So. I decided to expose myself to a lot of Hebrew these past few days. It was exhausting. It made me think my Hebrew absolutely, well, sucks (not as much as some other people's, but definitely not as little as I think it should).
It makes me wonder whether I will be able to handle hearing Hebrew 24/7. It's not as though I don't know I will hear other languages in Israel, but the language I will need to use will be Hebrew. I would feel weird taking a job that has me speak more in English than in Hebrew. Hebrew (and Arabic) are the official languages. It's more than just a label. It is the essence of the country, at least to me, anyway.
I don't know whether it is a bad or a good thing that I am dissatisfied with my Hebrew. I don't know where I'm supposed to be, level-wise. How much will my Hebrew improve in a year? How much will it improve if I live in Israel? Of course, it will improve more, and faster--but not exponentially--but how will I feel in the end? Will Hebrew become something so natural and second-nature, or such a chore in the beginning, that it will seem like an odd reason to make aliyah in the first place? I just don't know.
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I think you will be surprised how many people speak English in Israel. Unless you speak it without an accent, they will recognize you are American and immediately switch into English. Most Israelis have a pretty good command of English and want to practice. They aren't being rude to switch into English.
ReplyDeleteAlso, based on my friends who have made aliyah, they say that speaking in Hebrew becomes second nature and after a while it's no longer a chore--you seem to already know the language, so you shouldn't have as much of a problem as I would.