7 Questions With Ann! A Student at Ulpan Gordon
I had the great pleasure of meeting Ann this last February just before I began studying at Ulpan Gordon again. She is an amazingly warm and authentic person and I thought a short interview with her would benefit prospective (and current) students of the Hebrew language.
The types of people you’ll meet at Ulpan Gordon astound me every day. The students at Ulpan Gordon are from all over the world and every single one of them are truly amazing… including Ann!
Would you like to answer a few questions about your Hebrew experience and be featured on ulpangordon.com? Contact me here!
1) First things first; where are you from?
Vancouver, Washington, U.S.A. (Not Canada). It is a small city just outside of Portland Oregon.
2) How long have you been studying Hebrew and what was your biggest motivation to learn?
I began studying Hebrew in 2003 -a year long class- and continued somewhat sporadically -with a private tutor- about a year ago. I had been coming to Israel at least twice a year, and I was tired of only knowing three words and one sentence (Afo hasherutim?- Where is the toilet?)
3) Which class did you take at Ulpan Gordon?
I took the first aleph class -but I joined in the middle- after four months. I could only stay for a month. It was twice a week for two and a half hours- the class was mostly tourists and foreign workers. It was like a mini UN! There were three fellows from African countries; a man from Italy; someone from Brazil; others from Argentina and Bulgaria. One woman from France was the only new immigrant in our class.
4) Walk us through an average class session…
Our teacher went slowly and patiently though the book with us. He might begin by asking us how our weekend was – and calling on students to answer in Hebrew. He would hand back our homework – we had some each class session. The first class I joined there was an exam! We did a lot of group reading of the passages – and then, mostly in Hebrew (but using English when we got too stuck), the teacher would ask us questions about the passage we read. We were not encouraged to use vocabulary that was not from the lessons in the book. The teacher spoke in familiar vocabulary -and wrote on the board a lot to emphasize the words and their spelling.
5) What was your instructor like at Ulpan Gordon?
My instructor was fabulous – but he doesn’t usually teach the aleph class. His name was Zookie.
6) If you could give one piece of advice to future (or current) students of the Hebrew language, what would it be?
Be patient with yourself- Hebrew is so much fun but you need to stick to it.
7) And finally, what’s your favorite Hebrew word?
Savlanut סַבְלָנוּת (which means “patience” or “be patient”)- but that is a word I learned years ago- not in the class.
Would you like to answer a few questions about your Hebrew experience and be featured on ulpangordon.com? Contact me here!
Random Posts
No related posts.
One Response to “7 Questions With Ann! A Student at Ulpan Gordon”
Leave a Reply
Shalom,
I am a man 55 years old and a beginner.
I’m thinking about to go to an ulpan school, but only for 4 week. Is it a possibility to take short course like that at Ulpan Gordon, or perhaps you knowing other places in Tel Aviv.
I will be very happy for for answer.
Toda
Asbjorn