Learning Hebrew

[lethargic_man]

As those who know me will know, one of my biggest regrets is not putting more effort into learning Hebrew on my year off (I was surrounded by British people, and English-speaking Israelis who didn't have the patience to listen to me stammering out my Hebrew slowly), or keeping it up after I returned to the UK.

A couple of years ago, I tried attending local ulpans for two or three terms; the idea was that if I could get my Hebrew good enough to be able to understand Hebrew radio on the Internet, and read Hebrew newspapers (even if just the easy-language שַׁעַר לְמַתְחִיל), then it wouldn't matter if I wasn't speaking it on a regular basis; I could keep my Hebrew up on my own.

As a result of this ulpan, my vocabulary did increase considerably. However a couple of hours a week was way insufficient for me to get my speed of comprehension up to parse speech at natural speeds, and also way insufficient for me to be able to have Hebrew words and phrases springing into my mind, rather than having to think each one out in turn. So I dropped out of the ulpan classes again, and though I continue to use the vocab flash card application I wrote myself in Java, my Hebrew is gradually decaying again.

It was clear what I needed instead was an intensive immersion in the Hebrew language, like one would receive in a proper ulpan for new olim in Israel.

Now, the London Jewish Cultural Center do offer such an ulpan. It takes place over two weeks (weekdays only), and runs in summer, so I've missed it for this year.

I have been giving vague consideration to attending the next such LJCC summer ulpan instead of attending Limmud Conference at Christmas. (I suppose I could do both (provided I don't mind spending lots of money—the ulpan costs an arm and a leg), or at least attend part of Limmud Conference; but really what's limiting is not money but leave from work, given that the yomtovim large fall on weekdays this following year again.)

The disadvantage of so doing is that I'd miss out on the social life of Limmud—and I'd have to be working during the Christmas period.

There is one other question to be considered, though, which is one that bluepork raised when I mentioned these thoughts to him: Why? Why go to so much effort to learn a foreign language if I'm not going to use it? I don't have any plans to go to Israel in the medium-term future, nor do I have any need for communicating with Israelis in their own language (and they largely speak English anyway). So why bother?

I suppose the answer is really that I don't like being a monolingual Brit. I want to be able to communicate with people in at least one other language with reasonable fluency; and, when I'm somewhere where I don't speak a word of the language, I'd like to be able to feel it doesn't reflect poorly on me: it's just not the foreign language that I'm good at.

Maybe this is a crazy reason to learn a language, but Hebrew, when I first came up with this idea, was at least the language most likely to be use to me. (Possibly now German would be, but, leaving aside all other issues, I at least have a good head start in the case of Hebrew, which I don't for German.)

Thoughts, anyone?

Comments

[grumpyolddog.livejournal.com]

Only that German is way easier for an English-speaker to learn. The patterns, sounds and words are familiar to us through the echoes of Anglo-Saxon in what we speak today.

If I were just wanting to learn a language which might be of use, I'd learn Spanish. (Actually, I already did, but...) It's useful over about 70% of the Western Hemisphere which frankly, Hebrew never will be.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

Only that German is way easier for an English-speaker to learn. The patterns, sounds and words are familiar to us through the echoes of Anglo-Saxon in what we speak today.

German I gather has complicated grammar, which makes it less easy to learn. Hebrew by contrast has relatively simple grammar—and I know Hebrew grammar already (though my knowledge is in places a bit rusty); I learned it at the age of sixteen and never completely forgot it.

As for vocabulary, I'm often helped when learning Hebrew by words being from the same root as words I already know from the liturgy, or the Bible, or the book Judith WINOLJ was helping me translate a year ago. (Of course, when new words involve new roots, that's no help; but that would be the case, though to a lesser extent, for an Indo-European language too.)

If I were just wanting to learn a language which might be of use, I'd learn Spanish. (Actually, I already did, but...) It's useful over about 70% of the Western Hemisphere which frankly, Hebrew never will be.

That might be true, but I meet several Israelis for every Spanish speaker I meet.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your advice.

First of all: *icon love* Did you make that?

Yes (http://lethargic-man.livejournal.com/234086.html).

From what I hear, German is a beautiful and rich language where a single word conveys an entire philosophical concept.

That's because a single word can go on for half the sentence. ;^b

Oh woah - I am sounding like such a pre-war Maskil right now! :)

;^)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I started learning because I enjoyed travelling, but I soon discovered that the learning itself was as good as travelling. It's akin to slipping between different worlds - and who wouldn't want to do that?

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

Do you enjoy speaking/listening to Hebrew and conversing with Hebrew speakers? Given your studies, I would be surprised if it weren't a useful skill.
Whether you decide to continue with it or not (might there be people in London willing to converse with you?) I'd reccommend that you learn at least a little basic German - it'll be useful. And stop whingeing about how hard it is, you're a bright lad. You'll cope.

my thoughts

[bluepork.livejournal.com]

> There is one other question to be considered, though, which is one that bluepork raised when I mentioned these thoughts to him: Why?

Did I? I don't remember! Either way, it's certainly the kind of thing I would have said, so I can believe that I did, in fact, say this.

Personally, I'm very poor at languages, and that's by crappy British standards, so that really means I can only speak English! I have maintained the desire for a long time to learn a few words of Spanish. Not that I've done much about it, but this would keep me afloat throughout the whole of the America's as well as southern Europe. I'm much more likely to spend holiday time in these parts of the world than in Germany etc.

Given the German girlfriend situation though, I think you should learn at least a bit of German. (You know that Lindsey learnt Swedish so she could talk to Norm's daughter in her native tongue - maybe you should talk to her as to how she did it!)

I do think it's very difficult to achieve the level of fluency that you are after without a much greater commitment of time than I suspect you have.