The following was my Learning Plan

1. Enrich vocabulary
2. work on pronunciation
3. work on reading without vowels
4. work on speaking with Emily
5. learn to construct correct sentences
6. work on spelling and texting

 To do this we will:

     Read short stories (once Emily can find a couple online)

     Watch youtube videos in Hebrew about something

     Work through my workbook

Lessons will be:  15 minutes of talking in Hebrew about:  our day, school, life, the weekend, and trying to incorporate words that we are learning in the workbook and the short stories.

     Reflection:  I believe that this semester was 100% successful.  Emily and I know each other, we are friends now and we can understand each other.  I had difficulties with Emily's method of speaking Hebrew, she was a little fast and would stop me in mid-sentence to correct me if I used improper grammar.   I found this initially very irritating because i would then lose my train of thought.  However, this really helped me because I am making much less mistakes in the present tense.  In the past tense I am still making some mix ups, but also the words begin are jumble a bit.  The past tense begins to have lots of consonants, which make it very difficult to speak.   

    I over the semester my reading has truly improved.   I have been steadily working through my workbook and I can usually understand every prompt and work through it.  However, reading through the story at the end of my Final showed me how much I had truly learned this semester.  I was able to slowly make my way through the long paragraph and understand most of the sentences.  I had difficulty with some of the questions because there were a few sentences that didn't make full sense because I didn't know three or four words in a row so I would lose the meaning behind the sentence but I knew the overall gist of the paragraph.   

   i still struggle with listening and comprehending.  That will come with more time listening to Hebrew and more speaking.  I will most definitely get better at that while abroad, because everyone will be speaking Hebrew around me and I want to be able to understand them.  

    My typing skills have most definitely improved this semester, I can type on my personal laptop without the onscreen Hebrew keyboard.  I know relatively where every letter is located on the keyboard to type words.  I am still much slower typing Hebrew than English, but that will come with time :)   

This has been a great semester for learning about something cultural.   This past summer when I was in Israel I learned that the refugees were a problem in Southern Tel Aviv.  I walked through Levinksky Park and I saw people sleeping on benches, I saw some stores closed with signs stating that the business was illegal.   I also talked with some of the asylum seekers and heard their stories.   Listening to their stories made me want to learn more about the situation.   I mentioned the problem and what I learned about it to a friend in Israel and he had a totally different viewpoint on the situation.   He identified with the Israelis who state that if they give them refugee status then they will settle in Israel and it will be a drain on the resources.  I found his viewpoint very narrow minded at first, but because I respect him, I decided that I would look into the situation myself and read up on what was happening.   

Having now been informed on the situation, I believe that both sides have very valid points.   It is true that Israel has a limited amount of resources and giving refugee status would drain the resources tremendously.  However, if the asylum seekers are given refugee status then Israel can send them to other countries.  Nonetheless, the other countries have to be willing to take in those refugees and every time Israel has tried to send them to Germany, Spain, Italy or any other country they have been denied.  The US has not offered to take in the refugees when asked.   I find this very sad.  It's tragic that we do not help our fellow human.   I understand both sides of the story, I just wish that things were better and other countries would open their arms to the refugees.  History always repeats itself, refugees have never been welcome to any country, there has always been discrimination against refugees.  

However there is hope, the story about how Israel is sending aid to Jordan to help the Syrian refugees warmed my heart and showed me that there is some hope.  Israel is playing the political game, but staying morally right by helping those in need.  

 By knowing this information about the culture of Israel, it enlightens me to know about another political situation that is not often heard of.  It is another source of tension.  I always believe it is best to be aware of all of the tension spots so you can avoid them.

