While I was in Sinai with Kaitlin it was strange that most business was done in English. While sitting at breakfast I heard people speaking, German, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, French, a Scandinavian language I didn't recognize and some variants of Russian I didn't recognize. And these were just the ones that I thought I pick out. I'm sure there were more that I completely missed.
What continued to blow my mind was the fact that everyone could deal in some English. It is just incredible to me how many languages that other people in other countries know. It saddens me that I know English and a little Hebrew. I mean, I can function here in Israel with my Hebrew, but that only gets me so far in a small part of the world. I just wish that there would be a way for me to learn more languages.
I don't have the time, especially now. But I start thinking about why being bilingual at the very least isn't stressed in US schools. I mean, we don't EVEN have a national language. I'm not sure what I would propose to do about it. But I almost wish I could roll back time to learn another language in addition to Hebrew and American Sign Language.
I guess what happens when I turn my brain off school it turns on to other things that I start to think about. This is just one of those random thoughts I've had.
Showing posts with label Language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Language. Show all posts
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Are Movies An Educational Expense?
On Tuesday night, I went to see Inception with a couple of other students. The first thing is that the movie was great! I was completely sold on the idea, I loved watching it happen and the idea is far-fetched but it is also just plausible enough to draw me in and suspend any disbelief. Even the very slim premise for him taking the job. I'm not going to give you a spoiler alert because this is the last that I will talk about the movie.
The movie experience here is very similar to home with a few exceptions. The first one is intermission. Yeah, there is an intermission in the middle of the movie. And it is actually in Davkah the middle of the movie. In this case, it was right in the middle of a great action scene and the lights just turned on.
I also loved the subtitles. The movie was in English, but there were Hebrew subtitles. It was great! I while I was trying to watch the movie, I tried to follow the subtitles at the bottom of the screen. What a great way to test my Hebrew. I know the story, I know what is happening because the actual movie is in English. Yet I was learning real Hebrew words. It's not that I haven't been learning anything in Hebrew class or in Ulpan. It's just different to see words that people would understand and would use in day to day live.
I really enjoyed the fact that when the characters would yell out, "Jesus Christ!" The subtitle would read, "אלהים" (Elohim!). Not quite what I would expect, but something I would actually want to know about the day to day language.
So my question persists, if I start going to tons of movies to practice my Hebrew, does this count as an educational expense?
Davkah is a Hebrew word that in day to day language doesn't have a real meaning in English. From what I understand, it can be used to mean exactly. But if said with a sarcastic tone, it implies the exact opposite.
Elohim is the Hebrew word for God, in a specific sense, the God of the Jewish people. El is the term for god. Without going into a philosophical discussion, just take Elohim to mean God.
The movie experience here is very similar to home with a few exceptions. The first one is intermission. Yeah, there is an intermission in the middle of the movie. And it is actually in Davkah the middle of the movie. In this case, it was right in the middle of a great action scene and the lights just turned on.
I also loved the subtitles. The movie was in English, but there were Hebrew subtitles. It was great! I while I was trying to watch the movie, I tried to follow the subtitles at the bottom of the screen. What a great way to test my Hebrew. I know the story, I know what is happening because the actual movie is in English. Yet I was learning real Hebrew words. It's not that I haven't been learning anything in Hebrew class or in Ulpan. It's just different to see words that people would understand and would use in day to day live.
I really enjoyed the fact that when the characters would yell out, "Jesus Christ!" The subtitle would read, "אלהים" (Elohim!). Not quite what I would expect, but something I would actually want to know about the day to day language.
So my question persists, if I start going to tons of movies to practice my Hebrew, does this count as an educational expense?
Davkah is a Hebrew word that in day to day language doesn't have a real meaning in English. From what I understand, it can be used to mean exactly. But if said with a sarcastic tone, it implies the exact opposite.
Elohim is the Hebrew word for God, in a specific sense, the God of the Jewish people. El is the term for god. Without going into a philosophical discussion, just take Elohim to mean God.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Immersion Is Rough
Unlike the summer school that students need to take to make up classes in high school, summer school this year is awesome if anything. The immersion into Hebrew is intense and difficult. I continually run into the issue of not understanding what our teacher is talking about. But she is speaking about 95% in Hebrew the entire time. We get the benefit of a few words thrown in here and there when it seems as though we don't really know what's going on.
The issue I keep having is that about 75% of the time, I don't know what she's talking about. I'm really glad that Renana taught us to just go with the flow though. I talked with Marina about it and it really seems beneficial to just try to understand most of that she is saying while teaching grammar or reading a story in class. It is great knowing that the majority of what is going on I'm able to keep up with. It means that this has all been worthwhile getting up to speed.
