For my first post about learning Hebrew, I want to start by talking about my goals and what I hope to gain from this experience and class. My motivation for learning Hebrew has always been very personal and rooted in my family. My dad is from Israel, and his entire side of the family lives there. While my dad speaks English, and that is how I usually communicate with him, many of my relatives in Israel do not speak English at all. Especially my younger cousins. My grandma never really spoke English, and I regret not being able to communicate better with her. Because of this, communicating with them has always been difficult, and conversations often feel limited or incomplete due to the language barrier. That frustration is one of the main reasons I want to learn Hebrew: to feel more connected to my family and to be able to communicate with them more naturally.
When I tell people that I want to learn Hebrew, they often assume that my reasons are religious. This is actually not true, and I find it kind of amusing. I never had a bat mitzvah, and I know very little about biblical Hebrew or religious texts. My interest in Hebrew is not about religion at all; it is purely about communication. I want to learn modern Hebrew so I can speak with my family members and understand their conversations. And honestly, I would love to just have conversations with my Dad in Hebrew at home.
I do already know some Hebrew, and I want to continue building on what I have learned. At this point, I would consider my speaking and listening skills to be somewhere around an intermediate level. I can understand simpler conversations and usually get the general idea of what is being said. If necessary, I can communicate basic thoughts and responses. However, my biggest weakness is reading and writing. I cannot read or write Hebrew at all. I could probably recognize my name, and that’s it.
Because of this, my goals for learning Hebrew are pretty clear. First, I want to become conversationally fluent. I want to be able to hold full conversations, express myself clearly, and understand others without constantly translating in my head. I do not need to learn biblical Hebrew or advanced academic language; my focus is on everyday conversation. I believe this goal is achievable, especially if I practice speaking regularly with native speakers.
At the same time, I will be starting from almost zero when it comes to reading and writing. One of my main goals is to learn the Hebrew alphabet and understand how it works. I want to learn how letters connect, how words are structured, and how pronunciation ties into reading. I think this will also improve my speaking skills overall. While I do not expect to be reading or writing full sentences anytime soon, I do hope to become comfortable recognizing and writing common words and phrases. Ultimately, my goal is to feel more confident, capable, and connected through the language.
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