After reviewing all of my journal entries and comparing all of the different programs I used and the means to which I self-directly taught myself Hebrew, I cannot help but feel a little impressed with myself. I have never had to teach myself a language before, and although my professors in the past have made it seem easy, in actuality, it is not at all! It is really interesting for me to see how my learning progressed over time and how my ideas concerning how to go about teaching myself Hebrew also changed. In the beginning, I thought I would simply be able to review YouTube videos, look over a Hebrew translation book, and download a program that helped me learned vocabulary. But in the end, my learning consisted of much more than that, and there were many times were I thought that I was not even getting anywhere. In fact, after the first two weeks, I could barely introduce myself in Hebrew, which needless to say, frustrated and stressed me out to no end!
Overall though, despite the frustration and casual throwing of one of the Hebrew books that I bought, I really liked the self-directed language structure. It was something completely new and different for me and I really had no expectations before starting the course. I knew it was going to be hard and I knew I was not going to walk away from the class completely fluent in Hebrew, but my goal was to learn as much Hebrew as I could, and I definitely think that I accomplished that goal.
In addition, this course also helped me to realize how much goes into learning a language. It is not just about grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, pronouns, etc. it is also about learning the culture that the language is used in. I have never been to Israel before, nor have I ever read a book or article about it until I took this class. However, if I ever want to truly be able to converse in Hebrew, it is important that I learn about the Jewish culture and the customs and traditions of those who speak it. That being said, I actually really enjoyed doing the cultural project. While I contemplated for a few days which topic I wanted to do my project on, I eventually came to the conclusion that I wanted to do it on bereavement practices in Judaism; a kind of morbid topic , I know, but one that I actually found to be very interesting. So, by doing these cultural projects and reading all about Jewish customs and traditions on my own, I really got a sense for what the Jewish religion is all about.
All in all, I really enjoyed this class and all that I have learned. The skills that I have learned will definitely be useful in the future, not just when it comes to learning languages but with self-directed learning in general. I needed to discipline myself night after night to ensure that I accomplished whatever goal I had for that day. I did not have a professor checking up on my progress or homework to turn in for a grade. I essentially was on my own and it was a lot harder than I anticipated, but it was worth it J. Looking back, I still wish I had had a language partner who spoke Hebrew to help me along the way. I think that he or she would have been able to guide me and to help me organize what I should learn and the order in which I should learn it. However, not having a language partner just ultimately met that I really self-directed myself when it came to learning Hebrew, but I end this course knowing how to count to ten, greet others, introduce myself, talk about my interests and recite vocabulary about family and professions. So, in the end, I am satisfied with my progress and am happy with what I have learned.
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