Hebrew

I took my Hebrew midterm this morning, so I am now officially on spring break. (Unofficially, however, I still have plenty of work to do before Passover starts Wednesday evening.) I’m glad I studied hard for the midterm - my teacher, as always, expected a lot from us. On a day-to-day basis I am usually most aware when I don’t understand something in Hebrew, but the midterm made me realize how much Hebrew I really have learned since September.

One of the reasons I find Hebrew particularly interesting is that it is simultaneously one of the most ancient and most modern languages. Although Hebrew has been used liturgically for thousands of years, modern Hebrew did not become a codified language until the beginning of the twentieth century. Since the 1920s, millions of people have learned modern Hebrew, and Israelis have managed to develop a rich literary culture during the past several decades.