I must be crazy! - I started learning Hebrew � don�t ask me why, but I�ll tell you anyway!
My history of languages is that I learned 2 Hebrew words when I was 5 years old, because some Israeli�s visiting my parents told me the words �toda� = �thank you� & �mech� = �moss� (this word I remembered wrong because these days I found out that moss = techaw � must have sounded like mech to me when I was 5)
Later on I started to learn Latin in school (for 3 years) at the age of ten, & English at age of 13 � I was a very lazybone in learning then so I had to stop learning Latin & had very bad scores in English in the first year. � But then the British invasion of Pop & Rock came over to Germany (early 70ies) & I got so interested in song texts, that my English improved very much. � so the first time that I was really interested in learning another language was incited by Rock�n`Roll � & of course I wanted to understand every word, my Rock & Pop heroes were singing..
When I was 15 I found an old Spanish teaching book of my father, with only pictures in comic style & then the appropriate spanish words under it. � No translation words used, but it really worked � you could learn the words just by watching these drawings. � This incitede me that much for Spanish that I even worked in school holidays in a factory to get me the money to buy a really modernly Spanish language course (by Langenscheidt) � with books, 16 language records (CD�s & PC weren�t invented yet � not even MC�s) �
I remember exactly that I learned until lesson 13 in that Spanish course, & then did leave it for a while, because in my youth I had �better� things to do - - I always had in mind, that I would continue it sooner or later, but then lent it to a befriended young couple, who wanted to visit Spain & never got it back.
I also had started a voluntary French course in my school at age 17, but left after few hours, because I found out, that I�d had also to learn for it & French pronounciations seemed hard to me.
My father had also an old fashioned Hebrew teaching book & at age about 19 I wanted to start learning that - & I really did it for a very short time � I somehow stopped at page 2, because by then I recognized, that I had to learn all the strange looking Hebrew letters, train them to write & read them & exactly I learned about 4 Hebrew letters by then, which also later on stuck to my memory, because they were easy to remember:
There was the �Lamed� �L� which is easy to recognize, because it looks like the wave of a whip or a hook & the �Shin� which can be a �S�, but also a �Sh�, which looks like a crown or a �W� � the �Mem� = �M� looks like a rectangular box - - the �Resh� = �R� � that�s just one line upwards & turning smooth to the left - & the �Jod� a comma like sign, which could be something like a �ee� or �ia� or whatever..
Equipped with the knowledge of these 5 letters I could easyly read Hebrew words like �Shalom�, �Jerusalem� & �Israel� , but not so much more indeed..
So later on Language learning was in that time for long deserted � but then I became very francophil, because of all the culture & especially literature I got fascinated of & intrigued in � I read books & poetry from Victor Hugo to Balzac, as well as from Rimbaud, Baudelaire, J.K. Huysmans but also parts of Sartre, Boris Vian & Zola.
So at age 30 I got the idea, that I have to learn French � So I visited an evening school (�Volkshochschule�) with 2 evenings a week for 3 semesters � not that I can talk French now, but I at least can understand the rude meaning of a French newspaper at least & know the pronounciation well. � but still far away to be able to read French literature fluently � I have Baudelaires �Fleur du mal� in French & I read some of them in origing (with a little help of my French dictionary) � So finally the ability to read some Baudelaire poems were the result of 1 & a half year learning French ..
So years passed by making me older & older making my abiltiy of learning slower & slower � I got meanwhile language course on CD in French & Spain � I really liked to be fluent in all these languages, but it�s so hard to stay on the track
Back to Hebrew � about 7 weeks ago I got the idea to continue my learning , after my father�s old Hebrew learning book fell by chance to my hands again � it couldn�t be so heard, learning these strenge letters � hm..
But because I�m a lazybone & if ever starting it, would leave it sooner or later � I looked for a course in evening school (VHS) � yes there was one � but they had already started last September � the second part starting in 2 weeks. � Could I dare to join there? � Could I succeed in learning in 2 weeks, what they had learned in a half year? � I called the teacher of that class & he told me that from those who had started that course only a few were still remaining � he sent me the lessons they already had via e-mail � they had already learned about 200 words & of course I had to learn the Hebrew Aleph-Beth, which I learned then in about a week in long evening hours of writing training � but the learning of hebrew words was harder, than I had expected � it�s not enough to learn the words, but you have also to learn each single letter it�s made of. � Hebrew got 2 different �t�, 2 different �ch�, 2 different �k� & 3 �s� sounding vocals � how can you remember which of them in used in a word, not the problem with the use of �ayin� & aleph for the same case � you have to much more concentrate on every single letter than in our familiar latin based languages � I could learn 200 French words in the time I need for 50 Hebrew words. �
So of course I was slightly lagging behind on my first lesson there, but now after 4 weeks I�m about their level already � they�re still a bit quicker in recognizing the hebrew words in reading (because every Hebrew word is a puzzle � because only the consonants are written down � you have to guess the vocals & a lot of prepositions melt together with a word � etc. etc.)
But funny & astounding are the reactions of people when I tell them that I learn Hebrew, - from shoulder shrugging to �are crazy?� � �what do you want with that dead language� � �why?!!!�, �there are better languages to learn � � �there�s no use in learning Hebrew!� � �you�d better learn Chinese!� � �confess � you must be Jewish?� �
Hm � when I learned French or Spain etc. � no-one asked me questions like that & got only positive reactions, no-one asked about my motivations. � Even my nephew who learned Japanese got mainly positive reactions, a friend learned Greek � but that�s only �Interesting!� & gets no negative critics..
Is it that they see no future in Hebrew language, because they see Israel as already dead or not yet real existing or as a mistake of history? �
It seems for a lot of people highly suspicious but for me it�s really fun to learn glimpses of that old language, to dive in it�s mysteries & make these hyroglyphical seeming words transparent to my understanding. � yes � but it�s still a long way to go & learning in my age is harder than I had thought. �
If ever you see written this diary in Iwrit, than you�ll know, that I have succeeded!
