Palestine Broadcasting Service: Language Learning

THE BROADCASTS

HOW SHALL I SAY IT? SERIES OF HEBREW BROADCASTS ON PRONUNCIATION (presented by Prof H. Torczyner, 1936-37)

HEBREW LESSONS FOR IMMIGRANTS (Presented by Aharon Rosenberger, 1945-46)

HEBREW LESSONS (presented by Fritz Simon 1938-39)

HEBREW LESSONS (presented by Shaul Kaleko)

HEBREW LESSONS FOR YIDDISH SPEAKERS , 1947(presented by Shaul Barkali)

ARABIC LESSONS (presented by T. A. Farah 1938-39)

ARABIC LESSONS Second Series (presented by T. A. Farah, 1939)

Colloquial Arabic, presented by Dr. Irna Garbel, 1945-1946

Language Lessons On The Air

THE P.B.S, AND "JERUSALEM RADIO" COOPERATE IN A NEW SERIES

LISTENERS and readers will surely agree that the peculiar position in which this country finds itself - three official languages in daily use - makes imperative the knowledge of all these languages in order that people in commerce, industry, political and social life may understand one another.

In response to many requests from listeners - from every walk or life, the P.B.S. has been prompted to inaugurate a series of language courses on the air. It will be generally agreed that fifteen-minute broadcasts of lessons on the air would not be sufficient to inculcate in the listeners' minds the full scope of the language and the P.B.S. has, therefore, asked the cooperation of Jerusalem Radio in this new innovation. For by following the lesson in the printed page as the Instructor gives it on the air, it is felt, and this feeling will undoubtedly be affirmed by listeners, that greater efficiency will result in the teaching.

The first of these lessons will be broadcast on October 27 at 9 p.m. and will follow in weekly instalments every Thursday evening at the same hour. The courses will begin with elementary colloquial Arabic and the teacher wlll be Mr. T. A. Farah, who for many years has taught this language in the Y.M.C.A., at the Newman School of Missions and to a multitude of private students.

It Is hoped shortly to institute similar courses in the same manner in Hebrew and English.

The part played by Jerusalem Radio in these courses is as follows: on our day of publication, Friday, we shall print the vocabulary and other matter pertaining to the lesson to be broadcast the coming Thursday. Thus, readers of Jerusalem Radio will be able to follow closely the instructor's words and to reap the greatest benefit from them. For example, by printing the lesson almost a week in advance radio students will have that time before them to study the lesson in earlier issues of the journal before it actually comes on the air. At the same time the student who will have the benefit of past lessons, will be able to brush up on words, sentences, grammar and sentence structure before the next lesson is broadcast. This earlier publication will make it simpler, also, for the instructor to refer to previous lessons by simply noting for listeners the issue of Jerusalem Radio in which the particular phrase or word appears.

A consistent and persistent followlng of the lessons both on the air and in Jerusalem Radio may bring to listeners a ready knowledge of the simple aspects of the language being taught, such as reading, writing and colloquial conversation. This close cooperation between the P.B.S. and Jerusalem Radio will be understood by listeners and readers as being the best possible arrangement for such language courses.

Jerusalem Radio, Friday, November 11, 1938, page 4

Notes and Comments

JERUSALEM RADIO is glad to announce to its subscribers and readers that their wholehearted support of our venture into Palestine journalism has prompted us to introduce several innovations which will undoubtedly find general approval among this large and growing body.

First among these improvements is in the magazine itself: a new paper, a new typeface and a larger format will allow us to make the programmes more readable, provide more room for pure reading material, and enhance the contents and appearance of the weekly itself. Choosing as our models publications of a similar nature in England and America, we have never felt completely satisfied that the production in its first six issues was a perfect mirror of those expressed but more often unexpressed desires of the radio-owning and radio-listening public of Palestine.

We still are not satisfied; but today's issue begins a new era of steady advancement along many lines, which, we feel certain, will bring its own reward.

The second of these innovations is the introduction of Lessons in Elementary Hebrew. The P.B.S. has found the logical time and the right man for this educational enterprise and JERUSALEM RADIO will, as it has for the course in Elementary Colloquial Arabic, collaborate to the utmost in bringing these Iessons to the greatest number of people.

Beginning this Monday evening at 8:45, the P.B.S. will broadcast lessons in Hebrew, each Monday at the same hour. JERUSALEM RADIO will, on the Friday preceding each lesson, publish a synopsis of that particular lesson, thus allowing students of Hebrew time enough to brush up on previous lessons, prepare for the coming one, and providing: the teacher with a basis for his introductions.

The Arabic lessons will continue at the same hour on the same day : Thursday evenings at 9 o'clock. Today we present in our pages the synopsis of Lesson IV in Elementary Colloquial Arabic which will be broadcast next Thursday, November 17, while Iast night Mr. T. A. Farah, the teacher for this course, broadcast his third lesson to a rapidly growing body of listening-students.

As we stated when we introduced the Arabic lessons four weeks ago, communication between the inhabitants of this little country is of vital importance towards understanding and good-neighbourliness. It is now possible for every one in the country to begin at once with the study of his neighbour's tongue.

