Introduction

Episode 1 - Introduction Hello and welcome to the first episode of the podcast Yalla: Learning Hebrew with Steph! My name is Steph, and I'm excited that you are with me today. First of all, I want to tell you a bit about myself and what this podcast is about. So, here's the thing: Hebrew isn't my native language. I've been learning Hebrew for two years now, and I'm at an intermediate level. So, why start a podcast in Hebrew? I noticed there's a real lack of podcasts and audio materials for intermediate Hebrew learners. Most of the content I've found online is either for beginners or advanced learners. Because there's hardly any material for intermediate Hebrew learners, I wanted to create something that fills this gap — a place for people who are learning Hebrew and want to challenge themselves and improve. You might be thinking, "How will this work?" So, I'll explain the format. I'll be speaking in Hebrew, but since I'm still learning, my wonderful husband, who's from Israel and a native Hebrew speaker, will help me. He'll review everything I plan to say and make sure it's accurate and sounds natural. So, you can think of this podcast as one for learners, by a learner, but with the guidance of a native Hebrew speaker! I'm taking a lot of inspiration from the podcast called Hebrew Time. It's a really, really good podcast hosted by the teacher Nadya. I assume that anyone listening to us today already knows about Hebrew Time, but if not, I really recommend it. Nadya talks about all sorts of topics in intermediate-level Hebrew, like life in Israel and travel. But I want to bring something a bit different so we can learn something new together. The plan is that in each episode, I'll talk about different topics from the worlds of culture, news, different hobbies, and more. Each episode will be about 15 to 20 minutes long. Sometimes, it'll just be me, and sometimes I might have guests, and we'll discuss different subjects. I hope you'll find it interesting and engaging. I really want this podcast to be interactive, so if you have any questions or topics you'd like me to cover, or things you've learned recently, feel free to send me an email! I'll put my email in the podcast description. Your feedback will really help me improve the podcast, and I'm excited to learn with you. I want to thank you for listening to the first episode of the podcast. I can't wait to start this journey with you and see where we go. So that's all for today; thank you so much for your time, and until next time — take care and keep learning!