When prepping for vacation, I am sure we all do very similar things: Find a new swimsuit, try to lose a little weight to rock that new swimsuit, and plan out what restaurant we will hit up (unless I am the only one who views eateries as major attractions…). My goal this month adds one more to my vacation to do list: I need to work on my Hebrew.
Yes, Hebrew. My second language is Hebrew, and it has been six years since I have used it. I am 144 days until I return to Israel, and I want to be ready. It’s not like I was exceptionally fluent the last time I was there, and it definitely hasn’t gotten better since then (grad school and opening a photography business kind of took precedence). I don’t expect to master the language in four months, I do want to up my fluency so I can do more than just point and say a word.
How do I plan to do this?
1.) GO BACK TO ROSETTA STONE
Rosetta Stone is a major help. There some flaws, specifically that it teaches a super-formal version of the language, but it does lay some pretty solid foundational blocks. Once this foundation is set, I can use other sources to get some of the slang down.
2.) INCORPORATE LIVING LANGUAGE: HEBREW INTO MY PRACTICE
This is one of the additional resources that I feel really supplement Rosetta Stone. This is a book series I found on Amazon, and it was very helpful back in the day. We’ll see if it still is.
3.) WATCH TV + LISTEN TO MUSIC
Immersion is the best way to learn any language. Hebrew is pretty niche, so immersion outside of Israel in the middle of Minnesota is hard (and please note that there is a difference between Biblical Hebrew—what I hear at synagogue—and Modern Hebrew). Watching and listening to Hebrew language media is pretty helpful. A favorite is Hatufim, which is the OG Homeland.
Do you have any language learning tips? I would love to hear them—please drop them in the comments below!
First Things First is a personal blog series published at the beginning of each month to spell out goals, dreams, and ambitions…find previous FTF articles here!
