~ ~ ~ C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S ! ! ! ~ ~ ~
Jason finished his ulpan class today :)
To celebrate we ordered Burgers Bar and are blanning to watch a Futurama movie.
Showing posts with label Ulpan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ulpan. Show all posts
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
I have learned so much
כשבאתי לארץ לא יכלתי לדבר עברית. אני למדדתי באלפן. השתדלתי ללמוד עברית. היום יום אחרון של אלפן. מחר אני אקח את הבחינה. ביום ראשון אני אתחיל לעבוד. אני שמח עם כל הלימודים. אני אקווה להמשיך ללמוד עברית.
תודה רבה לורד על כל הלימודים. היא מורה מצויינת. גם תודה למיכל. היא מורה של יום אחד בשבוע. תודה רבה ליעל. היא עזרנו בכיתה.
עכשיב אני יכול לחצליח בארץ ישראל
תודה רבה לורד על כל הלימודים. היא מורה מצויינת. גם תודה למיכל. היא מורה של יום אחד בשבוע. תודה רבה ליעל. היא עזרנו בכיתה.
עכשיב אני יכול לחצליח בארץ ישראל
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Only in Israel Momnts (Ulpan, Shopping)
One thing that takes getting used to is teachers in Israel have a day off during the week. With a 6 day school week this makes sense. The same thing applies to Ulpan even though we only learn 4 days a week.
We have a regular second teacher that comes in on Mondays (except for weeks when she comes in on Tuesday). My regular teacher had two weeks of vacation time that she needed to use up before the end of the year. The second teacher is filling in while she is gone. The second teacher is unable to teach our class on Wednesday's because she teaches the newly formed pensioner's class down the hall. On Wednesday, I walked into class having no idea who would be substituting. It was my regular teacher. She is substituting for herself because there is no one else available.
We were doing our weekly grocery shopping tonight. One of the workers randomly walks up to Channah and offered her a lollipop.
We have a regular second teacher that comes in on Mondays (except for weeks when she comes in on Tuesday). My regular teacher had two weeks of vacation time that she needed to use up before the end of the year. The second teacher is filling in while she is gone. The second teacher is unable to teach our class on Wednesday's because she teaches the newly formed pensioner's class down the hall. On Wednesday, I walked into class having no idea who would be substituting. It was my regular teacher. She is substituting for herself because there is no one else available.
We were doing our weekly grocery shopping tonight. One of the workers randomly walks up to Channah and offered her a lollipop.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Touristy Stuff
One of the things they do in Ulpan is introduce Israeli culture. We often do stories about important people, places and events in Israeli history. On Thursday my Ulpan took a trip to Jerusalem. We visited the Supreme Court, Knesset and Menachim Begin Museum. The Supreme Court and Knesset were tours I had oppurtunities to take at other times when I was in Israel and choose to pass. This time it was worth going.
The first stop was the Supreme Court. After our whole group went through security a bag was left outside of security. They were getting nervous as noone in our group claimed it. As we were standing around a staff member from the floor above us managed to drop their cell phone near where a bunch of us were standing. We began the tour and left security to deal with their bag.
As this was Ulpan the tour was conducted in Hebrew. The guide was talking way to fast for me to register anything she was saying, even when she did use words I understood. Once we made it into the courtroom, she finally got the message to slow down. Either I understood half of what she said or I have a really off the deep end understanding of the court system. My favourite moment was when someone in my class got up and asked the guide a question in Russian. Her eyes just completly glazed over. Members of my class were happy to see that she now understood how we felt. I think we had an oppurtunity to see a case in action in the main courthouse, but we didn't have enough time.
The Supreme Court is a beautiful building. A lot of deep and well thought out symbolism was used representing important values of justice. I could not help but to think of recent court rulings that violated the principles incorporated into the building. A soldier sentenced to 21 days in jail for the crime of yawning. The ruling in favour of the forcible eviction of land legally purchased by Jews. There is overwhelming evidence the sale was not coerced. The only issue that seems to be at stake is the seller didn't know he was selling to Jews and is trying to avoid the death penalty.
