A Full Time Job
One of my fellow students in my new Hebrew class said that taking intensive Hebrew is a full time job. Indeed, I feel that way myself.
My class has 25 students - 17 of whom are native Arabic speakers so they have a great advantage over the others because Arabic is a Semitic language and closer to Hebrew than other languages. These students are really, really good at speaking Hebrew and talk very quickly. I've been told countless time not to compare myself to the Arabs in the class because they're just going to catch on so much quicker than a stupid Anglo. It's true.
The remaining eight students are mostly new immigrants and come from the U.S., U.K., Ireland, France, Czech Republic, Canada, and Sweden. I think I am the only student who has not immigrated to Israel.
I arrived in class as a brand-new student on Sunday, invading a class that had been together since October. I definitely felt like the new kid in town. I've been overwhelmed the past few days because the teacher, who spent her time in the army teaching new immigrant soldiers how to speak Hebrew and has been doing it ever since, speaks very very rapidly and never speaks English. She defines new words by attempting to describe the new word using Hebrew words we (should) already know or through pantomime or even by drawing (today a drawing of a stoplight helped us understand a new word but I think she could've described a light that is red, yellow, and green and we could've gotten it). Nonetheless, I am understanding more and more of what she says every day. As another student said, there isn't time to translate what she's saying in your head so you have to start to think in Hebrew.
Since class is four and a half hours of all Hebrew all the time, it is painful for my brain but highly educational. We also have considerable homework. I had planned on taking an afternoon class today at the yeshiva but I ended up coming home and doing homework for three hours and I haven't even hit the flashcards yet...
(P.S. Jen is still really suffering from jet lag - she was up and working by 3 a.m. today and now, just after 5 p.m., she's barely awake.)
My class has 25 students - 17 of whom are native Arabic speakers so they have a great advantage over the others because Arabic is a Semitic language and closer to Hebrew than other languages. These students are really, really good at speaking Hebrew and talk very quickly. I've been told countless time not to compare myself to the Arabs in the class because they're just going to catch on so much quicker than a stupid Anglo. It's true.
The remaining eight students are mostly new immigrants and come from the U.S., U.K., Ireland, France, Czech Republic, Canada, and Sweden. I think I am the only student who has not immigrated to Israel.
I arrived in class as a brand-new student on Sunday, invading a class that had been together since October. I definitely felt like the new kid in town. I've been overwhelmed the past few days because the teacher, who spent her time in the army teaching new immigrant soldiers how to speak Hebrew and has been doing it ever since, speaks very very rapidly and never speaks English. She defines new words by attempting to describe the new word using Hebrew words we (should) already know or through pantomime or even by drawing (today a drawing of a stoplight helped us understand a new word but I think she could've described a light that is red, yellow, and green and we could've gotten it). Nonetheless, I am understanding more and more of what she says every day. As another student said, there isn't time to translate what she's saying in your head so you have to start to think in Hebrew.
Since class is four and a half hours of all Hebrew all the time, it is painful for my brain but highly educational. We also have considerable homework. I had planned on taking an afternoon class today at the yeshiva but I ended up coming home and doing homework for three hours and I haven't even hit the flashcards yet...
(P.S. Jen is still really suffering from jet lag - she was up and working by 3 a.m. today and now, just after 5 p.m., she's barely awake.)
posted by Matt | 7:01 AM
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