The unique method of "Morasha" Ulpan can be defined as a "cognitively oriented foreign language learning model". This method considers the cognitive characteristics of adult learners, such as memory mechanisms, attention concentration, and maintaining mental performance, as well as cognitive-psychological factors, including motivation and language use in communication. Thanks to this method, our students successfully master Hebrew and can use it in real-life situations.
Our highest priorities in mastering Hebrew include:
Special emphasis is placed on structuring the educational process (education in the primary Ulpan amounts to about 500 hours).
During the first weeks, to reduce mental load and stress, the delivery and processing of educational material primarily rely on involuntary learning.
Problem Addressed: High mental load and stress in intensive language learning. Most students arrive at the Ulpan lacking experience in accelerated foreign language learning (the need to reach a functional level of proficiency within 5-10 months), and their language learning skills are either undeveloped or not refreshed. Conventional material delivery (textbooks, use of scientific terminology) leads to high mental load and stress, which significantly reduces not only the effectiveness of further language study but also negatively impacts motivation levels, a crucial correlate of success in learning any foreign language.
In addressing the issue of language skill development, we focus on the constant interaction between the teacher and the class. Each instructor acts as a proactive educator who, providing the minimally necessary amount of grammar knowledge, spends most of the time implementing pre-planned language interactions that lead to the automation of language skills. We believe that only a proactive educator, constantly initiating processes, can maintain student attention over long periods. Properly distributed attention is the foundation of successful learning.
Problem Addressed: People possess knowledge that they find difficult to apply. Most foreign language teaching methods focus on selecting language material and the method of its delivery, whereas critical importance should be given to the process of skill development. It is quite evident that the effectiveness of the educational process is determined by the student's ability to implement knowledge across the four skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
Generalizing accumulated knowledge with a dominant "explicit learning". Work on the ability to generalize. The neuropsychological architecture of adult learners (increased ability relative to children to categorize and generalize) allows for an efficient learning process through a stable understanding of language patterns and generalizations at the level of language categories. At this stage, we focus on generalizing accumulated knowledge with a dominant "explicit learning" (at this stage, awareness and understanding precede knowledge automation); special attention is given to grammar and structural features of the language; combining inductive (from specifics to generalization) and deductive (from generalization to specifics) learning methods. Thus, the learner acquires a comprehensive vision of Hebrew as a highly efficient language system with established and stable internal regularities. This allows for a significant acceleration of language mastery; reaching a level of comfortable functional interaction with the language environment.
Problem Addressed: Learning language in adulthood. After the age of nine, a person's ability to remember unstructured material decreases. The generalization used in many educational institutions based on thematic bases (banking, medicine, etc.) does not yield the desired fruits, as the brain struggles to work with chaotically selected words in terms of linguistic structure, united only based on semantic fields.
There are two main pathways for mastering a language: a broad understanding of the language's structure and established skills. These are our primary focus. Successful progress in the initial stages allows for concentrating on intensively increasing the vocabulary in the final stage of the primary course. A metaphor with a smartphone might be somewhat applicable here: knowledge of the language structure and skills are like "hardware," while the vocabulary is like apps running on its base.
Problem Addressed: Socialization.
Our student typically needs intensive socialization in Israel. For the verbal component of socialization, besides the ability to efficiently use the language's logic and regularities, an extensive vocabulary is required. Without considering the psycho-cognitive features of students and the structure of the cognitive process, assembling a vocabulary presents a highly challenging task.
Special attention is given to maintaining cognitive tension throughout the lesson. Work forms are based on alternating types of language activities and are stimulated by proactive teacher-led group and individual communicative activity. We work using two interacting pathways to solve the problem: regulated complexity and interval automation. Focused work on material with systematically increasing complexity and constant changing of types of language activities (reading, writing, listening, and speaking).
An example of focused work on the reading skill could be the repeated reading of the same text (at the first stage even without understanding); Repeated reading of the same text leads to the automation of the skill of letter identification, rapid recognition of recurring morphological (structural) patterns (nouns, verbs, etc.), involuntary mastery of grammatical norms and correct patterns of sentence construction in Hebrew, memorizing words and phrases, etc. This type of exercise is possible due to the specific structuring of Hebrew.
