[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/זמזם-#.m4a” /]זַמְזַם The English word for buzzer is called that because of the sound it makes – bzzzzz. Same with Hebrew – זמזם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/זמזם-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/זמזם-#.m4a” /]לחצתי על הזמזם חצי שעה, אבל הם לא פתחו את הדלת! I pressed the buzzer for half an hour, but they didn’t open the door! This…
פורים The Hebrew name for the upcoming Festival of Lots is פּוּרִים (poo-REEM, more commonly pronounced in Israel as POO-reem). The name comes from the ancient Persian word for lots, puru. Lots of words in the Megillah come from ancient Persian and Babylonian, such as the names of the main characters. Play today’s dose of…
הוראה In Level 2 of Ulpan La-Inyan, students enter the busy lives of Moni and Eti, a couple with a son named Rafi, who requires them to attend parent-teacher conferences more often than they’d like. You may very well know the Hebrew words for teacher – מוֹרֶה (moh-REH) for a male and מוֹרָה (moh-RAH) for a…
לחזר In English we used to call this courting. Somehow I think the modern-day rendition – to pursue – sounds less romantic than the contemporary Hebrew – לְחַזֵּר (le-khah-ZEHR). For example, הוּא חִזֵּר אַחֲרֶיה (hoo khee-ZEHR ah-khah-REH-hah) – He courted/pursued her. You can listen to this word conjugated in context, in Ehud Banai’s רוּחוֹת הַצָּפוֹן (roo-KHOHT…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להעדיף-1.m4a” /]לְהַעֲדִיף The Hebrew word for to prefer is the active-causative להעדיף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להעדיף-1.m4a” /]. It comes from the root ע.ד.פ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להעדיף-2.m4a” /] meaning surplus: something we prefer has sort of a surplus in our minds over something else. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להעדיף-3.m4a” /]מה את מעדיפה, מרק ירקות או מרק כתום? What do you prefer,…