Hebrew

I began learning Hebrew yesterday. I am one of only 10 students, and only one other is a graduate like myself (and I have EVERY class with him! Crazy!). But I'm still the dumbest one in the class. In just two short days I have developed a great deal of sympathy for the students for whom learning is/was always a challenge - for whatever reason. All the kids in my class are Jewish, and I think all of them, with one possible exception, learned to read and write Hebrew at a young age. They don't speak it, which is why they're in the class, but they sure have a huge jump on me!

So, there I was, desperately trying to figure out where the teacher was on the page (we had learned five symbols/letters in the Hebrew alphabet the day before, but all of a sudden she was expecting us to know several more!), when she called on me to read. The girl next to me kindly pointed out where to begin, and then had to keep prompting me as I painfully struggled to sound out the words - and usually failed. I felt like I was in pre-school again, and I don't even remember that experience! There were just so many things she kept talking about that I didn't know, that I couldn't stay with her. I became that student that dreaded if the teacher called on me. She did, of course, call on me several more times, hoping that I had caught up. And then she asked me to stay after class. I was good with that - I needed the help. She assured me that I could do this, but I had to learn the alphabet by next week (how strange to be talking about learning the alphabet - I feel so dumb!). Oh, no worries! I'll have it down by the end of the day!

So, I have spent the last 2 hours writing each word in the alphabet at least two-dozen times. Yep, pre-school again. I'm halfway through, because I've practiced reading with those letters in between, and took a break for lunch. Now it's back into the dungeon of the library to continue. I don't know how I can do this much work for just one class, and work, and sleep.