Ulpan Prepping for Tel Aviv
Nick Pfosi decided to learn Hebrew when he started dating his partner Peleg, an Israeli studying at Harvard, which led him to enroll in Hebrew College Ulpan, or Hebrew immersion language classes. “Learning Hebrew has been a great way for me to learn more about Jewish and Israeli culture and history and gives my partner and I something fun to work on together,” says Nick, who is not Jewish. “He helps me often with the homework, practicing vocab, or with my pronunciation.” And despite some reservations, the program has exceeded his expectations: “Anyone who is interested in learning Hebrew should enroll in classes at Hebrew College Ulpan.”
While Nick has noticed that most of his Ulpan classmates have a baseline knowledge of the Hebrew letters and pronunciation, he does not feel at a disadvantage thanks to the thoughtful teaching and care of his Hebrew College Ulpan instructor, Adva. “I am so thankful to Adva for teaching in a way that incorporates cultural knowledge without having it be a barrier; she’s always ready to explain traditions, histories or any questions about the alphabet, even if it feels like a ‘stupid question’ when I ask it. Her attitude has an enormous impact on my motivation to learn.”
With no previous Hebrew experience, Nick supplemented Ulpan learning with Duolingo to get a jump on mastering the Hebrew alphabet. “This approach is a great primer for anyone with no Hebrew background so you can go into the first class with some familiarity of the alphabet and how Hebrew sounds.”
Given his busy work schedule, Nick appreciates the convenience of learning Hebrew online. Class time is spent learning new words, new grammar concepts and practicing speaking and reading comprehension. Nick also takes advantage of the optional homework assignments as a tool to test his knowledge, rehearse what is covered in class, and deepen his understanding through repetition. “Of course, your teacher will tell you that it is optional, because it is, but it really is a huge part of where the learning and knowledge consolidation is going to happen. Set a specific time over the weekend to get as much of the homework as you can done. It pays dividends!”
Using WhatApp has notably improved Nick’s Hebrew skills as well. “Texting in Hebrew has really helped my fluency with the alphabet and keyboard. For small phrases or simply to practice, Peleg and I will WhatsApp each other in Hebrew. At first, simply finding the letters on the keyboard, let alone remembering how to spell words, was such a challenge. Now it feels much more automatic. I can focus on what I am writing without the additional process of navigating the Hebrew keyboard and alphabet being such an active part of writing.”
Now Nick is excited to add Hebrew to the list of languages he’s studied. And while he admits learning Hebrew has been much a slower process than the other languages he’s studied (French, German, and Icelandic), after each course he says he can feel his scope of knowledge of Hebrew language and culture expanding. In fact, he’s already putting his Hebrew knowledge to work. “One time while my partner was visiting his brother in California, I called them and said to Peleg’s brother ?מה נישמע (ed: how are you?) and had a short (emphasis on the short) back and forth with him. Even though it felt so rudimentary to me, Peleg’s brother clearly felt like my commitment to learning Hebrew had shown through and was impressed. This meant a lot to me.”
Learn more about Hebrew College’s Ulpan here. View other Tamid of Hebrew College adult learning offerings in our online course catalog.