A second language (SL) is one that is studied while living in a country where it is spoken and being immersed in it. By learning it, the students are preparing themselves to live in that country and function in its dominant language. A foreign language (FL) is defined as one that is studied in a country where it is not the dominant language, in order to be able to use it while visiting the country in which it is spoken or communicating with its speakers. Realistically speaking then, our teaching of Hebrew matches neither the category of a second nor of a foreign language. While Diaspora students will hopefully visit Israel, few need the knowledge necessary to function there as a member of its society. As such, we must explore toward what goals of Hebrew fluency are we to educate.

S/F language research in recent decades emphasizes daily communication (conversation), while simultaneously downplaying, almost ignoring, real cultural content (reading and text). I believe that it is precisely this cultural element that needs to be our primary objective.

While we would like our students to be able to communicate in Hebrew, more importantly, we should try to allow them a life-long access to the stories and ideas of the Bible and the Rabbinic texts, to the prayers, as well as to modern Israeli literature, cinema and popular music. It is within these texts that our culture resides, and access to these texts provides our students access to that culture as an integral part of their identity formation. In order to determine the specific issues related to the teaching of Hebrew this way, and research them, we need to create a new category of language acquisition - perhaps “Identity Language” (IL) or “Culture Language” (CL). Efforts should not be limited to academic research or the development of comprehensive packaged programs, rather, teachers should be encouraged to learn about new methods and programs and to complement them by experimenting with their own materials in their classrooms.

Parents raising children in any first language are encouraged to talk and sing to them from the day they are born, and to read aloud to them as early as possible. Furthermore, parents are encouraged to go on reading to them even after they start reading themselves. Research tells us that such reading - throughout childhood and into teenage years (on a level higher than the child’s own) - is not just a warm and pleasurable way of bonding but is also extremely important for building various language skills, specifically vocabulary and natural grammar. This practice plays an important role in creating the foundation for richer active vocabulary in speech and future reading and writing. It also encourages intellectual openness and conceptual grasp.

Cultural Language education is built on massive exposure to the vast range of cultural literature. With younger aged children, that includes stories, poems and songs. Children who listen daily to Hebrew stories and poems, read aloud from the original, and listen and sing along to Hebrew songs, are more likely to absorb and later master the language in form, content and spirit. These students will be exposed to natural, fluent Hebrew in their early years, will accumulate a considerable vocabulary (even if initially mostly passive), and will internalize intuitively Hebrew grammar. When the time comes, they will be better prepared to approach reading as well.

Topics covered in Hebrew children’s literature should include not only Jewish holidays and other Judaic subjects but any subject matter dealt with in the first-language curriculum: nature and science, technology and transportation, feelings and human relationship, play and humor, etc.

With consistent exposure to Hebrew literature through their school years, students will eventually develop a comfortable familiarity with the language and the culture depicted in it. From Miriam Yalan Shtekelis’s rhymes for toddlers, the wonderful picture books of Miriam Roth, through Devora Omer's novels and biographies, and all the way to David Grossman's 'Mishehu laRooz Ito' for young adults - just to mention a few. They will listen to all these read aloud and will come to feel at ease reacting to them and talking about them. With time, they will be likely to read them for their own pleasure.

Children’s literature in Hebrew - as in other languages - uses basic themes, vocabulary and sentence structure. At the same time it is rich enough to serve as an excellent gateway to Hebrew literature in general.

Hebrew literature should be offered primarily for its joy and as a pleasant experience. A story should not be dwelled upon for too long, nor should it be read slowly by the students, and laboriously plowed with written questions and answers and vocabulary quizzes. Rather, understanding should be achieved instantly by the reader by using animation, acting, pointing to objects around the classroom, through the windows, in posters and picture books. This comfortable story-telling atmosphere allows for interruptions, clarifications, reactions and later conversation. It should be clear, both to the teacher and students, that not every word has to be understood and explained but rather the general plot of story and its themes should be captured. In order to keep the narration as natural as possible, explanations should be limited to key words only, ideally by means of the method described above.

Following the first reading, the teacher should be able to analyze the immediate feedback, and be flexible enough to decide if a repeated reading would be welcome, or a conversation preferred. Young kids listen with delight to repeated readings of poems and picture-book stories, whereas older children and certainly teens would be happy just to find out the plot and continue on to a heated discussion about its content.

Massive exposure to Hebrew literature, together with consistent use of the most frequent vocabulary words in daily class interaction, is most important. It will ensure that the child encounters and reencounters the same word numerous times - the same root, the same verb form or the same syntactic structure in different stories and different real life situations - thus internalizing them for passive and active use. Here is where quantity leads to quality. Instead of spending long hours and days studying intensively a limited number of uninspiring textbook pieces, the child will come across a very large number of exciting, sensitive, funny, poetic, informative works from Hebrew literature that will deepen his/her grasp of the Hebrew language and enable him/her to integrate it into use. Moreover, opportunities to apply newly introduced words and forms to the student's daily life are abundant, provided we are conscious of the need to apply them.

When students in later grades reach the stage where grammar might deepen their understanding of the language and fine-tune its use, they will already have a rich linguistic experience to draw from and to apply to the theoretical study of grammar.

Introducing young students to modern Hebrew literature will not only ease their way into Hebrew conversation and modern Hebrew literature, but will support their study of the classical texts: Bible, Siddur, Mishnah and more. In fact, studying classical Hebrew will, in its turn, support the learning of modern Hebrew, which draws so much from its layered linguistic traditions. A rich program offering both past and present will help produce educated adult Jews who are well-read and appreciative of their heritage and culture.