In this week's issue on another page will be found the synopsis of the first lesson in Hebrew presented by Dr. Fritz Simon, who is to conduct the series. Doctor Simon is well-known throughout Palestine and should prove an able and efficient instructor.

Behind the scenes, discussions and conferences are proceeding between the P.B.S. staff and JERUSALEM RADIO on the manner and means of presenting to listeners a course in the English language. There are innumerable difficulties and obstacles, immediately apparent to anyone who truly studies the issue, but it is hoped shortly to overcome even these handicaps and give the Palestine public complete course in all three official languages of the country.

For the present, remember:

ARABIC LESSONS, Thursday evenings, 9 o'clock - Mr. T. A. Farah.
HEBREW LESSONS, Monday evenings 8.45 o'clock - Dr. Fritz Simon.. and on the Friday preceding the lessons, JERUSALEM RADIO will give synopses of the lessons to be broadcast the following week. VVe urge those of our readers who wish to assure themselves of the synopses of the lessons and thus to follow the lessons more delightly on the air, to subscribe to JERUSALEM RADIO at once. Simply make out a cheque or enclosea money order in an envelope addressed to the Publisher of JERUSALEM RADIO, P.O.B. 1073, Jerusalem, and the paper will be. delivered to your homes each Friday. Subscriptions for the year are 400 mils, for the half-yeur 210 mils.

The Origin of the Brighter English League

It may interest listeners to know something of the origin of the Brighter English League, hitherto shrouded in mystery.

There was, of course, no such League in existence when the weekly talks entitled "Let's Speak English" first began and naturally there was no such position as that of President of the Brighter English League.

It was originally the intention that a series of wholly serious talks should be given, and that they should be given a professional English teacher, which the President is not.

No suitable English teacher could be found to do those broadcasts, so the preparation and delivery of the talks was thrust on to the unfortunate President who had had no experience of broadcasting whatever.

Added to this, the then Director of Programes of the Palestine Broadcasting Service [Stephen Fry] pointed out that English listeners would not stomach Enqltsh lessons durinq the English hour unless they were entertaining. To make English grammer entertaining is no easy task. That is the reason for the odd mixture of funny stories and English grammar which goes by the name of "Brighter English". '

Originally only four talks were planned as an experiment. Owing to the surprising response, twelve talks were qiven in all between December 1937, and March, 1938. A second twelve talks are now planned from the 5th June this [1939] year.

The post of President of the Brighter English League was invented by the President in the endeavour to retain his anonymity.

PRESIDENT OF THE BRIGHTER ENGLISH LEAGUE

At that time there was no intenion of establishing a real league. But, when the first talk was delivered, a tentative invitation was broadcast to Iisteners to becaome members of a League and it was announced that each member would receive a printed outline in advance of each future talk free of charge. It was hoped thaf perhaps a dozen enthusiasts miqht respond. Ninety-one letters, however, were immediately received: 58 from Jerusalem, 17 from Tel Aviv, 11 from Haifa and one each from Ramat Gan, Rehovot, Benyamina, Pardess Hanna, Es Salt, Aleppo and Baghdad.

Further apeals for membership were thereupon made after the second and third talks with the result that the membership rose to 234 and 355 members respectively.

A group of volunteer assistants was then formed by the President to prepare lists of the names and addresses of all these members.

The object of the printed outline was to remind listeners of the date and time of the talk, to make copies of each outline a week in advance, to type out all the envelopes and despatch them each Friday so that they should reach every member before the broadcast, to make it easier for listeners to follow the talks and to give them something to help them remember what had been said.

The work involved in the preparation and despatch of the outlines each week was so onerous that no further appeals for members were made. Nevertheless the membership rose steadily until it eventually reached 600 after the twelfth talk.

Those listeners who heard the talk between the President and Miss Lotte Backfish may be interested to know that Miss Backfish in private life was Mrs. Stephen Fry, the wife of the former Director of Programmes.

Although the range of the Palestine Broadcasting Service is very limited, and is drowned in most of Europe by the transmision from the far more powerful Northern Regional station in England, listeners all over the Middle East and Eastern Europe heard the "Brighter English" talks and applications for membership of the League were received from Egypt, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Rumania and Lithuania.

As time went on, many amusing letters from members of the League and other listeners containing many helpful criticisms of past talks and and useful suggestions for future talks for which the President was exceedingly grateful. At the beginning of the twelfth talk listeners were directly invited to send in criticisms. A number of these letters will be given in whole or part in subsequent issues of Jerusalem Radio The first six talks were subsequently printed as a booklet and sold by the Palestine Review at 50 mils a copy. The second six talks were similarly published, and over a thousand copies of each booklet were sold. Copies are still obtainable from booksellers or from Jerusalem Radio. The twelve new talks now to be broadcast will subsequently be published in two booklets, six talks in each. The published price of each booklet will be 50 mils, as in the case of the earlier booklets.

Members of the Brighter English League will be able to get the booklets at a reduced price under either of the following arrangements :

a) The two booklets together with a subscription for six months to "Jerusalem Radio" for 270 mils. (The normal subscription to "Jerusalem Radio" for six months with the ordinary cost of the two booklets is 310 mils).

b) The two booklets alone for 80 mils instead of the normal price of 100 mils.