University enrollment in Hebrew
The admissions office of a Tel Aviv university, the end of August in Hebrew. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «שלום. אני רוצה להירשם לאוניברסיטה.» — Hello. I want to enroll at the university; «בסדר. באיזה חוג?» — All right. For which program?
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: the admissions office of a Tel Aviv university, the end of August. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- שלום. אני רוצה להירשם לאוניברסיטה.шалом. ани роце лехирашем ла-университета.Hello. I want to enroll at the university.
- בסדר. באיזה חוג?бэсэдер. бэ-эйзо хуг?All right. For which program?
- בחוג להיסטוריה. יש מלגה?ба-хуг ле-история. йеш малга?History. Is there a scholarship?
- כן, לסטודנטים טובים יש מלגה.кен, ла-студентим товим йеш малга.Yes, good students get a scholarship.
- איפה הפקולטה?эйфо ха-факульта?Where is the faculty?
- לא רחוק. גם המעונות כאן, ליד האוניברסיטה.ло рахок. гам ха-меонот кан, ляд ха-университета.Not far. The dormitory is here too, next to the university.
- טוב מאוד. איפה נרשמים?тов меод. эйфо нирашмим?Very good. Where does one sign up?
- כאן. בהצלחה!кан. бе-хацлаха!Here. Good luck!
Lines one by one
| Hebrew | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| שלום. אני רוצה להירשם לאוניברסיטה. | шалом. ани роце лехирашем ла-университета. | Hello. I want to enroll at the university. |
| בסדר. באיזה חוג? | бэсэдер. бэ-эйзо хуг? | All right. For which program? |
| בחוג להיסטוריה. יש מלגה? | ба-хуг ле-история. йеш малга? | History. Is there a scholarship? |
| כן, לסטודנטים טובים יש מלגה. | кен, ла-студентим товим йеш малга. | Yes, good students get a scholarship. |
| איפה הפקולטה? | эйфо ха-факульта? | Where is the faculty? |
| לא רחוק. גם המעונות כאן, ליד האוניברסיטה. | ло рахок. гам ха-меонот кан, ляд ха-университета. | Not far. The dormitory is here too, next to the university. |
| טוב מאוד. איפה נרשמים? | тов меод. эйфо нирашмим? | Very good. Where does one sign up? |
| כאן. בהצלחה! | кан. бе-хацлаха! | Here. Good luck! |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Hebrew in this situation?
“שלום. אני רוצה להירשם לאוניברסיטה.” (шалом. ани роце лехирашем ла-университета.) — Hello. I want to enroll at the university. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.