The next stop was a short walk down to the Knesset. Security was extra tight with cell phone and cameras confisicated and stored in a bag until after the visit. I was surprised when I set off the medal detector. Without doing anything different I walked through a second time without doing anything different without setting of the medal detector. That meant a quick pat down of my pockets followed by a gruff "Welcome" afterwards. It is ammusing when Israeli security gaurds try to be friendly.
(The Knesset and Supreme Court have a Tadiran phone system. Although they are using the beige DKT phones which were discontinued a long time ago.) Our first stop was a video presentation. It was in Hebrew with Hebrew subtitles. Since it was designed as a promotional video, it was slow and clear combined with the writting I was able to understand a lot. We were given the option to watch it again as an English tour joined up with our group. Next we went to the Knesset floor. It struck me how American it was in design and layout. I really like to the pomp and ceremony of the Canadian system. The Knesset has a VIP gallery. Behind that is the public gallery which is behind sound proof glass. The tour guide explained the reason was because some once through a grenade in the old Knesset building and injured some people. The secondary reason was for noise control. I got a good laugh, as the second answer is probably the true one.
We then took the bus to the Menachim Begin Museum. It was a well done exhibit on the life story of Begin. It is amazing that someone could spend 26 years on the opposition benches before spending 6 years as Prime Minister. Each room had some sort of video on different parts of his life. There was even a room where you could select each and every election campaign he was a part of. Headphones were provided to translate the video into the language of choice. Between the different rooms there was usually an introduction given by our tour guide.
My favourite was there was a room set up with a table and chairs to simiulate Irgun planning meetings. On the left was a video of a street with a British Patrol. In front there was a monitor on the left with BBC broadcasts of various events. On the right was the same broadcast coming from the Israeli underground. There was another monitor to show events taking place. During the planning discussuion hands appeared on the tables and you could watch the planning take place. They covered the Akko prison break, King David Hotel, Soldier Hangings, Ship sinking. At one point a comment is made that there are too many British patrols as the monitor on the left shined a light into the entire room. It was a pretty simple but cool effect.
The only objection about the museum came from someone active for the Likud. They are commemorating 30 years since the Camp David accords next year. There are pictures of the Carter/Sadat/Begin handshake. He felt it was a government agenda to move the peace process forward. When I pointed out that they showed Begin saying "There will never be a Palestinian State" at the museum and at the Knesset. He said it was just there to cover up the government agenda.
The tour ended with a trip on an elevator. It was a round room that could hold 30 people. They played Begin's speech from 1978 on Ammunition Hill, about the importance of Jerusalem. When the doors open you get a beautiful view of the old city.
All in all it was a pretty good day.
The first stop was the Supreme Court. After our whole group went through security a bag was left outside of security. They were getting nervous as noone in our group claimed it. As we were standing around a staff member from the floor above us managed to drop their cell phone near where a bunch of us were standing. We began the tour and left security to deal with their bag.
As this was Ulpan the tour was conducted in Hebrew. The guide was talking way to fast for me to register anything she was saying, even when she did use words I understood. Once we made it into the courtroom, she finally got the message to slow down. Either I understood half of what she said or I have a really off the deep end understanding of the court system. My favourite moment was when someone in my class got up and asked the guide a question in Russian. Her eyes just completly glazed over. Members of my class were happy to see that she now understood how we felt. I think we had an oppurtunity to see a case in action in the main courthouse, but we didn't have enough time.
The Supreme Court is a beautiful building. A lot of deep and well thought out symbolism was used representing important values of justice. I could not help but to think of recent court rulings that violated the principles incorporated into the building. A soldier sentenced to 21 days in jail for the crime of yawning. The ruling in favour of the forcible eviction of land legally purchased by Jews. There is overwhelming evidence the sale was not coerced. The only issue that seems to be at stake is the seller didn't know he was selling to Jews and is trying to avoid the death penalty.
The next stop was a short walk down to the Knesset. Security was extra tight with cell phone and cameras confisicated and stored in a bag until after the visit. I was surprised when I set off the medal detector. Without doing anything different I walked through a second time without doing anything different without setting of the medal detector. That meant a quick pat down of my pockets followed by a gruff "Welcome" afterwards. It is ammusing when Israeli security gaurds try to be friendly.
