פקק Onomatopoeia exists in every language, most likely. It’s those words that sound like the sound they make. For example birds chirp – and a chirp makes a chirping sound. Ducks quack, tight air whizzes by, etc. Hebrew is no exception. The Hebrew word for a plug or a cork – that which makes the pkak sound…
שבע If you’re familiar with the Jewish blessing following a meal involving bread, you almost certainly know the phrase (Biblical verse) וְאָכַלְתָּ וְשָׂבַעְתָּ וּבֵרַכְתָּ (ve-ah-khahl-TAH ve-sah-VAH-tah oo-veh-rahkh-TAH…) – and you shall eat and be sated, and you shall bless (G-d)… To say I’m full, as in I’ve eaten enough, is אֲנִי שָׂבֵע (ah-NEE…
לחגוג The Arabic word for pilgrimage is حج (hahj). The Hebrew word for holiday – particularly that which involves a pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot) – is חַג (hahg). Arabic and Hebrew are very closely related languages. You can see the common concept in these two nearly-identical words. At some point, they split off,…
נתיב This one’s for Tehillah. You too can request a word by filling out this simple form. The Hebrew word for a lane on a road is נָתִיב (nah-TEEV). The Ayalon Highway is called נְתִיבֵי הָאַיָּלוֹן (neh-tee-VEH-ee hah-ah-yah-LOHN) in Hebrew – the “Ayalon Lanes”. A synonym for נתיב, also used, is מַסְלוּל (mahs-LOOL). …
לטוס I’m about to board a flight to LA at Ben Gurion airport. It’s my dad’s 60th birthday coming up, so I decided at the last minute to try to book a free ticket with mileage (even the paid ones aren’t too bad this season). Who knew? Lo and behold, less than a week before the flight,…
להתעדכן Israelis all around the world love to stay up to date with what’s going on in the holy land. I imagine many Jews, regardless of whether they carry Israeli citizenship, love to do the same. Ulpan La-Inyan’s Level 5 class allows you to do so with the Israeli radio broadcast, as students…
ערכים Ulpan La-Inyan’s Level 4 is the “upgrade” course – where students’ conversation abilities get upgraded from day-to-day to something they could use to make not-so-small talk at cocktail parties… or begin to participate in discussions in the university classroom. The central theme of the course is עֲרָכִים (ah-rah-KHEEM) – values. Our next…
מרתק In Ulpan La-Inyan’s Level 3 course, 21-year-old חַגַּי (khah-GAH-ee) tells his date, יִפְעַת (yeef-AHT) all about his trip to Nahal Yehudiya, including the heroic act he performs there. The word is a bit advanced for Level 3, but יפעת could have said, אֵיזֶה סִפּוּר מְרַתֵּק (EHY-zeh see-POOR me-rah-TEK) – What a fascinating…
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…
להכריז In Level 1 of Ulpan La-Inyan, students take on the roles of the couple, Nava and Oren. Nava is all dressed and ready to go to a party, when she walks into the living room to find Oren sitting and reading a newspaper קוֹרֵא עִתּוֹן (koh-REH ee-TOHN). לִקְרוֹא (leek-ROH) means both to read and…
לאחל Here’s how a male would say to a female, in Hebrew, I wish you a good year: אֲנִי מְאַחֵל לָךְ שָׁנָה טוֹבָה (ah-NEE meh-ah-KHEHL lahkh shah-NAH toh-VAH). Here’s how a female would say it to a male: אֲנִי מְאַחֶלֶת לְךָ שָׁנָה טוֹבָה (ah-NEE meh-ah-KHEH-let le-KHAH shah-NAH toh-VAH). You can figure out how…