News and rumors in Hebrew
The living room, evening, two people arguing by the TV in Hebrew. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «תן לי את השלט. החדשות בערוץ אחד.» — Give me the remote. The news is on channel one; «שוב חדשות? זה רק שמועות ופרסומות.» — The news again? There are only rumors and advertisements there.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: the living room, evening, two people arguing by the TV. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- תן לי את השלט. החדשות בערוץ אחד.тэн ли эт ха-шалат. ха-хадашот ба-аруц эхад.Give me the remote. The news is on channel one.
- שוב חדשות? זה רק שמועות ופרסומות.шув хадашот? зэ рак шмуот ве-парсомот.The news again? There are only rumors and advertisements there.
- לא נכון, יש דיווח חי מהכיכר.ло нахон, йеш дивуах хай ми-ха-кикар.That is wrong, there is a live report from the square.
- לדעתי הם מגזימים.ле-даати хем мигзимим.In my opinion, they exaggerate.
- אני מסכים חלקית, אבל הכתבה טובה.ани маским хлакит, аваль ха-ктава това.I partly agree, but the article is good.
- אז בדקת את המקור?аз бадакта эт ха-мкор?So have you checked the source?
- כן, בשני מקורות. זו האמת.кен, би-шнэй мкорот. зо ха-эмэт.Yes, by two sources. It is true.
- טוב, נראה ביחד. רק בלי פרסומות!тов, нирэ бэ-яхад. рак бли парсомот!All right, let's watch together. Only without the advertisements!
Lines one by one
| Hebrew | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| תן לי את השלט. החדשות בערוץ אחד. | тэн ли эт ха-шалат. ха-хадашот ба-аруц эхад. | Give me the remote. The news is on channel one. |
| שוב חדשות? זה רק שמועות ופרסומות. | шув хадашот? зэ рак шмуот ве-парсомот. | The news again? There are only rumors and advertisements there. |
| לא נכון, יש דיווח חי מהכיכר. | ло нахон, йеш дивуах хай ми-ха-кикар. | That is wrong, there is a live report from the square. |
| לדעתי הם מגזימים. | ле-даати хем мигзимим. | In my opinion, they exaggerate. |
| אני מסכים חלקית, אבל הכתבה טובה. | ани маским хлакит, аваль ха-ктава това. | I partly agree, but the article is good. |
| אז בדקת את המקור? | аз бадакта эт ха-мкор? | So have you checked the source? |
| כן, בשני מקורות. זו האמת. | кен, би-шнэй мкорот. зо ха-эмэт. | Yes, by two sources. It is true. |
| טוב, נראה ביחד. רק בלי פרסומות! | тов, нирэ бэ-яхад. рак бли парсомот! | All right, let's watch together. Only without the advertisements! |
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?
“תן לי את השלט. החדשות בערוץ אחד.” (тэн ли эт ха-шалат. ха-хадашот ба-аруц эхад.) — Give me the remote. The news is on channel one. 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.