(The Knesset and Supreme Court have a Tadiran phone system. Although they are using the beige DKT phones which were discontinued a long time ago.) Our first stop was a video presentation. It was in Hebrew with Hebrew subtitles. Since it was designed as a promotional video, it was slow and clear combined with the writting I was able to understand a lot. We were given the option to watch it again as an English tour joined up with our group. Next we went to the Knesset floor. It struck me how American it was in design and layout. I really like to the pomp and ceremony of the Canadian system. The Knesset has a VIP gallery. Behind that is the public gallery which is behind sound proof glass. The tour guide explained the reason was because some once through a grenade in the old Knesset building and injured some people. The secondary reason was for noise control. I got a good laugh, as the second answer is probably the true one.
We then took the bus to the Menachim Begin Museum. It was a well done exhibit on the life story of Begin. It is amazing that someone could spend 26 years on the opposition benches before spending 6 years as Prime Minister. Each room had some sort of video on different parts of his life. There was even a room where you could select each and every election campaign he was a part of. Headphones were provided to translate the video into the language of choice. Between the different rooms there was usually an introduction given by our tour guide.
My favourite was there was a room set up with a table and chairs to simiulate Irgun planning meetings. On the left was a video of a street with a British Patrol. In front there was a monitor on the left with BBC broadcasts of various events. On the right was the same broadcast coming from the Israeli underground. There was another monitor to show events taking place. During the planning discussuion hands appeared on the tables and you could watch the planning take place. They covered the Akko prison break, King David Hotel, Soldier Hangings, Ship sinking. At one point a comment is made that there are too many British patrols as the monitor on the left shined a light into the entire room. It was a pretty simple but cool effect.
The only objection about the museum came from someone active for the Likud. They are commemorating 30 years since the Camp David accords next year. There are pictures of the Carter/Sadat/Begin handshake. He felt it was a government agenda to move the peace process forward. When I pointed out that they showed Begin saying "There will never be a Palestinian State" at the museum and at the Knesset. He said it was just there to cover up the government agenda.
The tour ended with a trip on an elevator. It was a round room that could hold 30 people. They played Begin's speech from 1978 on Ammunition Hill, about the importance of Jerusalem. When the doors open you get a beautiful view of the old city.
All in all it was a pretty good day.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Breaking through the language barrier
Channah and I have both made major breakthroughs on our hebrew learning this week.
The hebrew language consists of 7 families of verbs. Each family has it's own rules for conjugation with differences in subgroups and abnormal situations. Using verbs properly takes up most of our class time. We learn how to conjugate in the past and present tense.
On Tuesday the teacher put a list of 39 verbs we had learned on the board. We had to take the verbs and place them in the proper subgroup. I was finished way ahead of the class. I decided to use the extra time to review translating the different words. The teacher then announced that it was time to move onto the next family of verbs. I was really proud of myself.
Channah has been having a rough time in the hebrew enviornment at school. We have spent many nights dealing with her lashing out to the frustration of her situation. Since returning from the break she has been a different kid. Her best freind the only anglo only kid has been transferred to another school. Channah has responded by putting her full effort into school. She is particpating in school. She is bringing home art work. She is telling us what she learned in school and demonstrating her growing hebrew vocabulary. She makes brachas with a beautiful Israeli accent. She even made friends with one of the Israeli kids in class. Best of all she is happy.
We knew the hebrew would be hard. Channah and I both feel great about the progress we have made.
The hebrew language consists of 7 families of verbs. Each family has it's own rules for conjugation with differences in subgroups and abnormal situations. Using verbs properly takes up most of our class time. We learn how to conjugate in the past and present tense.
On Tuesday the teacher put a list of 39 verbs we had learned on the board. We had to take the verbs and place them in the proper subgroup. I was finished way ahead of the class. I decided to use the extra time to review translating the different words. The teacher then announced that it was time to move onto the next family of verbs. I was really proud of myself.
Channah has been having a rough time in the hebrew enviornment at school. We have spent many nights dealing with her lashing out to the frustration of her situation. Since returning from the break she has been a different kid. Her best freind the only anglo only kid has been transferred to another school. Channah has responded by putting her full effort into school. She is particpating in school. She is bringing home art work. She is telling us what she learned in school and demonstrating her growing hebrew vocabulary. She makes brachas with a beautiful Israeli accent. She even made friends with one of the Israeli kids in class. Best of all she is happy.
