My First Week at Ulpan Gordon
Technically, I’m starting my third week of class today. But with the four day school weeks and last weeks holidays, I’ve really only attended seven class sessions. In that time I’ve learned two things:
1. Foreign languages are both amusing and stressful. (Flashback to my Thai studies in college.)
2. Even though it seems like your classmates know what they’re doing, they are just as equally freaked out as you are.
I’m trying not to let the school completely overwhelm me since I’d also like to have a life but there are days when I could easily have been walking home with pens jutting out of my eyes and I wouldn’t know the difference. This is mostly due to the intensity of studying at an ulpan. They aren’t joking when they say “total immersion”.
During the first week, the schedule for class is as follows:
Side note about Hebrew verbs, nouns, adjectives…. hell…. just about every word that can possibly be jammed into a sentence. The language is uber gendered, meaning, the words change depending on who you are or who/what you’re talking about.
Since verbs are a special migraine for me, here’s an example verb: “to speak”. It’s simple enough in English, right? You speak. I speak. He speaks. She speaks. Nice and simple.
In Hebrew, “to speak” changes depending on if you’re a girl/boy, they are a girl/boy, or if there are more than one boys (or girls). ex: To speak (infinitive) = ledabare. to speak girl singular = medaberete. to speak (boy singular) medabere. to speak (girl plural) = medabrote. to speak (boy plural) = medabreem.
So, instead of memorizing just one verb form like in English, you’re memorizing five. For an English speaker who has learned from a very young age that gender separation is both rude and outdated, it’s a shock.
Regardless, all parts of the sentence (subject, verb, predicate) need to be adjusted to form a gendered harmony in order to be correct.
This powerful gendered division seems archaic to Ms. Feminist Studies over here. But then again, Hebrew is one of the oldest language in the world. This is the bit where I think languages are amusing. Can I go so far as to say English has a leg up on Hebrew because of its lack of gender divisions? Is this one more reason why English deserves to be the “universal language”?
I find it pretty cool that I learned all of this plus the complete Hebrew alphabet and can read most words within the first week of class. I guess this language immersion thing really works, eh?
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4 Responses to “My First Week at Ulpan Gordon”
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More discussion on Ulpan Gordon and life in Israel here: http://www.newinisrael.com/viewtopic.php?p=3632#3632
One thing I like about the genders in Hebrew is that if you are talking about somebody else, third person, you don’t have to specify whether it’s a masculine or feminine. ex. amra sh’ani ayef – she said i am tired.
The other great thing about Hebrew, over English, is that the language is very logical. every word comes from a root, and all words that have this word are related. ex.
I agree that Hebrew is a very logical language. English is much more difficult to master unless it’s a native language (and even native speakers have trouble with it too!). Hebrew is more like a puzzle and once you crack the puzzle, it seems a lot easier.
As for the third person genderization, you still have to specify the third person gender within the verb, right? Like in your example, while you don’t have to say “SHE said” like in English, you simply combine the gender into the verb, (omra). So instead of saying “She”, you say the feminine version of “said”. It’s the same with singular/plural “I said” (amarti) and “We said” (amranu).
The genderization drives me crazy a little but maybe that’s because I come from a culture that has tried very hard in the last 30 years to stamp out gender discrimination. It’s the feminist in me, I suppose.
Hello, I am writing from Europe preparing my ULPAN for the summer. I'm used to share a accomodation with other students. Does anyone have any information or experience about (students) flat-sharing community in Tel Aviv?! I appreciate any help. Steffen