Hebrew: Yes, ‘It’s Complicated’ - but hardly impossible.

I was asked to write a short article or essay about the difficulties of learning Hebrew for the Organizer of the program I am on.  Having studied German and Spanish, I find Hebrew from a familiarity standpoint obviously much more difficult, but the grammar is far easier than other languages with fewer irregularities.  I decided to focus on some of the larger difficulties in learning a language that has shifted from being spoken only as a holy language to being spoken on the street, and the implications of that decision for learning Hebrew.

Below are my thoughts:


Everything in Israel can be summed up in one simple phrase, “It’s complicated.”  The study of Hebrew is assuredly not excluded from this summation, especially with the unfamiliar alphabet as I, like many here, are coming from an English speaking background with the English alphabet.  That being said, Hebrew isn’t that hard to learn if you put in the time and energy, and the process can be very rewarding.  Of course, like any language, there is a lot of vocabulary – but, Hebrew has common roots for many words, and thus, in the same manner in which one can use their latin to deduce the meaning of many English words, Hebrew words can be ‘figured’ out often by looking to the root of the word.  Add in the fact that the grammar thus far has remained far from complicated with few irregularities, and you have a conquerable system given the proper time and preparation.  From a logical standpoint, most of the Hebrew I have encountered so far makes sense.

In my opinion, there are two fundamental obstacles to learning Hebrew.  The first is time.  Even with Oranim offering twice the amount of Ulpan as required by MASA, it is not nearly enough formal training.  The second, indirectly related to the first obstacle, is language degradation – the introduction of Hebrew as a language spoken on the street, not just in synagogue, and thus subsequent introduction of slang has deteriorated the language proper from it’s history of being spoken in a precise manner in a religious setting, where the accuracy of pronunciation was an art form.  

The languages degradation came up in conversation with Mazi Dror, one of the city coordinators for Ramla, I discussed my difficulty in determining when to use certain letters that sound the same – my example being the two silent consonants.

“ע and א don’t actually sound the same, they come from different parts of the throat,” Mazi explained to me.  She continued, “but on the street, it’s difficult to discern that when most Israeli’s aren’t speaking perfect Hebrew – or anything close.”

Spending time listening to spoken Hebrew and practicing reading is critical, it helps the ear acclimate and exposure helps us differentiate words from what can sound at first like chaos.  But, it is also critical to have, in excess, formal training in order to be able to understand the nuances to properly communicate (this becomes especially important for reading print which lacks vowels, and requires the reader to recognize words based solely on the consonants).

Learning to communicate in Hebrew is a formidable project, one that takes great energy and time.  Simple barriers like an unfamiliar alphabet can appear daunting to begin – and then when you finally master it, it’s further complicated when all the vowels disappear.  You read and write in two different scripts, neither of which are familiar to the English alphabet.  Then, once students are able to read, they must comprehend.  And finally, there is the task of creating their own sentences, conveying their thoughts and ideas in logical and coherent sentences.  Success in mastering a language comes from exposure and formal training, both are equally important.  There are numerous simple barriers, the א – ב, in script and print form, the unfamiliar sounds, and the lack of common language ancestry to English.  But these are surmountable obstacles.  The real difficulty comes in learning a language that is dynamic is that it is constantly evolving, gaining and losing information by the simple act of being used in every day life, and so in parallel we area learning from a book with missing pages.

If you want to learn, and you are willing to put in the time then you will learn.  Yes it takes time and effort and tremendous amounts of energy and dedication, and yes, it’s absolutely worth it.