I also really like the makeup of our class. It seems like a really good mix of students and most of us seem to be in the same boat. Hopefully we will get our books tomorrow and we can start to learn out of them. We've been doing stuff that is all out of photocopies right now. I'm still trying to get used to the idea of spending from 8:30 - 1:00 each day on the same subject. We do get about 45 minutes of breaks but it's a long time to then head home and do some homework.
I haven't been only learning Hebrew though for the last two days. Yesterday, after Hebrew class, the Cantillation classes were started. I was so excited to learn that I took both classes! Well, that's not exactly why I sat in for both.
I've read Torah a long time ago, but the past few years, teaching sixth grade, I've had the chance to be in the room while the B'nei Mitzvah students start learning trope. Yes, osmosis works for this. Just by being in the room and looking over their shoulders I have been able to pick up quite a bit of trope. So after sitting in three-hours of Torah Chanting class, I think I found where I fit. I just need to get my voice back into the shape it was during the session that I took my singing class at the University of Minnesota. I guess that one was such a slouch of a class after all.
After the first day of class we had the chance to learn by "Walking the Psalms through Jerusalem." Rabbi Wilfond lead a cool tour of the city interspersed with various text studies that we read or sang as we learned about the area we were in. This city is really starting to grow on me for all of it's problems.
Before I run off to Tisha B'Av services, I wanted to quickly note one of Israel's most famous problems; bureaucracy. Most things around here take talking to four of five people and even then you need to shout and make yourself heard. I was told this would be especially hard at the Misrad HaPanim, the Ministry that is in charge of handing out visas. I was told to go through their motions and expect nothing to get done until I show up and wait outside the office. Sometimes people actually do what they are supposed to, so you can believe my surprise when I got an email from school telling me that the Ministry called to set up my appointment. YEA!
As I'm signing off for now, I want to leave you with a picture that is here only because Kaitlin asked me for it. As you look at the picture below just imagine Adam Sandler singing,
"I've got my lunch packed up,
My boots tied tight,
I hope I don't get in a fight,
Back to school,
Back to school,
Back to school."
The issue I keep having is that about 75% of the time, I don't know what she's talking about. I'm really glad that Renana taught us to just go with the flow though. I talked with Marina about it and it really seems beneficial to just try to understand most of that she is saying while teaching grammar or reading a story in class. It is great knowing that the majority of what is going on I'm able to keep up with. It means that this has all been worthwhile getting up to speed.
I also really like the makeup of our class. It seems like a really good mix of students and most of us seem to be in the same boat. Hopefully we will get our books tomorrow and we can start to learn out of them. We've been doing stuff that is all out of photocopies right now. I'm still trying to get used to the idea of spending from 8:30 - 1:00 each day on the same subject. We do get about 45 minutes of breaks but it's a long time to then head home and do some homework.
I haven't been only learning Hebrew though for the last two days. Yesterday, after Hebrew class, the Cantillation classes were started. I was so excited to learn that I took both classes! Well, that's not exactly why I sat in for both.
I've read Torah a long time ago, but the past few years, teaching sixth grade, I've had the chance to be in the room while the B'nei Mitzvah students start learning trope. Yes, osmosis works for this. Just by being in the room and looking over their shoulders I have been able to pick up quite a bit of trope. So after sitting in three-hours of Torah Chanting class, I think I found where I fit. I just need to get my voice back into the shape it was during the session that I took my singing class at the University of Minnesota. I guess that one was such a slouch of a class after all.
After the first day of class we had the chance to learn by "Walking the Psalms through Jerusalem." Rabbi Wilfond lead a cool tour of the city interspersed with various text studies that we read or sang as we learned about the area we were in. This city is really starting to grow on me for all of it's problems.
Before I run off to Tisha B'Av services, I wanted to quickly note one of Israel's most famous problems; bureaucracy. Most things around here take talking to four of five people and even then you need to shout and make yourself heard. I was told this would be especially hard at the Misrad HaPanim, the Ministry that is in charge of handing out visas. I was told to go through their motions and expect nothing to get done until I show up and wait outside the office. Sometimes people actually do what they are supposed to, so you can believe my surprise when I got an email from school telling me that the Ministry called to set up my appointment. YEA!
As I'm signing off for now, I want to leave you with a picture that is here only because Kaitlin asked me for it. As you look at the picture below just imagine Adam Sandler singing,
"I've got my lunch packed up,
My boots tied tight,
I hope I don't get in a fight,
Back to school,
Back to school,
Back to school."
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