English as a Prerequisite to Israeli Success

 

Before I came to Israel, I was completely panicking about the language barrier I knew I was going to face. I had been abroad before, to places like Budapest and Tokyo where I truly did struggle not knowing the language. So, I downloaded the DuoLingo app and started learning basic Hebrew. However when I got to Israel I saw most people speaking English to me, and abandoned my Hebrew education. However, this is not the situation for all Israeli's. Many people do speak some conversational English, but lots of communities don't. It is common for people in lower socio-economic backgrounds to struggle with English proficiency, which is why programs like the ENP Bridges program that give English learning opportunities to students are so important.

But let’s look at the stats. 85% of Israelis speak some English, 50% of the internet is in English, and 96% of articles are written in English. Speaking English is crucial to success, and Israel is no exception. English is taught in a majority of Israeli schools, and to enter college or graduate school there are certain English proficiency tests that need to be taken. Additionally, if you want to have a job in tourism or in a major city, English is that much more important. Clearly, English is crucial to succeeding and rising in Israeli society.

However, this expectation of knowing perfect English puts Ethiopian-Israeli immigrants at a disadvantage for a couple reasons. First of all, many Ethiopian-Israeli students already have to navigate two languages; Amharic (one of the main languages in Ethiopia), and Hebrew. This is tough considering the languages are so different. Factor in another very complicated language, and this can become very overwhelming for these students. It is all too easy to just give up, and not focus on English learning. But as we have seen, this comes back to hurt them in the future with higher education and occupation.

Now, it is also expected in Israeli society for students to take pre-academic English courses, and that parents will be very active in their children’s English education. This is unattainable for Ethiopian-Israeli students for a few reasons. Many of these immigrant parents are struggling financially, so they work either multiple jobs or late hours. Furthermore, most of the parents of these students were shepherds or farmers in Ethiopia, with little to no formal education. This leads to not only students not having their parents home to help them with English learning, but also that their parents might not even be able to assist them. Furthermore, due to economic reasons, it’s rare that Ethiopian-Israeli students have the resources to take pre-academic English courses. This means that they are behind the rest of their classes and unfortunately are more likely to fail courses multiple times or be placed in the lowest tracks where they do not learn the prerequisite material that will enable them to enter university, while the rest of their classmates move on. As you can imagine, this can be very discouraging to these students, and keeping up with English takes a backseat. 

It’s understandable how this system frustrates Ethiopian-Israeli students, and often leads to students facing a greater challenge to succeed in Israeli society. This is where the school system should come in and help, but unfortunately that is not the case. Israeli schools are a more formal educational system. When it comes to new immigrants, the expectation is that they have experienced formal education. This is not the case for many Ethiopian-Israeli students, and given that their parents didn’t have formal education either they don’t have sufficient support. To make matters more difficult, most of the English they learn in school is academic English, trying to engage students in abstract thinking. This makes sense, given that the hope is they will then use this English in higher education. But just learning academic English when not knowing any conversational English is not only difficult, but it’s not as much fun. These students are young, usually in elementary, middle, and high school. Motivation is important to maintain, and confronted with a language that you don’t have adequate support in, feeling discouraged is understandable. This is why programs that directly support Ethiopian Israeli students to succeed in these English classes are so important. 

This precisely is what ENP does through its Bridges program. The Bridges program recognizes that English is one of the most challenging barriers to learning in this community, and has a four-fold response to addressing the situation.

1. Supplemental English Language in an informal setting

2. Connection with North American Jewish peers through Zoom calls 

3. Carrying out group projects and applying skills learned 

4. Facilitating American Jewish summer camp opportunities for participants.

In 2020 and 2021 The Bridges Program has been able to provide English language courses to 120 students in 14 different cities all over Israel. These programs prioritize small group learning, mixed with fun activities to engage them in English learning. These activities include games and dialogue exercises. This way of learning English is exciting and engaging, and really gets the students passionate about learning more. It has been shown to be overwhelmingly successful, with many students gaining confidence in their English proficiency, and feeling less shame and fear when attempting to learn this difficult skill. The ENP Bridges program helps so many young students to be their best selves, and it truly helps these students. 

Admin. “How Widely Spoken Is English in Israel?” How Widely Spoken, How Widely Spoken, 27 Sept. 2020, howwidelyspoken.com/how-widely-spoken-english-israel/.

Brent, John. “English as an Official Second Language of Israel.” Sun, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 12 June 2018, www.sun-sentinel.com/florida-jewish-journal/opinion/fl-jjps-brent-0921-20160919-story.html.

Kozulin, Alex, and Erica Garb . “Dynamic Assessment of Literacy: English as a Third Language .” JSTOR, Mar. 2004, www.jstor.org/stable/23421401?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.