We knew the hebrew would be hard. Channah and I both feel great about the progress we have made.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Get Ready
One thing that is really neat is that everyone is getting ready for Rosh Hashana. Coke bottles that say Chag Sameach are 1/4 litre larger than normal. Clerks in stores have well wishes for the New Year. The stores are well stocked with the simanim for Rosh Hashanah. Today I even saw prepackaged fish heads.
Ulpan is no exception. We have been learning the hebrew words for various customs and songs associated with Rosh Hashanah. Today was our last day before break. Next week we only have Ulpan on Thursday. We had an Ulpan party. Some Rabbi gave a dvar Torah before blow shofar. Geveret (my teacher) intervened and made him speak in English when she noticed that he was using lots of words we had not learned yet. Each class prepared something. There was singing, greetings and welll wishes for the new year, explanati0n of customs and a game of 20 questions. They had a keyboard player for entertainment. He started with the traditional Jewish songs which made the teachers and retirees happy. He then moved into some more modern Jewish music. There was food and drinks as well. It was kind of like something I would expect in grade school. It was still a nice idea to try to do something meaningful together.
We found out this morning that the principle wants to meet with our Ulpan class. This could be interesting as she only talks to us in Hebrew. Our class can be best described as a train. Students get on and off as they please, especially after the morning break and at noon. While there are always cases for people leaving (such as the girl who needs to leave 45 minutes early or she will not get home until after 6:00), we have a particularly high concentration in our class. It makes it hard for the class to move forward, especially when the travellers don't do their homework. I suspect part of the problem is there is no Aleph (beginner) class in Jerusalem or Bet Shemesh proper. This week class was moved from 5 days a week to 4 days so people had oppurunities to take care of errands. It has not helpped the attendance in our class. There is a rumour that there will be an even more beginner class after the Chagim. I am up for the challenge of a more advance class. I just hope I can keep my teacher.
Ulpan is no exception. We have been learning the hebrew words for various customs and songs associated with Rosh Hashanah. Today was our last day before break. Next week we only have Ulpan on Thursday. We had an Ulpan party. Some Rabbi gave a dvar Torah before blow shofar. Geveret (my teacher) intervened and made him speak in English when she noticed that he was using lots of words we had not learned yet. Each class prepared something. There was singing, greetings and welll wishes for the new year, explanati0n of customs and a game of 20 questions. They had a keyboard player for entertainment. He started with the traditional Jewish songs which made the teachers and retirees happy. He then moved into some more modern Jewish music. There was food and drinks as well. It was kind of like something I would expect in grade school. It was still a nice idea to try to do something meaningful together.
We found out this morning that the principle wants to meet with our Ulpan class. This could be interesting as she only talks to us in Hebrew. Our class can be best described as a train. Students get on and off as they please, especially after the morning break and at noon. While there are always cases for people leaving (such as the girl who needs to leave 45 minutes early or she will not get home until after 6:00), we have a particularly high concentration in our class. It makes it hard for the class to move forward, especially when the travellers don't do their homework. I suspect part of the problem is there is no Aleph (beginner) class in Jerusalem or Bet Shemesh proper. This week class was moved from 5 days a week to 4 days so people had oppurunities to take care of errands. It has not helpped the attendance in our class. There is a rumour that there will be an even more beginner class after the Chagim. I am up for the challenge of a more advance class. I just hope I can keep my teacher.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Parlez-vous francais?
I have been warned by many people that all the second languages are stored in the same part of the brain. As I learn Hebrew my French will not only reimerge but be better than I ever thought it was. Today in Ulpan I had one of those moments.
We have been practising conjigating a new verb. We were given a handout. It had a list of the verb conjigated. The excerices had sentences in a question and answer format. Based on the question we had to fill in the blank on the answer with the proper pronoun and conjogation.
As I looked at the list my first reaction was why were there 10 pronouns instead of 8. French does not distinguish between masculine and femine for you (tu, vous). I was able to complete the assignment in 2 minutes. Most of the class struggled to identify the correct pronouns, never mind difficulty conjugating. I guess sticking with French through grade 10 had some benefits.
