For this week's journal entry, I tried to do some reading in my target language. I know how to "read" Hebrew in that I know the phonetics of the letters - I know what sounds they make, I know what direction I should be reading, all of those things. However, I do not know the meaning of what I am reading, and that obviously makes reading difficult. I figured that for my first reading exercise, I could try reading something that has meaning that can easily be applied. I decided to start with an online Israeli newspaper. I figured a newspaper is a good place to start because I can become familiar with the labels of different paper sections, and by looking at the content of each section, I can guess what the label might mean.
For example: מזג אוויר was the link that lead me to a map of temperatures and weather around the state of Israel. When I plugged this word into google translate, it means "weather". Additionally, דעות was the link that brought me to a picture of Obama shaking hands with Mr. Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister. I guessed that this had something to do with international or political news. When plugged into google translate (sidenote: I admit this is not necessarily the most reliable site), the translation was "opinions". That is a hard one that I never would have guessed.
I think the online newspaper tool is a really good idea. It provides enough context that you can figure words out. For someone like me, being able to read and pronounce things without knowing meaning provides a perfect background to use an online site like a newspaper. I need to try more of these sites more often!
Comments