
feel free to contact me for more information.
In the
meantime שלום ולהתראות
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