There are 3 Ulpan classes. The other two were dismissed at 11:00 because it was Tuesday. Our class continued on. Around noon someone who leaves early to go to their job came back to class. The doors to the upstairs classrooms had been locked and we couldn't get out. We sent our Shirut Liymi girl to fix the problem. A short time later she came back and the techer started making phone calls. A janitor unlocked the doors and the class carried on. At 12:30 the teacher phone rings. She then decides to dismiss the class 15 minutes early. She has gotten in trouble before for not strictly sticking to the schedule. I wonder if we will dismissed earlier next Tuesday.
We have been practising conjigating a new verb. We were given a handout. It had a list of the verb conjigated. The excerices had sentences in a question and answer format. Based on the question we had to fill in the blank on the answer with the proper pronoun and conjogation.
As I looked at the list my first reaction was why were there 10 pronouns instead of 8. French does not distinguish between masculine and femine for you (tu, vous). I was able to complete the assignment in 2 minutes. Most of the class struggled to identify the correct pronouns, never mind difficulty conjugating. I guess sticking with French through grade 10 had some benefits.
There are 3 Ulpan classes. The other two were dismissed at 11:00 because it was Tuesday. Our class continued on. Around noon someone who leaves early to go to their job came back to class. The doors to the upstairs classrooms had been locked and we couldn't get out. We sent our Shirut Liymi girl to fix the problem. A short time later she came back and the techer started making phone calls. A janitor unlocked the doors and the class carried on. At 12:30 the teacher phone rings. She then decides to dismiss the class 15 minutes early. She has gotten in trouble before for not strictly sticking to the schedule. I wonder if we will dismissed earlier next Tuesday.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
What did you learn in school today?
,Here is the translation of a story we did in Ulpan today:
Daniel: Yitzchak, Where do you work?
Yitzchak: I don't have a job.
Daniel: Moshe and Yoseph have a job. They also have apartments.
Yitzchak: I don't. What can I do about it?
Daniel: Do you have a car?
Yitzchak: I don't have car.
Daniel: What do you have?
Yitzhak: I have patience, lots of patience. I also have one very good friend and that is you.
Daniel: I have to go. Until next time.
Yitzhak: Good Bye.
Daniel: Yitzchak, Where do you work?
Yitzchak: I don't have a job.
Daniel: Moshe and Yoseph have a job. They also have apartments.
Yitzchak: I don't. What can I do about it?
Daniel: Do you have a car?
Yitzchak: I don't have car.
Daniel: What do you have?
Yitzhak: I have patience, lots of patience. I also have one very good friend and that is you.
Daniel: I have to go. Until next time.
Yitzhak: Good Bye.
The eagle has landed
Our lift is In Israel. It is currently in Chaifa, and will take roughly 2 days to get to Ashdod. from there is can be 3-4 days for customs, then they will think about getting it to us.
Probably another week at least.
On top of that, sitting through 4.5 hours a day of ulpan is killing me. I had trouble making it through a 45 minute Ivrit class in high school, and ulpan is like Ivrit on steroids. With no excuses to get out of doing your homework. I am seriously not sure how long I am going to last. Being put into the highest class is more intense than I can deal with on a 5 days a week basis.
I am having an "I want to go home to Toronto" sort of day :(
Probably another week at least.
On top of that, sitting through 4.5 hours a day of ulpan is killing me. I had trouble making it through a 45 minute Ivrit class in high school, and ulpan is like Ivrit on steroids. With no excuses to get out of doing your homework. I am seriously not sure how long I am going to last. Being put into the highest class is more intense than I can deal with on a 5 days a week basis.
I am having an "I want to go home to Toronto" sort of day :(
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Learning Hebrew and Customer Service
The last two days have been a little bit of a rough ride. I have found myself in a number of stores trying to get by on my inadequate Hebrew. I found myself in a hardware store trying to return one item, keeping the stuff I thought I was going to return and paying for my new purchases. My guide had left me alone for a few moments. I had three employees speaking to me in Hebrew and it was clear that they had a slightly different understanding of the situation. I wasn't sure if we were in agreement of what was to happen, or if I had agreed not to return the broken item. My guide returned and we eventually left sorted everything else.
