Monthly Lang. Journal 2

[Jacob Goldfarb]

In the second month we were mainly focused on the vowel system or niqqud. I was excited to move onto this part of the language because with this knowledge is how Hebrew can actually be used in the real world. We first went over what vowels in Hebrew are and how they are used. We went over how the vowels differ from English in the sense that they are not distinct letters. Instead, vowels for a beginner are added to a letter and they make that letter have a distinct sound. Once someone becomes proficient enough for speakers who are more advanced then there is no need for the vowels because they are simply anticipated and someone can interpret how a given word sounds based on reading it. For my level of Hebrew I would be using the vowels to assist in my interpretation of the language. We went over some strategies of memorization that would help me memorize the vowels and how to identify each. I watched a video and played a hand game that uses hand motions to help me learn each vowel and what they would look like when attached to a given letter. I practiced the making the sounds of AH, EH, EE, OH, OOH, AY which were distinct from aeiou for English vowels. This really helped me because I became familiar with the differences and made me fluid with pronouncing the vowels. Repetition really helped me in this case because it is a lot easier for me to memorize content when I am exposed to it over and over. Next, we moved on to actually reading letters and short words with the letters and vowels attached. Initially, this was very challenging for me because it is hard not to be eager to read quickly. A lot of the time I would be sitting there and trying to come up with what sound the letter made while attaching the vowel sound. Some rules also really tripped me up like when reading words with a vowel on one letter, the next letter would be silent in some cases. This made it so a lot of the time I would use a vowel at the end of the letter when I did not need to. This really does not sound like a big deal at first glance but the issue with Hebrew is that these mistakes can make a word completely interpretable or even change the word to a different word. This also really inhibited my speed of utilizing the vowels because I was worried that I would forget these rules. Nevertheless, with practice and time I became able to recognize these aspects and became more confident in my ability in the long run. Eventually, I was reading short sentences while using vowels as well as speaking simpler words quite well. As far as my emotions during this part of learning was concerned I was pretty optimistic. I felt like as long as I practiced I would be able to move on and start reading more advanced sentences on my own. Overall, learning vowels to eventually be able to speak and read well was a successful endeavor.