Hebrew class

Judy Goldman is my Hebrew teacher. Hebrew was most definitely my favorite class of the first block. I looked forward to class every day, and had fun writing "in code" and learning the sounds, characters, final characters and names for each character. Judy had the class organized really, really well, and I always felt empowered as a student. On the first day of class (and it seems every class after) she told us "there is no possible way you can mess up!" Even though that phrase isn't entirely true, phonetic languages are pretty easy, and really fun to learn. Because you read in Hebrew from right to left, all of their books open the opposite way. Judy would remind us that "the Hebrew way is not backward. It's different!" It was always fun to sound out new words and phrases, and exciting to read and actually understand things outside the latin alphabet.

(Transliterated, my paper says: "Stefanie loves Hebrew!")

We spent the first part of class learning phrases that we can use in the city. The classic conversation starters and questions that we actually use like "What time is it? How much does it cost? Can I have___..." After expressions, we delved into more letters of the alphabet. We'd learn how to write it correctly within a word, and as a final character, the different sounds it can make depending on where it is in the word or phrase, and play games/do an activity according to the letter. Kind of like preschool, I know :)

Then, my favorite part was the end of class when we would do "related items." She would bring in a variety of different Jewish objects and explain what they are and how to use them. Some of my favorites were a hand-scribed torah scroll, a ton of kosher food packages, a Batmitzvah and wedding program/announcement, foods and objects specific to a shabbat meal (like a Challah bread and cutting board...) These items were a good way to get a feel for Jewish culture as it is practiced today. I got a lot of good ideas for traditions I hope to do with my own family! Ask me about them later if you really want to know!

Reading practice in class is the best part. We all sit there in a semi-circle sounding like IDIOTS as we decipher the sounds and words before us. It is so fulfilling to solve a tough word! My classmates have begun writing notes in code for each other to figure out when ancient near eastern studies class gets boring :)

I think the organization and predictability of the class, and the friendly, encouraging teacher really helped me gain a love for Hebrew. I wish I had more time at the Y to get more serious with the language. I will miss Judy for sure, and I'll miss the music she played on the way in and out of class, "Shabbat, Shalom" (peaceful sabbath) and the song that goes: "aleph bet vet! Gimmel dalad chey. Vav Zyan Chet Tet, yud chaf chaaf... That's the alphabet song!

*I had big plans for this post. Classic videos of me speaking Hebrew, and even a quick lesson to the language. I wanted to spell out the names of some of my blog readers and do a quiz... but, I ran out of time. Sorry!