One of the amazing things about Israel is they give new Olim(Immigrants) five months of free Hebrew education which they call Ulpan. Not only do you get to learn the holy language for free, but it's a great place to start out with because you are usually among people who are going through the same thing you are and can be a good support system. It's also a cultural experience because you get to meet people from all over the world. I met people from England, Russia, Australia, Poland, Yemin, and even a Pakistani couple. It was a diverse group of people from all different religious backgrounds so you learn about people's different view points of things and where they come from. They also take you on trips around Israel with the group which is another chance to bond with everyone, as well as experience Israel.
There were some challenges that I faced during Ulpan. One of the challenges was the intensity of it. It is hard for me to sit for four hrs straight learning a language (and a hard one at that). There was a quiz every week, and homework. It's hard balancing having time to study and do homework, while having to raise kids and all the other things that come along with moving to another country. Time is something that I felt I never had enough of and felt like I was always running. I was placed in Aleph which is the beginners class. Beginners class in my eyes is starting from scratch like learning the Aleph Beis and learning to read with vowels along and going from there. However that's not what they mean by beginners. In Aleph, they already expect you to know how to read Hebrew and write in script. I knew how to read Hebrew (not like a pro though) with vowels, or read without vowels (which is what we did through the whole class) but did not know script, and they tested us on script on our first day. The next day the teacher spoke me and told her I need to retake the test. So I studied hard, and in two weeks I was able to retake the test again, and this time I passed! While it is mentally challenging to the point where at the end of class we all usually let out a simultaneous groan from a hard day of work, the class does motivate you to work harder than you normally would on your own. There is a lot of reading out loud in class and the teacher often will ask you what the answer is to a question on the board, so you need to be paying attention or you won't get it. You also speak to each other in Hebrew and are expected to know how to ask the question and respond back appropriately. Even if you are someone who is on the lazy side and wouldn't normally do all the homework, your ego will probably get the best of you and make you study because you don't want to sound look like a noob in front of everyone.
It's was my first time being taught by an Israeli, which was a cultural experience also. I didn't know what to expect because Israeli's are described as the people who are like the prickly pear that grows in the dessert. The plant is hard on the outside, but soft and sweet on the inside. My teacher was not even hard on the outside, she was a very kind and patient person and I loved having her as a teacher. I thought she handled herself very well with all the different questions coming at her and all the people from different backgrounds bringing up controversial topics (not always having to do with Hebrew) but she handled everything very gracefully and with a sense of humor. I feel blessed to be able to have had her as my first Israeli teacher. I think teachers here are more chill and open than I'm used to in the States, which is why I think she handled the controversial questions and comments well because in Israel she said they speak about these things with their students. They can speak about things like religion, politics, and other serious topics. If people learn new things that are true then it's great, however if teachers are teaching things that are not true, it's a problem which is why there are good and bad things to being so open in a classroom.
One of my fellow students blew me away with another cultural experience. He joked a lot and did the Asian squinty eyes thing at me at least twice. When I told people I used to be in the Air Force he asked if I was part of the Kamikaze's and another person in the group also did the squinty eye thing and laughed. I was blown away at how insensitive they were, I wasn't offended but more shocked than anything, because I really don't believe they were doing it with malice. I just think they didn't think about how that could be taken in an offensive way. Maybe because they were from different countries their culture isn't sensitive to things like that I don't know but that was another experience.
At the end of Ulpan, you get a written test and an Oral test. I actually passed my oral test, which was a huge surprise because I said not long ago that I doubt I would pass this class. Every time I succeed in doing something that I found to be really hard, I feel like I experienced just a hint of what it must have felt like for Chris Gardner in the movie "Pursuit of Happiness," when he was told that he got the job he had been working so hard to get. I didn't have time to practice more than an hr a day, and some how made it through. I would practice more before quizzes or tests. There was one quiz every week usually. It feels so good to have completed Aleph, but I will miss the people, and feel so grateful to have had this opportunity. I plan on working with a tutor about twice a week to practice reading and speaking and having her work on pronunciation with me, and I will continue to practice the things I've learned to make sure I retain the foundation of this amazing language and hope to one day G-d willing be fluent!