David Stevens Hebrew Culture Presentation on Refugees in Israel

The following link is a link to a Children's TV show.  This is for children.   The songs are very basic, but go over very good verb conjugations and belongings to.   Also, it brings up basic vocabulary.  In this list of songs is the song "If you're happy and you know it".   It was great to hear this song and start trying to learn it :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSddhdC_FzA&list=PLla4dPBUV93ETsCZRwRTvT5jX47NHtz--

http://www.dw.de/israels-open-refugee-detention-centers/a-17261176

   This article written on November 29, 2013,  The subject of Refugees is a very hot subject in Israel.  This article was talking about how hard it is for people seeking asylum to arrive in Israel.  Only 34 people have crossed into Israel since the border walls were erected in January.   All 34 were detained in an asylum center and spent numerous months in the detention center.   This article follows the story of one of the refugees from Africa and his story.   Even though his reason for coming to Israel was because his home country was unsafe and he was fleeing from the persecution, the police when they released him put on his identification card that he was in Israel for work.   He was then put on a bus with the other 34 refugees and driven to South Tel Aviv, Levinksy Park.   This park is the home to hundreds of refugees.   Because the refugees are seeking some way to sustain themselves, they turn to petty crimes for food.   Legislators have been working to try and get work for the thousands of refugees in southern Tel Aviv.  However, all policies have been knocked down and vetoed because if Israel allows the refugees to work, they will settle, have children, and more refugees will come to Israel seeking shelter.  Israel is a small country, although it is very prosperous, the resources are limited and Israel is already strained without trying to be self-sustaining and accommodating the refugees.   Legislation was passed to shorten the detention the time of refugees in the asylum camps and quicken the deportation time.   

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.554153

http://www.timesofisrael.com/dahlan-israel-agreed-to-absorb-200000-refugees/

http://refugeesinternational.org/policy/field-report/hope-hold-african-asylum-seekers-israel

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/imig.12070/pdf

Yesterday, legislation was passed to shorten the detention time in asylum camps to one year, but detention camps now have an indefinite time.   Legislators fighting for the rights of refugees have vowed that the political battle has only begun in Israel.  

John singing the body parts

This link is of John singing the body parts in Hebrew.  To get him to perform on camera was difficult, but he eventually allowed me to video tape.

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Israeli-group-quietly-feeding-Syrian-refugees-in-Jordan-329385

    I was now interested in learning about how Israel IS helping out the Refugees.  My next cultural post will be an update on what is happening with the refugees but I found this article from October 22, 2013 to be quite compelling.   A company called IsraAid is provided anonymous support to the Syrian refugees in Syria and Jordan.  This company has raised over $100,000 to help the refugees in this area and are gaining more and more help daily.  70 volunteers cross the border to Jordan weekly with medicine, food, and supplies.   Just because the country of Israel is not as friendly to refugees as some people would like does not mean that the country does not support or help with refugees across the world.  IsraAid is a non-profit, NGO, that has provided aid to other countries such as Japan, Kenya and Haiti.   IsraAid is currently working on bringing Social Workers to Jordan and Syria to help with the psychological trauma of warfare.  

http://israaid.co.il/projects/jordan

Going straight to the website IsraAid, I was able to learn a bit more about the project and the statistics.  They estimate that there are over 6.8 million people who are in need of humanitarian efforts.  This was astonishing to me.  Their efforts they have distributed over 10 tons of supplies to the refugees and helped over 7,000 people.  

These last two weeks we continued on with the book and we began preparing for my Hebrew exam for Hebrew University.  We began drilling verbs and vocabulary.  

I have included in one of the pages that I worked on where I had to talk about my I was sick with different illnesses and where I feel sick or hurt.  

Both weeks Emily and I met, we went to Dhall and worked through the workbook.  We watch a funny comedy skit where the guys were talking about being abducted by aliens.  He made a lot of jokes that I did not understand.  Emily and I listened through it all the way through then, we stopped after every sentence to translate  I did not know many of the words.

I decided to teach my friend John the Hebrew body parts and it was quite an experience.  I was not expecting the difficulties of teaching her how to pronounce certain words.   I have become so used to certain sounds that words are beginning to flow and just sound right pronounced a certain way.   The following is my outline for the lesson.  It turned out really well.

