Trouble learning Hebrew in the Holy Land

Here I am 10 months after I made aliyah and my Hebrew is only kacha-kacha (so-so). Before I came to Israel I established that my number one goal was to learn the language. If I had to give myself a grade on my progress with the language, it'd be a C-.

If learning the language is so important to me then why is it so hard to do? There are many factors that contribute to this, although I still feel like I'm simply making excuses. Israel is a Hebrew based culture, but has a very strong English component to its nature. Having met people from all over the world throughout my life, I'd say Israelis rank as one of the highest levels as a collective group with English as a second language, behind the Dutch and on par with the Germans. Israelis learn English from age 8 (used to be 10) and must pass a somewhat difficult language exam in order to graduate from high school.

Also, English is everywhere! Half the television ads are in English, many written ones are as well. Products are marketed and branded with English tag lines, just the same as stores. The big Israeli clothing stores are named Golf, Zara, Fox and Castro, just to name a few. People relish tv series from the US and Israelis are accustomed to reading their tv via subtitles and listening to the English programming. (side note: I've met dozens of Israeli girls who have a decent grasp of Spanish simply from watching the telenovelas, Spanish soap operas!) As has been popular for decades, English music and movies are everywhere.

So, basically, you can live here without speaking the language. The problem I'm forced to confront is that pretty much everyone my age speaks my native tongue far better than I speak theirs. Also, many people want to practice their language skills with you and try only to speak English.

There is only one way for me to thrive in learning Hebrew and that is to insist to speak only Hebrew and by putting myself in situations where I can listen to Hebrew. I am trying to watch more Israeli tv now and involve myself in activities where I speak or listen to Hebrew. Working all day in English does not help with this process, but I've got a great job so I'm not complaining.

I have a new goal for myself and that is to be fully fluent in a year's time. I think it is an achievable goal and one that I will have to devise some sort of reward/punishment for my progress (or lack thereof). For now, I fool people with my accent (it's better than my vocabulary) and they think that I speak more than I do :-) I do realize, however, if I don't master the language, I'm only fooling myself and I'm determined not to let this happen. Learning Hebrew is a greater challenge than I originally thought it would be, but it's time to say "Bring it on!"