The Hebrew program at UCSB offers three years of Hebrew. There is no formal major or minor, however students may elect two or three years of Hebrew studies, Hebrew level 3 or higher fulfills the General Education Requirement for a Foreign Language (Area B). The upper division, third year of Hebrew, fulfills the GE Requirement for Literature (Area W) and Writing (Area G).

The language courses offer an exciting opportunity to learn vocabulary, grammar and syntax, as well as conversation and listening comprehension skills. The modern Hebrew literature courses offer the opportunity to get familiarized with the work of major Israeli writers, in the language of origin. In all the courses we highlight the culture of Israel through use of internet, Israeli feature films and documentaries, songs and newspapers.

In the first year of Hebrew (Hebrew 1-2-3), students learn to read, write and speak Hebrew with good accuracy about everyday topics. They learn the grammatical structure of this Semitic language and become acquainted with contemporary Israeli culture. We use the language in class all the time and students have group conversations. They are expected to spend about an hour daily on homework and take an active part in class.

The second year (Hebrew 4-5-6), focuses on expansion of vocabulary for oral and written communication, on reading short authentic literary texts and newspapers and on expanding grammatical forms and writing compositions.

The third year (Hebrew 114A-B-C) surveys many aspects of Jewish and Israeli history and culture through a variety of literary texts, newspapers and films, focusing on further development of reading, writing and oral communication skills.