Remember the dialogues in high school French? Dialogues in Hebrew would be a useful exercise. I left Ulpan Alef not knowing how to say, “My name is Hannah.”
Pat: Bonjour.
Sylvie: Comment ça va?
Pat: Ça va très bien, merci. Et vous?
Sylvie: Ça va, merci. Comment vous appelez-vous?
Pat: Je m'appelle Pat:, et vous ? Comment vous appelez-vous?
Sylvie: Je m'appelle Sylvie.
Pat: Enchanté(e), Sylvie.
Sylvie: Enchanté(e), Pat.
Pat: Et vous venez d'où, Sylvie?
Sylvie: Je viens de France. Je suis français(e).
Pat: Ah, vous êtes français(e). Je suis américain(e).
Sylvie: Ah, vous êtes américain(e). Vous venez d'où exactement?
Pat: Je viens de Boston. Je suis étudiant(e).
Sylvie: Ah, vous êtes étudiant(e). Moi, je suis professeur, professeur d'anglais.
Pat: Ah, vous êtes professeur d'anglais? Vous parlez anglai?
Sylvie: Oui. Et vous parlez français?
Pat: Oui. Un petit peu.
Sylvie: OK. Je vais chez moi maintenant.
Pat: OK. Moi aussi. Au revoir. Bonne journée.
Sylvie: Au revoir. Bonne journée.
It took me almost two years to be able to have a similar conversation in Hebrew. I did not learn it in Ulpan Alef.
Suggestion 2 – Assume students will need to communicate with Israelis.
Ulpan Alef got one thing right: repetition is important. But drilling verb conjugations is not helpful. Verbs belong in sentences, not on verb tables!
We drilled nearly 250 verbs over five months in Ulpan Alef, but we never spoke them in sentences. By Thursday, quite a few of us had to struggle to remember the verbs we had learned on Sunday and Monday, let alone the previous week.
If you’re talking to two women about something they may do in the future, you don’t have fifteen or twenty seconds to go through most of a verb's possible conjugations to find the right word. Students need to learn commonly used verbs and how they behave in sentences.
It was also infuriating that none of our five teachers would the answer the question, “How can you tell what binyan an infinitive belongs to?” (There is an answer. It's not "Listen to the musika.")
Suggestion 3 – Teach students commonly used phrases and have students speak them frequently.
There are a limited number of things store clerks and pharmacists might want to say to a customer. Hebrew students need to learn common phrases and common responses to those phrases. And we need to learn how to converse with Israelis so we’ll have an opportunity to learn more even more Hebrew.
I did learn a handful of phrases in Ulpan Alef. But frankly, I have never had an occasion to say, “Line five passed five minutes ago.” (However, I have learned what "אל תדאג" really means... we're ignoring you.)
Start with useful phrases and build more vocabulary on that foundation.
Suggestion 4 – A textbook
Could it hurt to have one?
Suggestion 5 – Numbers
I asked one of our ulpan teachers to go over the numbers with us. She said the school didn't do that because numbers are too difficult. Difficult? That's a good reason to teach them!
