A) Upon taking SDLP 105 and 110, I had a great yearning to reconnect with my past Hebrew-learning experiences. Despite a whole semester of discontinuation, I regained a latent love for the language with this course as guidance. In the modern universe, culture and language combine for a highly desired commodity in which a leash of force either directs the learner in a positive formation, or, its amoral counterpart: one that bears fruitless should he or she opt out of procuring this quality. As a language learner, many variables stand before you that either facilitate or make more challenging the quest. For example, immersion in a society obviously presents advantages and could certainly help spearhead the learning process. Moreover, with great access come great opportunity. Needless to say, I could not parallel that learning environment sitting in my bedroom here at the University of Richmond — no matter the fantastic resources therein. However, with determination, one could prevail according to his or her ability. The latter — determination — defines my language process and stands as a good evaluation of my progress. I have come to learn to accept the platitude that gets thrown around in the language sphere: to learn a language requires active involvement with the language itself. I have also learned that to succeed one needs to take it to another level. Using the language on daily — at times weekly — basis provides for a grounds whereupon success could be won. Not the language, not the grammar nor the accent, but that which requires you to match your desire with the reality is what brought upon the most difficulty. I have enjoyed the reconnection with a language I have grown to love, despite its aggressive, almost sieving-out-the-stong-from-the-weak type environment the language entails. I revel in the notion that one day I will be able to reconcile the trial of learning it with the joy of conversing with the great people of Israel. I will continue to learn the language as my desire to learn transfers from once a geopolitical reasoning to a personal touch. I don't know how I will do this, but I will.
I have learned a great deal of Hebrew this semester. I have a better understanding of hot to give and take directions when conversing with someone. I have a more concrete picture of how to converse in a restaurant from "Can I make a reservation," to "Do you deliver," and many in between. It is interesting to see my progress here in the United States vis-a-vis that of my progress in Israel. On the one hand, it is easier because I am studying Hebrew in a graded environment -- whereas in Israel, this may not have been my immediate goal as more time than not I was just trying to get by with living in the "now," and not learning for the future. However, on the other, it is clearly much more difficult as I cannot learn from my environment, I cannot apply as readily, and I cannot love it as much. A difficulty I ran into was allocating equal time to my goals. I did very well with my direction and restaurant goals, but, I lacked with my social goal. I believe this is okay because this is the first time I have taken a self-directed learning program. Next time, I will learn from my previous mistakes!
B) The readings provided ancillary information to my time spent in Israel as it has either corroborated or forced me to reconfigure my notions on the Israeli society. One, in particular, stood out, however. The “About the Study of Culture” readings were salient in that they articulated my conceptions and organized them into coherent categories wherein further knowledge was stored. For example, the “Big C” and “little c,” among others, afforded my a clear understanding of the overarching term “culture.” Moreover, the cultural dimensions enumerated different subsets within a culture, and therefore gave me a better outline when dissecting the Israeli culture in the cultural posts such as their view of time and family. Lastly, I would like to learn more about the tentative bridges amongst the vastly diverse demographics Israel boasts. These cleavages have many implications for Israel’s prosperity as well as security wellbeing.
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