Remember the days when you had a pen pal who lived in some far off exotic place that you learned about through them? That’s what ULPAN is to me, but instead of writing letters, I get to have a video chat with my new friend. While we are learning about each other and speaking about our interests and cultures, I’m learning Hebrew. My Ulpan coach is so friendly and enjoyable to speak with. She instinctively knows how to incorporate new vocabulary into our conversation while reviewing words she’s already taught me.
The homework is fun too because it involves watching videos made by Ulpan which are always easy to watch.
Between the videos and going over the exercises in the workbook, there’s enough repetition that during each video chat you can really tell you’re progressing by using more Hebrew with each meeting.
Other ways of learning languages I’ve tried in the past were so boring and just had me memorize lists of words. The technique that ULPAN has developed works for me because my coach uses specific words while we’re discussing interesting topics during our video chats in conjunction with the videos and workbook. I’m learning more about my coach, the culture she lives in and becoming familiar with the Ulpan family by watching the videos. To me, Ulpan is a language program that feels more like having a video pen pal.