Bar-Ilan University’s new “Online Hebrew Course for Beginners” got off to a successful start last week. The program, which is the first of its kind for the university, is being offered by the International School and the Department of Hebrew and Semitic Languages.
The course started on November 25, 2020, and runs until June 2021. It is open to beginners from all countries, young and old.
The second session will take place on Wednesday, December 2. We still have room for a few more students, but registration will close at 16:00 on Wednesday.
You will need to catch up on the first session before you join the second one. You can find it here, and you can learn more about the course here
If you are interested in joining, please email a copy of your passport and your phone number to [email protected].
Free Introductory Hebrew Session
A week before the “Online Hebrew Course for Beginners”, the university hosted a free introductory lesson to expose potential participants to the program. One of the participants from Italy had this to say (English follows the Italian):
“Vorrei ringraziare l’università Bar-Ilan e la Scuola Shemà* per avermi dato occasione di assistere alla lezione introduttiva di ieri al corso di ebraico: efficacissima! Un’esperienza che predispone davvero ad apprendere questa bellissima lingua.” – M.C. Carratu
“I would like to thank Bar-Ilan University and the Shemah School* for giving me the opportunity to attend yesterday’s introductory lesson of the Hebrew course: very effective! An experience that really prepares you to learn this beautiful language.” – M. C. Carratu
Listen to the introductory course here.
* Note: In Italy, we have a special collaboration with the Shemah Institute for Jewish Studies and Culture to promote this program.
Israeli Embassy in Poland Competition Winner
The Israeli Embassy in Poland, in partnership with Hillel Warszawa and Hillel Gimel Kraków, ran a competition to win a place in the “Online Hebrew Course for Beginners” being run by BIU’s International School.
Wiktora Gieretto won the competition and receives a free place in our “Online Hebrew Course for Beginners” worth $960.
Wiktoria Gieretto
Prior to the competition, a video was produced by the Embassy team and featured Irit Yakhnes, the Embassy’s Spokesperson and Head of Public Diplomacy. It was uploaded to Twitter with instructions on how to win. The competition was open to people aged 18-35 who live in Poland.
Contestants had to record and send in a video in which they had to answer two questions – “Why do you want to learn Hebrew?” and “Why do you think you should win?” The final task for the video was to translate a sentence from Polish into Hebrew and use it in the video. The campaign gained more than 33,000 followers on social media.
Watch the entertaining video encouraging people to enter the competition.