From a methodological standpoint, special importance is given to interval repetitions. Every knowledge unit (word, phrase, structural schema, etc.) must be repeatedly revisited at certain intervals. Repetition should be carried out combining different perception channels: auditory (listening, speaking), visual (reading), and kinesthetic (writing). Every knowledge unit must be embedded in context, favorably affecting memorization, and whenever possible, emotionally colored. The success of the process largely depends on the readiness of students to collaborate within this methodology and perform repetitions outside of class time.
We believe that only a proactive educator, constantly initiating processes, can maintain a student's attention for a long time. Properly distributed attention is the foundation of successful learning.
Using different types of translation for practicing the same language material; different types of translation require the use of various cognitive skills: translation by ear from the native language to Hebrew, translation by ear from Hebrew to the native language, translations with visual cues, dictation in the native language with writing in Hebrew, etc.
Problem Addressed: Fatigue, attention dispersion, "complexity" of the material
capable of maintaining educational tension when learning a language for short periods of time. We are talking about a very complex mental activity. There is a high level of fatigue. At the same time, all Ulpanim have long lessons.
Improper distribution of attention (attention dispersion) and undue complexity of the material (lack of structuring, excessive amount of information per day, and other factors) will slow down the language learning process. This paradox is easily describable: a large amount of information offered for study, without thoughtful automation, will hinder the development of skills and rapid language mastery.
Using different types of translation for practicing the same language material; different types of translation require the use of various cognitive skills: translation by ear from the native language to Hebrew, translation by ear from Hebrew to the native language, translations with visual cues, dictation in the native language with writing in Hebrew, etc.
Problem Addressed: Monotony of study, partial language mastery ("I can read, but can't speak").
Many teachers in other language schools focus on a single-channel perception of the new language ("you need to read a lot," "you need to go out and talk," etc.) and on template methods of its teaching.
This approach will minimize the effectiveness of learning (monotony; turning off several perception channels).
The interweaving of mnemonic tricks, memory-impacting techniques, is used in exercises: rhythmization and rhymization, use of repetitive syntactic structures, finding unusual associations, building language regularities, fragmentation (knowledge unit is broken down into fragments). A large amount of visual material is used. Students are advised to perform any linguistic activity "out loud, verbalizing."
Problem Addressed: Template methods of teaching, the absence of mnemonic impact on the brain, lead to a low level of stabilization of acquired knowledge and slow down the learning process.
Many teachers in other language schools focus on a single-channel perception of the new language ("you need to read a lot," "you need to go out and talk," etc.) and on template methods of its teaching. This approach will minimize the effectiveness of learning (monotony, turning off several perception channels, absence of mnemonic impact on the brain, implying the formation, preservation, and implementation of knowledge).
The language material is presented in the learner's native language, which allows for maximum understanding not only of word meanings but also of significant linguistic concepts and structures. At the same time, excessive cognitive load is reduced, allowing the student to concentrate.
Problem Addressed: Mediator language. Dual-level complexity, distortion of meanings, cognitive overload.
When learning a new language without a well-understood mediator language, a dual-level complexity arises: the level of precision in explaining new lexemes is sometimes minimized to the distortion of meanings (explaining new words through other words in the new language, etc.); there is a significant difficulty in understanding language terminology in the new language (however, usually, the student is proficient in it in their native language).
Thanks to the use of modern technologies, multichannel repetition of knowledge becomes more accessible and thus more effective. Our platform allows (to varying degrees of efficiency) the engagement of all skills related to language use. For instance, the skill of typing words on devices is practiced; the development of this skill greatly enhances phonological awareness. Additionally, we implement the practice of listening skills, stress translation.
Problem Addressed: Inefficiency and obsolescence of conservative carriers.