Suggestion 6 – Give students basic vocabulary and grammar so they have a foundation to learn more after ulpan ends.
I don’t know what those tools might be, but here’s my list of what does not help:
לַעֲזוֹב ,לְהוֹסִיף ,לְהִתְקַדֵּם ,לְהַסְכִּים ,לְהַרְשׁוֹת ,לַעֲנוֹת ,לְהִתְנַצֵּל ,לְהוֹפִיעַ ,לְהַעֲרִיךְ ,לְסַדֵּר ,לְהַגִּיעַ ,לַעֲלוֹת ,לִשְׁאוֹל ,לְצָרֵף ,לְהִתְפַּנּוֹת ,לִהְיוֹת ,לוּכַל ,לְהִתְקַבֵּל ,לְהַכִּיר ,לִפְחוֹד ,לְהִישָּׁאֵל ,לְהִיווָּלֵד ,בֻּטַּל ,לְהִתְבַּטֵּל ,לְהִיבָּדֵק ,לְהִיסָּגֵר ,לְהִתְבַּשֵּׁל ,לְהִסְתַּייֵּם ,לְהַרְגִּישׁ ,לְהִיגָּמֵר ,לְהִיסָּלֵחַ ,לְהִימָּצֵא ,לִשְׂמוֹחַ ,לְהִישָּׁמֵעַ ,לְהִשְׁתַּפֵּר ,שֻׁפַּר ,הֻזְמַן ,לְאַחֵר ,לְהִיפָּתֵחַ ,סֻדַּר ,שֻׁלַּם ,לְהִשְׁתַּלֵּם ,לְהֵירָשֵׁם ,לְהִתְבַּקֵּשׁ ,לְהִיפָּתֵר ,לְהִצְטַעֵר ,לְהִתְפַּלֵּא ,הוּבַן ,לִטְעוֹת ,לְהַאֲמִין ,לִשְׁבּוֹר ,לְהָבִיא ,לִבְנוֹת ,לִקְנוֹת ,לְבַטֵּל ,לִתְפּוֹשׂ ,לַחְגֹּג ,לְהִשְׁתַּנּוֹת ,לְשַׁנּוֹת ,לִבְדּוֹק ,לִבְחוֹר ,לְבָרֵר ,לִסְגּוֹר ,לָבוֹא ,לְהַשְׁלִים ,לְחַבֵּר ,לְהַמְשִׁיךְ ,לְבַשֵּׁל ,לִסְפּוֹר ,לְהַחְלִיט ,לִדְרוֹשׁ ,לָרֶדֶת ,לָמוּת ,לְהֵיעָלֵם ,לָדוּן ,לְהַפְרִיעַ ,לְהִשְׁתַּדֵּל ,לַעֲשׂוֹת ,לַחֲלוֹם ,לִשְׁתּוֹת ,לָגוּר ,לְהַרְווִיחַ ,לְהִשְׂתַּכֵּר ,לֶאֱכוֹל ,לֵיהָנוֹת ,לְהִיכָּנֵס ,לִבְרוֹחַ ,לְהָקִים ,לְהַחֲלִיף ,לְקַייֵּם ,לָצֵאת ,לְהַסְבִּיר ,לְהַרְגִּישׁ ,לִלְחוֹם ,לְמַלֵּא ,לִמְצוֹא ,לִגְמוֹר ,לְסַייֵּם ,לְתַקֵּן ,לָטוּס ,לִשְׁכּוֹחַ ,לִסְלוֹחַ ,לְהִתְחַתֵּן ,לָקוּם ,לְהִתְרַגֵּל ,לָתֵת ,לָלֶכֶת ,לִקְרוֹת ,לִשְׁמוֹעַ ,לַעֲזוֹר ,לְהַחְזִיק ,לְקַוּוֹת ,לִכְאוֹב ,לִפְגּוֹעַ ,לְשַׁפֵּר ,לְהַשְׁפִּיעַ ,לְהוֹדִיעַ ,לְהִתְכַּווֵּן ,לְהַזְמִין ,לְהִצְטָרֵף ,לְדַלֵּג ,לַהֲרוֹג ,לָדַעַת ,לִצְחוֹק ,לְהַשְׁאִיר ,לְשַׁקֵּר ,לֶאֱהוֹב ,לְהַקְשִׁיב ,לִחְיוֹת ,לְהִסְתַּכֵּל ,לְהַסְפִּיק ,לְהִסְתַּדֵּר ,לָמוֹד ,לְהִיפָּגֵשׁ ,לְפַסְפֵס ,לְהִתְגַּעֲגֵעַ ,לְהִצְטָרֵךְ ,לִפְתּוֹחַ ,לְהִשְׁתַּתֵּף ,לִפְסוֹחַ ,לַעֲבוֹר ,לְשַׁלֵּם ,לְשַׂחֵק ,לְנַגֵּן ,לִדְחוֹת ,לְהַעֲדִיף ,לְהָכִין ,לִלְחוֹץ ,לְהַבְטִיחַ ,לְפַרְסֵם ,לְהַכְנִיס ,לָשִׂים ,לִקְרוֹא ,לְהִיזָּכֵר ,לְקַבֵּל ,לְהַמְלִיץ ,לִרְשׁוֹם ,לְהֵירָשֵׁם ,לִזְכּוֹר ,לְהַזְכִּיר ,לִשְׂכּוֹר ,לְבַקֵּשׁ ,לָנוּחַ ,לַחֲזוֹר ,לְהַחֲזִיר ,לַחֲזוֹר ,לְצַלְצֵל ,לְקַלְקֵל ,לָרוּץ ,לַחֲסוֹךְ ,לִקְבּוֹעַ ,לִרְאוֹת ,לְהִתְרָאוֹת ,לִמְכּוֹר ,לִשְׁלוֹחַ ,לִצְעוֹק ,לְהַרְאוֹת ,לַחְתּוֹם ,לָשִׁיר ,לָשֶׁבֶת ,לִישׁוֹן ,לְעַשֵּׁן ,לִפְתּוֹר ,לְדַבֵּר ,לְהוֹצִיא ,לְפַנֵּק ,לַעֲמוֹד ,לְהַתְחִיל ,לְהַפְסִיק ,לַעֲצוֹר ,לִלְמוֹד ,לְהַצְלִיחַ ,לִסְבּוֹל ,לְהַצִּיעַ ,לְהַתְאִים ,לָקַחַת ,לְטַפֵּל ,לְהוֹרִיד ,לְהִתְקַייֵּם ,לְלַמֵּד ,לְהִתְקַשֵּׁר ,לְסַפֵּר ,לְהַגִּיד ,לוֹמַר ,לְהוֹדוֹת ,לַחְשׁוֹב ,לְהַעֲבִיר ,לְתַרְגֵּם ,לִנְסוֹעַ ,לְטַייֵּל ,לִסְמוֹךְ ,לְנַסּוֹת ,לִפְנוֹת ,לְהַדְלִיק ,לְהָבִין ,לְעַדְכֵּן ,לְהִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ ,לְבַקֵּר ,לְחַכּוֹת ,לְהִתְעוֹרֵר ,לִרְצוֹת ,לְבַזְבֵּז לִשְׁקוֹל ,לִזְכּוֹת ,לְאַחֵל ,לַעֲבוֹד ,לִדְאוֹג ,לִכְתּוֹב
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