By Joel Magalnick, JTNews Correspondent
For the first time, the University of Washington will be offering a credit course in modern Hebrew, open to the general public.
The UW Extension, in a partnership with the Jewish Studies program and Near Eastern Studies, will begin night classes for the community as an intensive ulpan-style course, starting Sept. 29.
“It’s taught by teachers who really believe learning a language can be fun,” said Muriel Dance, senior director of UW Extension. That teacher is currently Schlomo “Ted” Chertok, an American-born Israeli who holds a teaching certificate and has taught Hebrew and Jewish studies extensively.
Dance, who spent a year-long sabbatical at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, worked extensively with Naomi Sokoloff, former chair of Jewish Studies, to see the Hebrew class come to fruition.
Except for occasional classes offered at the Jewish Community Center, most Hebrew classes are based on biblical or siddur Hebrew, enabling the student to understand prayers or classical texts.
Just because it is a night class, however, does not mean it will be easy. Adults enrolled in the course will spend two 1-1/2-hour periods per week in the classroom, but “for every hour in class, there [are] two hours of homework,” Dance said.
The first one or two meetings of the kitah aleph (level 1) course will focus on the aleph-bet — the Hebrew alphabet — but “as soon as the aleph-bet is over, they immediately learn simple words, simple verbs and start talking in daily conversational Hebrew,” Dance added.
By the end of the four-quarter course, students will be able to carry on and understand basic daily conversations. Since the focus of the ulpan is conversational, students will not necessarily have the ability to read newspapers or books, but will be able to write essays at roughly a third-grade level.
However, if students choose to attend an ulpan in Israel, they will be ready for kitah bet (level 2) without any trouble.
In addition, because this is a credit offering, students who need to fulfill a language requirement can use this course to do so. Though students will only receive 12 credits for completing the year, the Jewish Studies Dept. has offered to give any student who needs the full 15 credits to satisfy the requirement a challenge exam. If the test is passed, the language requirement will be waived and proficiency will be recognized.
The course description is as follows:
Beginning Modern Hebrew
HEBR 404 Reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in modern Israeli Hebrew. Not open for credit to students who have taken HEBR 401 or HEBR 411/412/413.
Register for # 67466 HEBR 404
3 credits
Mon./Wed., 7-8:20 p.m., Sept. 29-Dec. 10 (no class Nov. 26); $498 + $10 tech fee (graduate/GNM fees, see credit course fees). Ted Chertok, MA, Jewish studies.
Community members can register by calling 205-543-2310 and get more information by visiting the UW Extension Web site at http://www.extension.washington.edu/extinfo/human/language.asp