Blog – Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/טיילת-#.m4a” /]טַיֶּלֶת If you’ve taken our Level 3 class, you know the special Hebrew word for to travel leisurely – לטייל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/טיילת-#.m4a” /]. A place meant for such lazy walking – a promenade – is טיילת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/טיילת-#.m4a” /] in Hebrew. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/טיילת-#.m4a” /]מהטיילת בארמון הנציב אפשר לראות כמעט את כל ירושלים. From the promenade…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ארמון-#.m4a” /]אַרְמוֹן The Hebrew word for palace is ארמון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ארמון-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ארמון-#.m4a” /]מה נראה לכם, שאני גר בארמון? שיש לי מטוס פרטי? What do you guys think, that I live in a palace? That I have a private jet? Though it appears in Biblical Hebrew, the word ארמון probably originates in…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/מטוס-פרטי-#.m4a” /]מָטוֹס פְּרָטִי Once upon a time, airplanes in English were called aeroplanes, Aeroplane has fallen out of use, at least in the US. Likewise, Israelis used to call a plane אווירון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/מטוס-פרטי-#.m4a” /], deriving from the word אוויר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/מטוס-פרטי-#.m4a” /] – air. But today the common word is מטוס[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/מטוס-פרטי-#.m4a” /], which derives from the word לטוס[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/בזבוז-זמן-#.m4a” /]בִּזְבּוּז זְמַן You may know the Hebrew expression חבל על הזמן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/בזבוז-זמן-#.m4a” /], which means either this is awesome! or this is a waste of time, depending on the speaker’s tone of voice (here’s our slang page). These usages notwithstanding, חבל על הזמן means literally it’s a shame for the time. So how do you say a waste…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.      To take full advantage of the review material, click on “Choose a study mode” in the bottom right corner of the box above. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מקלט-#.m4a” /]מִקְלָט The Hebrew word for shelter is מקלט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מקלט-#.m4a” /]. If you’ve made aliyah, you may recognize the word’s root from the name of the government ministry that grants you your benefits: משרד הקליטה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מקלט-#.m4a” /] – the Ministry of Absorption. The root ק.ל.ט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/מקלט-#.m4a” /] means to absorb or to take in, which is what a…