“To speak or not to speak Hebrew, that is the question. Is Israelization the answer?"

• In Event: Contemporary Language Ideologies: Hebrew in Contact with Diaspora Languages

Abstract

Learning Hebrew is not easy. Ideally, upon arrival most new immigrants attend an ulpan (school for intensive study of Hebrew) where they are expected to learn enough of the basics to venture out into Israeli society. However, the reality is that the lingua franca is English and most people end up speaking it during and after the lessons to communicate with each other. As a result, many immigrants leave the ulpan speaking better English than Hebrew. With today's, social media networks is Hebrew really needed to integrate into Israeli society? Is English enough?

This paper will focus on Jewish Mexican women immigrants living in Israel and their attempts at acquiring Hebrew or lack thereof. Has speaking Hebrew been considered an asset or a liability at finding gainful employment? Has it facilitated their acculturation? Does speaking Spanish as a native language influence their desire or need to speak Hebrew or English? Is English fluency more important than Hebrew fluency?

Initial findings suggest that Hebrew fluency has been important but not crucial in their incorporation into the labor force, which is in their view, the key to integration. Nonetheless, speaking or not the Holy Tongue does not seem to influence their identification as Israelis nor their sense of belonging. This paper seeks to understand why this is.

To date ten interviews have been carried out. The goal is to interview thirty women in total with open-ended questions and informal conversations which will be conducted with Jewish Mexican immigrants. Interviews will be held in different cities throughout Israel and with women from various religious and socio-economic backgrounds in order to understand their perspectives on this matter and in order to obtain a wide spectrum of experiences and narratives.

The participants will be recruited using a snowball sampling technique. All interviews will be conducted in Spanish. Participant observation will also be employed.

This paper will add a unique insight into women’s perspectives and be a valuable contribution to the research on immigrant studies.

Author

• Paulette Kershenovich Schuster, Open University