Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to: derive meaning from context without understanding every word of conversation; follow a longer presentation in Hebrew on a number of topics pertaining to different times and places; decipher nuances of language; initiate conversations in Hebrew and sustain them for a longer period of time; converse in Hebrew in a variety of everyday, school, work or social situations; read consistently with full understanding of simple connected texts dealing with basic personal and social needs about which the student has personal interest or knowledge; get the gist of longer paragraphs when expectations cued by the text are fulfilled as well as comprehending most details of simple informative texts; read and interpret poetry; read between the lines to interpret nuances and big ideas; write an essay that analyzes a topic in depth; and meet most practical writing needs and limited social demands such as taking notes on familiar topics, respond in writing to personal questions and write simple letters, brief synopses.