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Introduction

How to Retain New Vocabulary

Great Tips for Improving Your Pronunciation

What Can Tom Cruise Do for Your Hebrew

How to go About Learning Hebrew

Special Features of Hebrew You Should Know about

Why Break Your Teeth Trying to Learn Ivrit?

Learning to Speak Hebrew - but Without the Grammar

Yes You Can
(Communicate in Israeli Hebrew)!
   
The Pimsleur method, developed by Professor Paul Pimsleur (pictured), enabled Ami Steinberger to speak French like a natural. Now, living in Israel, he runs Ulpan La-Inyan, teaching Hebrew according to the Pimsleur method.
 

Learn Hebrew Like a Child Does

The Pimsleur Method and Ulpan La-Inyan: Teaching Adults the Way Children Learn

I opened Ulpan La-Inyan as a result of the enthusiasm I experienced upon learning to speak French and Spanish with confidence and startling accuracy, using the Pimsleur method. When French speakers ask me where I learned their language, I tell them, dans ma voiture a Los Angeles (in my car, in LA... before I came to settle in Israel), using the most excellent audio lessons produced by Simon and Schuster.

I knew that it wasn't just me that could succeed in such an endeavor - nor should it have been. In the spirit of Zionism, my need for financial sustenance, and good-old-fashioned Jewish values, I decided to share the "wealth" with everyone who needs or would like to speak the language of the Jewish people. I called it Ulpan La-Inyan, meaning "Ulpan (studio of the Hebrew language), straight to the point."

What is this Pimsleur method?

Professor Paul Pimsleur of various American universities, including UCLA, spent decades researching and developing a way of teaching foreign languages to adults that would mimic the way children learn. He streamlined four principles of mental processing into a single interactive, entertaining lesson structure that would enable adults to acquire a new language in a remarkably pleasant way - free of rote repetition or grammar charts. He thus made language learning available to everyone, not just those who "have a knack for language."

The four principles he discovered and put to use are:
  • core vocabulary - teaching only the most important and relevant words and phrases.
  • organic learning - teaching grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation through drawing students into a virtual conversation between several native speakers.
  • anticipation - inviting students to call up the new vocabulary they're learning...
  • graduated-interval recall - ...by prompting them to recall it just at the scientifically-determined point that they're about to forget it (builds recall for the long term).
Another scientific principle employed freely is that of B.F. Skinner - positive reinforcement. That is, since students are asked to call up words - and due to the timing, they usually get the answers right - they are positively reinforced every few seconds. They end up feeling pretty good about themselves, in particular for their ability to use the language.

Ulpan La-Inyan draws upon several methods of language instruction to teach Modern Hebrew, but at its core are Pimsleur's principles. Our classes meet for about an hour a day, during which students build that core vocabulary as well as the confidence necessary to use it.

In order to compensate for the "rest" of the vocabulary that is not studied formally in class, we offer a free daily dose of Hebrew via email, as well as encourage students to find a language exchange partner - a Hebrew speaker who wishes to improve his/her English in exchange for helping the English speaker improve his/her Hebrew. We also provide a complimentary copy of English Hebrew by Subject, an invaluable resource for Hebrew vocabulary building, to each new student of Ulpan La-Inyan.

Amy Steinberger - Head Facilitator
Ulpan La-Inyan
www.ulpan.com
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