I love writing about the Hebrew website that I developed with my husband. However, I do need to clarify, it is a website to teach people to read Hebrew. For the purposes of this blog, I am going to refer to it as a Hebrew website. I am often asked why did we do this? It certainly was not a quick or simple task.
Why build a Hebrew website to learn to read Hebrew?
Before I can answer this question, I need to provide some background. I want to explain why I did build a Hebrew website to learn to read Hebrew. When I was younger, my father taught me how to teach people to read Hebrew. He taught me a a really easy method. He taught me the same method he was taught by his Rabbi 40 years earlier!
When I was growing up, my father, who is a rabbi, used to teach people to read Hebrew in one day. Yes, you read correctly – one day! He taught me the same skill. I eventually developed an online program using the same method. My reason for doing this wanted to teach people all over the world. I wanted to use the same easy method, to learn the Hebrew language, one Hebrew word at a time.
Who uses a Hebrew website to learn to read Hebrew?
It is surprising how many people want to learn to read Hebrew online. Although it is a very niche group of people; people are very keen do learn this important skill via a digital platform! In fact, people from over 100 countries have purchased subscription to my website. Examples include remote French villages, Afghanistan, Australia and of course from the United States of America.
A wide variety of people subscribe. For examples, Christians who want to learn to read the Hebrew Bible in the original text often email me thanking me for developing this resource. Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah children, who need to learn Hebrew, specifically to learn to read biblical Hebrew also use this resource.
Some other people who subscribe to the Hebrew website are Jewish people who want to reconnect with their Jewish roots. It is the same through all the generations. Some parents had to ‘force’ their kids to go to Jewish Sunday School (also known as Hebrew School). Some people (not all), resented it. After all, who wants to wake up on a Sunday morning to go to another day of school?!
Making connections
If a person who resented waking up early on a Sunday morning to go to Hebrew School, there was very little chance of them remembering how to read Hebrew. Fast forward sixty years. The same people who did not retain their knowledge of Hebrew may now have grandchildren. I have met many older Jewish people who want to relearn to read Hebrew to connect with their grandchildren.
The older Jewish people are keen to keep the Jewish heritage alive. This drives them to learn to read Hebrew again, to be able to help their grandchildren. It also takes pressure off their adult children, wo are busy working, and may not have time to help their children with their Hebrew.
Online learning versus face-to-face learning
The world has rapidly changed. People have multiple avenues to engage in learning a new skill or subject. It used to be classroom-based learning, whereby a person would need to travel to a college, school or university to learn the skills or subject matter they desire. In our new world, people can now choose to learn in the traditional setting, or learn online!
Learning online, using a Hebrew website, such as www.easylearnhebrew.com, allows people to learn Hebrew in the comfort of their own home, or even on the bus! It allows flexibility in peoples’ busy lives. People no longer need to sit in traffic to attend classes. A Hebrew website means that people can access a particular course from anywhere in the world, not necessarily in their home town.
Aspects of building the website
I’ll get straight to the point! I had nothing to do with creating the website. Although I was involved in the web design. I divided the content into lessons, and in each lesson, I decided what buttons would be useful for the person accessing the website. For example, I made sure there were sections to include a ‘quick review’ of the content, without having to repeat the lesson from the beginning.
Once I did a basic design for the website, I handed over the development of the website to my business partner, ‘the IT guy’. He engaged a website builder, and together, using WordPress, they created templates for each of the seven lessons to make sure that the web design would ensure that the website was both aesthetically and functionally appealing.
The next steps
Once the website was built, we tested the website with different people to make sure it was user-friendly. In fact, I just remember now, that I started teaching a young girl for her Bat Mitzvah. She lived four hours from my house. So, I asked her father if he would not mind if she tested out the website.
It was a perfect opportunity, as she was one of the cohorts who would use this website. Both she and her father tested out the program, and gave us valuable feedback. We made changes to the design accordingly, and their feedback allowed us to improve the website, such as including adding in printable pages.
Another aspect we need to take into account, was to make sure that the website was optimised for different devices, such as desktop computers, mobile phones and tablets. If a person is travelling on a bus to work, they will need to be able to access the program on their mobile device or tablet. Without stating the obvious, they cannot carry their desktop computer out and about!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie8ZuWV6tpg&t=4s