In a high-tech world, where most information is delivered through digital sources, teaching based solely on conservative carriers (textbooks, workbooks, etc.) does not meet the principle of accessibility and negatively impacts various aspects of learning (motivation, multichannel perception, and more).негативно сказывает на разных аспектах учебы (мотивация, многоканальное восприятие и другое).
There is no fixed teacher for a class in Morasha. A high level of organizational intelligence makes it possible to constantly change teachers within the full completion of the educational program. The benefit to the student is obvious: they hear different variants of standardized Hebrew performance (accents, ways of expressing thoughts, etc.); the possibility of non-reception of educational material due to a certain way of its delivery is minimized; the ability to communicate with different gender and age groups.
Problem Addressed: Possible "student-teacher" incompatibility in a group with a permanent teacher.
Falling into a typical Ulpan with one permanent teacher, students may become overly accustomed to a specific accent and pronunciation style. This leads to the student easily learning to recognize the teacher's speech but being completely lost on the street, over the phone, etc. (in the case that the interlocutor's pronunciation is different.) on a limited vocabulary and topics characteristic of a particular teacher approach to life and teaching In other words, learning a new language depends on one of its carriers, and they, as is known, are not perfect.
We do not flirt with myths about language learning, do not give false terms and hopes. We stand on the side of the repatriate, seeing in him a future in-demand specialist who freely speaks the language at a high level.
Morasha Ulpan has its own curriculum, created by qualified teachers, most of whom are repatriates. This plan provides for in-depth study of the structure of the Hebrew verb (Hebrew is a language of actions), preference is given to words with high communicative value (relevance), minimized study of high-frequency nouns and adjectives (they are easily mastered independently). By the end of the primary course, the trainee is familiar with a larger relative amount of language structures (all forms in all tenses, passive voice, frequency exceptions) than in other Ulpans. At the same time, the formal vocabulary in another Ulpan may be higher. Ulpan Morasha consciously prefers structurally significant elements of the language.
Problem Addressed: Curricula and systems written by people for whom Hebrew is native and people who have not gone through the repatriate's experience.
There are very few curricula for learning Hebrew, and almost all of them are written by people for whom Hebrew is a native language, and they do not fully understand the immediate needs of the new repatriate and the mechanisms for mastering this language. This applies to the general plan of all state Ulpans. Private Ulpans mostly do not have any curriculum at all and build the educational process based on a textbook or the experience of a particular educator.
The program is built on real needs, with an emphasis on frequently used syntactic structures, frequent morphological models, and common words.
We teach modern Hebrew, maintaining a fine line between literacy and conversational speech. Our students understand common slang and often speak and write no less literately than educated native speakers (while possessing a significantly smaller vocabulary).
Problem Addressed: High and "low" Hebrew, a huge number of unused words at beginner levels.
One of the modern trends in the development of many languages is the increasing gap between different styles of speech and the blurring of established language norms. This is perceived particularly painfully when learning a new language. It is very difficult for a person to feel the pragmatics, not having extensive language experience.
The solid language base we create in our students virtually guarantees that those who continue learning achieve the desired results in the shortest possible time. Many graduates of the Ulpan, numbering tens of thousands, assert that the knowledge they acquired has had a significant impact on their socialization and employment, work. Many of our graduates now hold key positions in Israeli society, including scientists, military personnel, police officers, doctors, and teachers. We are particularly proud that the combined teaching method has helped those who were physically unable to attend Ulpan for personal reasons (illnesses, work schedules, small children) achieve a high level of proficiency in Hebrew.
About 99.9% of students participating in the state exam pass it successfully. At the same time, their level of knowledge in Hebrew grammar and speaking skills is usually higher than in other Ulpans.
Training at "Morasha" Ulpan has enabled thousands of people with very different abilities to truly start speaking Hebrew after 2-4 years of training using our system at an age when language acquisition is already challenging. The percentage of people who have mastered the language after our system significantly exceeds this indicator in other language schools (both Hebrew and non-Hebrew). Our methods have also allowed thousands of people who do not have the physical ability to study at an Ulpan to acquire the language thanks to the ability to study remotely.
