Putting conversation first: Jerusalem ulpan founder reflects on 18 years of teaching Hebrew to olim

Any immigrant who ever struggled to become conversant in Hebrew could rightfully feel a bit jealous of Ami Steinberger.

He grew up in a bilingual home in Los Angeles, speaking English with his mother and Hebrew with his Israeli father. That gave him a huge advantage when he relocated to Israel.

Steinberger felt he could help those without prior Hebrew fluency reach a conversational level that most could not achieve in existing ulpan classes. (“Ulpan” means “studio” but is also used to describe an intensive school for learning Hebrew.)

On August 18, 2008, he held his first ulpan class in his living room in Katamon. He had four students. Two months later, he was asked to hold two simultaneous classes at AACI and had to hire another teacher.

Today, Steinberger’s Ulpan La-Inyan (ulpan.com) employs 80 to 90 teachers in a variety of time zones, teaching private lessons and group courses to roughly 2,000 students annually, online and in person. Companies, embassies, and gap-year programs are among its clients. 

In celebration of Ulpan La-Inyan’s 18th anniversary, Steinberger talked with the Magazine about the history of his ulpan, current trends and methodologies for teaching Hebrew, and how Hebrew is increasingly pivotal to Jewish identity outside of Israel.

A new kind of ulpan 

Although he officially made aliyah in 1994 at age 14, when his family lived in Ra’anana for a year, and came back for a year after high school and two years after college, Steinberger permanently relocated in 2007. He had earned an undergraduate degree in English literature from Yeshiva University and a master’s degree in clinical psychology.

Ulpan La-Inyan was born of his interest in languages – he had searched for an effective method for mastering Arabic, French, and Spanish as a hobby – combined with his realization that the free ulpan courses offered by the government for new immigrants weren’t always successful.

“I noticed that although some English-speakers would come out of a traditional government ulpan with strong Hebrew, many of them would come out understanding the difference between verb forms but not being able to open their mouths and speak,” he said. “These ulpan classes are too large for the teachers to engage each student, so they rely more on theory than on practice. They’re teaching language as if it’s an academic discipline rather than a social skill.”

He saw this as a gap that needed filling.

“I decided to open my own language school based on the method that had helped me learn foreign languages. And it turned out that the need was real. People would come to me and say, ‘I’ve been to five ulpanim, and this was the first one that worked.’

“Traditional ulpan, for many people, is like taking a horse and buggy to your destination; our ulpan gets you there in a car.”

Grammar drills vs speaking skills

Steinberger creates scripted lessons based on research into how the brain absorbs and processes language. Without going into detail, this method teaches words by repeating them at very specific intervals.

“All of this takes place in a conversation which is relevant and useful, where you feel as if you’re actually participating. We don’t teach words with flashcards but through natural conversation.”

In the past decade, additional private ulpanim in Israel have followed suit, radically shifting the emphasis from grammar drills to speaking skills.

“I like to think we started that trend,” Steinberger said. “However, none of them use our exact method, our secret sauce.”

Along with online quizzes and games, ulpan homework these days might include watching a contemporary Israeli TV show and discussing it in the next class, or meeting up in a Hebrew-speaking environment like a café.

Another trend is online learning. Ulpan La-Inyan is still headquartered in Jerusalem with a branch in Tel Aviv, but the physical location doesn’t matter as much anymore.

“Before corona, we offered only private lessons online, not group lessons, and that segment constituted no more than 10% of our clientele. Since corona, 50% of our students participate online, in private and group classes,” Steinberger said.

Students come from North America, South America, Mexico, and Europe. Not all students are Jewish. For example, clientele includes Jerusalem Arabs seeking to improve their Hebrew for easier integration into academia or the workplace.

Hebrew via AI?

The growing preference for long-distance learning comes in tandem with many options for language acquisition – for example, the popular Duolingo digital language-learning platform and app. Steinberger said Duolingo is fun but not very effective for Hebrew, Arabic, and other non-European languages.

“Then there are AI language-training apps with an avatar acting like a language coach; the learner speaks, and the avatar corrects them.

“However, if someone really wants to progress in a language, it requires discipline. If you have good self-discipline to engage with the app on a consistent basis, AI is great. If you’re somebody who needs a structured learning environment where you feel accountable to the teacher and classmates to show up, that is what will help you progress,” he said.

“Either way, AI is not human, and it’s the human element in conversation that really drives communication.”

Ulpan La-Inyan is developing a hybrid option: a digital course combined with human interaction in real time.

“This enables you to experience fadihot, those embarrassing mistakes, together and get past them,” Steinberger said. “AI can be helpful, but people will always need a sense of human connection because language is ultimately a social activity.”

Pitfalls, pet words, and identity

What are the most common difficulties for new Hebrew-speakers?

“Pronunciation can be difficult to master,” said Steinberger. “English-speakers often confuse the pronunciation of the Hebrew letters hay and het, while French-speakers often confuse raish and het.”

Aside from that, he said, “mostly it’s the verb conjugations that trip people up.”

Steinberger noted that shaky Hebrew skills lead many a new immigrant to feel a frustrating loss of self-esteem. “They may have a PhD, but their Hebrew is on a first-grade level.”

It helps to inject some basic everyday expressions into your vocabulary from day one. Handy exclamations such as sababa, ahla, and yalla – all of which, ironically enough, are borrowed from Arabic – lend ease to daily interactions even if your ability to put a full sentence together isn’t yet up to speed.

Steinberger believes that the ability to interact with Israelis in their own tongue is increasingly essential to Jewish identity formation in the Diaspora, particularly in non-Orthodox streams.

It’s true that many graduates of Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox schools lack conversational Hebrew fluency because Hebrew is often taught as a subject and not a language, he says. But their Jewish identity is tied to Torah values and lifestyle rather than spoken Hebrew.

“However, in the non-Orthodox world, the educational emphasis is on creating a link with peers in Israel. Hebrew could be that bridge, especially in times when Israel’s reputation is in question and Jewish identity becomes complex,” Steinberger said.

“If someone opts to say ‘I stand with Israel,’ then learning the language becomes their opportunity to connect with Israelis. Many people with a strong feeling of Jewish identity abroad feel they don’t belong at all when they’re in Israel because they can’t really have a conversation.”

And that brings us back to the question of how best to acquire a comfortable command of Hebrew.

Studies back up Steinberger’s contention that the old-style approach of memorizing grammatical rules and vocabulary word lists is not nearly as effective as the way babies learn to talk, by listening and speaking.

So, if you haven’t progressed as well as you’d like in a public or traditional ulpan, don’t despair – Ulpan La-Inyan or similar programs may be just the ticket for a faster ride to fluency.■

To sign up for Steinberger’s Daily Dose of Hebrew via WhatsApp or email, or book a 15-minute trial lesson: ulpan.com/your-daily-dose-of-hebrew