Today was the final move of our stuff from our host's home. I was taking a taxi back with all of our stuff to our apartment. The driver complained from the time he arrived that there was too much stuff. I wasn't sure how full I could stock the trunk, so I tossed the rest on the back seat. Instead of helping me, he complained to the hostess about the amount of stuff. As we left he called his dispatcher to complain about the stuff and comfirm a price. Normally the standard rate would be 19 NIS. The dispatcher would set a price then he would complain about the amount of stuff or the distance. Eventually she said the price should be 24NIS. "Ze Lo Daber Evrit" (He doesn't speak English), "28 NIS". He then called another dispatcher with the same complaint (without mentioning the language barrirer). They agreed to set the price at 30 NIS. I agreed before he hassled me some more and raised the price again. Charging a premium to Anglos is illeagal. Our hostess called the company to complaing and got the second dispatcher. He said the conversation about the language surcharge never happened. However, due to the number of bags they could have started at 50 - 60 NIS.
Ulpan started today. Apparently 5 hours/day 5 days/ week actually means 8:30 - 1:00 4 days a week. Who knew? I stopped taking French class after grade 10 because I could do what was required of me, but I couldn't understand the questions on the test or the instructions from the teachers. In Ulpan, they only speak Hebrew (although I believe they know English as well). I took the first placement. I had to write about my first day in Israel. It was tough considering my limited vocabulary. I managed to squeeze out over 1/4 of a page. The teacher looked at what I wrote and suggested taking the second test. I understood some of what was going on but I could not connect the reading with the questions to be able to provide answer. I find out tommorrow that I have been placed in the bottom class.
The day finished on an up note. Someone came highly recommended to take of setting up our phone line/VOIP/DSL. He wasn't making himself available to answer questions. I left a harsh message that I was upset with him for not letting me know what was going on. Today he called that he was upset and wanting to call off the deal. I manage to talk him down. Instead of having to go to Jerusalem, he would be over to our place in 45 minutes with a modem. He set everything up and we are very happy. We are on kosher internet (becuase it was cheaper) getting 54.0 Mbps with excellent signal strenght. It was a rough ride but I am happy with the end results.
Today was the final move of our stuff from our host's home. I was taking a taxi back with all of our stuff to our apartment. The driver complained from the time he arrived that there was too much stuff. I wasn't sure how full I could stock the trunk, so I tossed the rest on the back seat. Instead of helping me, he complained to the hostess about the amount of stuff. As we left he called his dispatcher to complain about the stuff and comfirm a price. Normally the standard rate would be 19 NIS. The dispatcher would set a price then he would complain about the amount of stuff or the distance. Eventually she said the price should be 24NIS. "Ze Lo Daber Evrit" (He doesn't speak English), "28 NIS". He then called another dispatcher with the same complaint (without mentioning the language barrirer). They agreed to set the price at 30 NIS. I agreed before he hassled me some more and raised the price again. Charging a premium to Anglos is illeagal. Our hostess called the company to complaing and got the second dispatcher. He said the conversation about the language surcharge never happened. However, due to the number of bags they could have started at 50 - 60 NIS.
Ulpan started today. Apparently 5 hours/day 5 days/ week actually means 8:30 - 1:00 4 days a week. Who knew? I stopped taking French class after grade 10 because I could do what was required of me, but I couldn't understand the questions on the test or the instructions from the teachers. In Ulpan, they only speak Hebrew (although I believe they know English as well). I took the first placement. I had to write about my first day in Israel. It was tough considering my limited vocabulary. I managed to squeeze out over 1/4 of a page. The teacher looked at what I wrote and suggested taking the second test. I understood some of what was going on but I could not connect the reading with the questions to be able to provide answer. I find out tommorrow that I have been placed in the bottom class.
The day finished on an up note. Someone came highly recommended to take of setting up our phone line/VOIP/DSL. He wasn't making himself available to answer questions. I left a harsh message that I was upset with him for not letting me know what was going on. Today he called that he was upset and wanting to call off the deal. I manage to talk him down. Instead of having to go to Jerusalem, he would be over to our place in 45 minutes with a modem. He set everything up and we are very happy. We are on kosher internet (becuase it was cheaper) getting 54.0 Mbps with excellent signal strenght. It was a rough ride but I am happy with the end results.
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