Final Reflection on the semester

[David R. Stevens]

My experiences with the self-directed learning at UR has been very beneficial to my learning of the Hebrew language.   Working with Shir has been such a positive of my last semester.   We had a very flexible schedule together, but we always got together and worked on Hebrew.  I was shocked at how quickly I was learning the language by studying it on my own, but most of all my talking and listening to Shir.   Shir and I met at many different places over the course of the semester.  We explored the city of Richmond together, walked along some parks and tried out different restaurants.  At each location we would talk about the location in Hebrew and then talk about our week, how things were going, and what tests or papers we had coming up.   In addition, I was most excited about learning how to read the first page of my Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone book in Hebrew.   I bought the book in Israel and when I bought it I made a goal to myself that I would do my best to try and learn Hebrew well enough to begin to read the book.   I still have a lot more reading comprehension and recognition of vocabulary to work on; however, I truly feel comfortable entering into a beginning conversation in Hebrew with someone.  If anyone wants to know about food, or ask me how I am doing.  I feel comfortable having an introductory conversation with that person.