_This method of teaching is outstanding. It works! Somehow the vocabulary gets into your head and sticks. The affirmation statement helps a great deal, as well as the constant encouragement from the staff and the teachers. You can do it and you are made to believe you can. In addition to the learning, everyone is more than helpful and fun to be around. After 2 weeks you feel that you have a new family. The environment is pleasant and condusive to learning. ! In particular I want to mention my morah, Yael, who is fun to work with while keeping the focus on the task at hand. She added tremendously to my total experience. There are only good things to say about Ulpan Or and I highly recommend it to anyone who is serious about learning the Hebrew language.

As an addendum I would like to mention some very specific things that I particularly found helpful during my tiyul. My morah was Orly Berlin. Orly did not ever stop speaking to me in Ivrit during the entire tiyul. If I lapsed into English she was not distracted. She answered in Ivrit. If I didn’t understand something she said, she repeated it in Ivrit, a little more slowly. If there was a word I didn’t get she would take me back to the infinitive until I got it. She did not allow my ignorance of the language to distract her from her job of teaching me Ivrit. Additionally, she continually asked me questions, not letting up for a minute. She wanted to insure that I both understood what she was saying and was able to communicate, however rudimentarily, back to her. Committed, competent teachers make all the difference in the learning experience.

Thank you for making my first ulpan experience better than good! Hachi meod!!