Learning Plan for Teaching the Body Parts in Hebrew

• Repeat after me

• Review body parts five times
• Sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" - ""ראש. כתפיים.  ברך.  רג
• Review Body Parts again

Both weeks Emily and I went through the book and we spent some time off campus and spoke Hebrew.   I am getting better and feeling much more comfortable speaking and listening to her talk as long as she speaks slowly, which is still annoying for her. :/  

I feel like how Emily and I are working on Hebrew is really helping me and I am improving a lot.  I feel much more fluent in my reading.  There is still a lot of vocabulary that I do not know.   This is evident when I try to have conversations with Emily.   There will be many times in our conversations that I will slow down, stop, think and then start talking.  She will immediately correct me.  Because of my limited vocabulary I need to be innovative with my words and find a way around what I am trying to say instead of outright using vocabulary I do not know.   Emily and I are working on this, I still find it difficult to remember vocabulary that she has told me during the day.    We are working through this by writing down some vocabulary that I do not know.  However, this is impeding the flow of our conversations.   We are still working on ways around this.

For this first post I read a recent article and looked on two different websites:  

http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Israel-approved-just-4-refugee-requests-out-of-2593-in-2013-328783

http://ardc-israel.org/en/content/refugees-israel

http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e4864b6.html

     I found these articles very interesting.   Israel and Yemen are the only two states in the Middle East to have signed the 1951 Refugee Convention.  This document defines a refugee, gives the refugee rights and gives the state certain obligations towards the refugee.   Other countries in the Middle East take in refugees because of similar religious affiliations and hospitality towards other Arab nations; however not all of the time do these refugee camps meet the 1951 Refugee Convention guidelines or standards.

    Although Israel has signed the 1951 document, Israel still has many difficulties handling the refugee population.  One of the solution was called "Hot Returns", which in June 2011 was challenged to be against basic human rights.  For one of these "Hot Returns", refugees seeking asylum would be rounded up and deported back to their country of origin.   In 2012 hundreds of people originating from South Sudan and the Ivory Coast were deported back to their country once the country was deemed safe by the State of Israel.  

    Many refugees seeking asylum come to Israel by walking across the Sinai desert through Egypt and arrive in Israel dehydrated and starving.   They come to Israel seeking jobs and place to live.  Already facing difficulties with water and self sustaining food, Israel is caught in a catch 22.   In January of 2013 a fence was built on the Sinai border greatly reducing the number of refugees coming across the border seeking shelter in Israel.  If a refugee makes it across to Israel then they are thrown into a legal limbo that can span the course of over five years.  The anti-infiltration law in 2012, which was revoked in September of 2013 by the Supreme Court as a violation of human rights, allowed the government to jail refugees for three years until they decide to do something with the refugees.  

      Out of the 2,593 refugees requests for 2013 only 4 people were granted refugee status.   Out of the 1,133 humanitarian refugee requests since 2009 only 540 people have been given refugee status.   Evidently the dilemna of what to do with the numerous refugees from Africa and Syria is a growing problem that Israel is trying to figure out right now. 

Both weeks Emily and I met up and I worked on my book some more.   I was able to skype with Emily's mother and speak to her mother.  This opportunity allowed me to speak with someone else in Hebrew.  In addition writing out my vocabulary words, allows me to work on my Hebrew typing skills and I realized this week while typing that I had the general layout of the Hebrew keyboard memorized. 

This week Emily and I worked through my workbook some more and talked about some TV shows that we watched.  We watched Arthur.    We are still trying to find some website where we can watch Hebrew children's cartoons.  It isn't working right now.   We have only found Arthur.  I have watched two episodes this week.   I am still having trouble catching everything but I seem to be getting a bit better.  :)

This week Emily and I worked on the parts of the body :) :)   Head - ראש      Shoulders -  כתפיים     Knees - ברך   Toes - אצבעות רגלים  

New words:    

Emily and I met this week and talk about the food in Dhall and went through five more pages of my booklet.   

Words I learned:  

1. Enrich vocabulary
2. work on pronunciation
3. work on reading without vowels
4. work on speaking with Emily
5. learn to construct correct sentences
6. work on spelling and texting

 To do this we will:

     Read short stories (once Emily can find a couple online)

     Watch youtube videos in Hebrew about something

     Work through my workbook

Lessons will be:  15 minutes of talking in Hebrew about:  our day, school, life, the weekend, and trying to incorporate words that we are learning in the workbook and the short stories

Emily and I met a couple of times this week and spoke Hebrew and I was able to go through 10 more pages of my book.

The following are some of the words I was able to learn: