Should you learn Hebrew & Arabic at the same time?

On September 2020, in the midst of the unfolding pandemic, I decided to move to Israel and join a teaching program that allowed me to live in both Yafo, Tel Aviv and Nazareth. I spent 6 months living in Yafo and teaching at a school for refugees as well as, 6 months living in Nazareth Illit and teaching at Muslim school in Nazareth. Nazareth is in the Northern district and the largest Arab city in Israel. I wanted an adventure, to do something meaningful, a new experience and a key motivating factor- I wanted to learn both Hebrew and Arabic. I’d never really been a ‘language person’ before, I’d never felt the need. Yet suddenly, only knowing one language fluently felt very limiting.

Lockdown in London was the perfect excuse to start learning. I was slightly obsessed with getting a decent foundation in both Hebrew and Arabic in just a few months, but it was lockdown so what else was I meant to do? I wasn’t really sure how to go about learning a language, so I started with youtube. I watched countless videos about learning Hebrew and Arabic from scratch and wrote everything down. My bedroom was literally filled with post-it notes so you couldn’t see the walls. I then joined online zoom classes with Hebrew with Matan and Kings College, which were both amazing courses, which gave me an excellent foundation into the languages! Nevertheless, the most effective, fun and rewarding way to progress was definitely to do a language exchange. I joined the ‘Tel Aviv Language Exchange’ group on Facebook and wrote a post asking for Hebrew-English and Arabic-English language exchange partners. Soon enough, I met a few amazing girls who would speak to me every week for an hour in Hebrew and English virtually and in person, once I arrived in Israel. In fact, I made some of my closest friends this way and recently went back to Israel for a good friend’s wedding. 

As we began our teaching placement in Nazareth, we received Arabic lessons from our amazing teacher Izzy! Our Arabic lessons included learning about Arab cuisine and Arabic music. We participated in cooking and conversation classes and learned songs in Arabic. Our apartment too turned into a language classroom, with Arabic/Hebrew posters stuck onto our walls and post it notes labelling every appliance/object in both Arabic and Hebrew. As I started teaching at the school in Nazareth, my Hebrew was definitely better than my Arabic so at first I had to use Hebrew to communicate with other teachers and admin staff. But I knew I could develop better relationships with colleagues if I at least tried to speak in their mother tongue. 

Being a language learner definitely made a better language teacher. Teaching English to Arabic speaking students at a school in Nazareth was tough, mainly because many of the students didn’t have any foundation in English. At the start of my teaching placement, behavior was a big issue and many students would refuse to even try to speak or read in English. The more I tried to engage students into English, the more they would act up. Communicating with students via Whatsapp about classwork and homework is normal in Israel, and so after arriving home from class and feeling defeated, I received a WhatsApp message from a student.

This was a familiar feeling and Radiah’s words resonated with me. Many times in Nazareth, I too often wanted to speak in Arabic but felt insecure and worried that my Arabic was not good enough for conversation. The next day at school, I spoke with Radiah in Arabic, for the first time. I said ‘Ana aam btaalam ahhki Arabee… bas ktiir saab’ translated to ‘I’m learning Arabic… but it’s very difficult’. I tried to explain, in Arabic, that it is okay to make mistakes and fail, as long as you try. Sure enough, I made mistakes with my grammar. She laughed at my accent and pronunciation, but she also praised me for speaking in her language, corrected my mistakes and offered to be my Arabic language teacher! Soon enough, we built a relationship and she gained more confidence speaking English. It was a great achievement when, by the end of my teaching placement, she read an entire self-written paragraph in English, in front of the class.

So is it worth learning Hebrew and Arabic at the same time? The sensible answer would be no. It would be more responsible to focus on one language, in order to achieve a better foundation and grasp of the language. You’d probably get to a higher standard in a shorter amount of time, arguably. And you wouldn’t get confused between the two languages. Nevertheless, in my situation, it was a lot of fun to learn them both at the same time. I met and was able to communicate with more people from different walks of life.  In Nazareth specifically, you will be respected and appreciated for speaking Arabic. The people you meet will be keen to welcome you into their culture, befriend you and teach you about their way of life. Furthermore, Arabic is one of the official languages in the state of Israel and provides a genuine opportunity to create improved neighborly relations.

I’m by no means an expert but here are some tips if you’re also interested and crazy enough to want to learn Hebrew and Arabic at the same time.

1. Duolingo can be good to start with if you’re learning the alphabet as a complete beginner but not that great for progression.
2. There’s so many resources on youtube! – begin with LearnArabicWithMaha
3. Watch TV in Hebrew and Arabic. Begin with English subtitles and then Hebrew/Arabic subtitles.
4. Find a language partner. For me, this was the most effective and meaningful part of my language learning journey.
5. Talk to everybody in Hebrew/Arabic. Even if they talk to you in English, talk back in Hebrew/Arabic. Don’t worry about sounding perfect, make mistakes and allow native speakers to correct you.
6. Keep a language journal. Scan through the internet and you will find many blogs or Youtube videos claiming ‘the best way to learn a language’. Indeed, there are many different methods to acquire a new language. You need to find the best method to suit your learning style and personality. You might prefer to spend 30 minutes every morning going over grammar notes or watch 1 hour of a series in Hebrew/Arabic with subtitles or speak with your language partner every other day! Try out different methods, discover what works for you and record this in your language journal.