Blog – Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אתגר-חצי-מרתון-1.m4a” /]אֶתְגַּר חֲצִי מָרָתוֹן Challenges promoting good causes – such as the Ice Bucket Challenge – have been trending on social media over the past few years. The Hebrew word for challenge is אתגר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אתגר-חצי-מרתון-2.m4a” /], so the Ice Bucket Challenge was called: אתגר דלי הקרח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אתגר-חצי-מרתון-3.m4a” /] Another popular challenge is a marathon…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תתמודדו-1.m4a” /]תִּתְמוֹדְדוּ When people go against the grain or otherwise disturb society’s equilibrium of norms, they tend to elicit negative reactions from others. These people might fold under the pressure, or they might give a message of “deal with it.” The Hebrew expression for this, when speaking to a group of people, is תתמודדו[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נעלי-ספורט-1.m4a” /]נַעֲלֵי רִיצָה, נַעֲלֵי סְפּוֹרְט If you’ve got some basic Hebrew, you probably know the word for shoes – נעליים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נעלי-ספורט-2.m4a” /]. But there are different types of shoes, such as נעלי ריקוד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נעלי-ספורט-3.m4a” /] – dancing shoes, נעלי ריצה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נעלי-ספורט-4.m4a” /] – running shoes and נעלי טניס[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נעלי-ספורט-5.m4a” /] – tennis shoes. Israelis are likely to call any…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להצטייד-1.m4a” /]נָא לְהִצְטַיֵּד Last week, we saw the Hebrew term for running shoes – נעלי ריצה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להצטייד-2.m4a” /], or more commonly, נעלי ספורט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להצטייד-3.m4a” /]. Now, suppose you’re a youth-group counselor, and you’re taking your group of young teens on an overnight field trip. It’s the fall, so you want to make sure they all come prepared with warm clothing….

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep. Flashcards Game Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם, וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תרנגול-הודו-1.m4a” /]תַּרְנְגוֹל הוֹדוּ The Hebrew term for a turkey is תרנגול הודו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תרנגול-הודו-1.m4a” /] – literally, chicken of India. This meaning appears in various languages including the Yiddish אינדיק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תרנגול-הודו-2.m4a” /], where the Hebrew term probably comes from. But the turkey originates in Mexico, not India. Why is it called תרנגול הודו, or simply הודו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תרנגול-הודו-3.m4a” /]?…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עימות-1.m4a” /]עִמּוּת Though the main Hebrew word for the other is הזולת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עימות-2.m4a” /], the word עמית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עימות-3.m4a” /], meaning colleague/counterpart or friend in more literary contexts, also has a element of other in it. Take, for example, the term of the same root לעומת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עימות-4.m4a” /] – compared with/as opposed to: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/עימות-5.m4a” /]לעומת תל אביב, ירושלים די קרה…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כיבוד-קל-1.m4a” /]כִּבּוּד קַל Serving food to guests is an act of honor – כבוד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כיבוד-קל-2.m4a” /]. Thus refreshments are called in Hebrew כיבוד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כיבוד-קל-3.m4a” /] – literally, honoring. And light refreshments are כיבוד קל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כיבוד-קל-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כיבוד-קל-4.m4a” /]יוגש כיבוד קל בתחילת האירוע. Light refreshments will be served at the start of the event. Note that כיבוד…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מגיל-אפס-1.m4a” /]מִגִּיל אֶפֶס English has the expression “from age zero” meaning from a very early age, but Hebrew uses its equivalent מגיל אפס[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מגיל-אפס-1.m4a” /] far more often. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מגיל-אפס-2.m4a” /]הם מכירים מגיל אפס. They’ve known each other from age zero. Broken down, that’s: מגיל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מגיל-אפס-3.m4a” /] – from the age of, where גיל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מגיל-אפס-4.m4a” /]…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרוא-לילד-בשמו-1.m4a” /]לִקְרוֹא לַיֶּלֶד בִּשְׁמוֹ In researching the English expression to call a spade a spade, I discovered that it might be offensive to some. So let’s skip straight to the parallel Hebrew term. לקרוא לילד בשמו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לקרוא-לילד-בשמו-1.m4a” /] means literally to call the boy by his name. We use it when we want to stop beating around the bush…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep. Flashcards Game Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם, וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!