The Deception of A native Accent

When our friends returned to Israel, after spending ten years in the States, their daughter was almost sixteen year old.  Since she spoke Hebrew with no trace of an accent, and this was the beginning of the tenth grade, and all the students were new to the school, every one assumed that she was a regular Israeli. For the better part of the year, she sat in class understanding very little, but no one suspected anything.

A native accent is deceptive, and could even be dangerous, not only in high school, but especially in the army. Nowadays there  are quite a few children of Yordim (Israelis who left the country) that return to Israel on their own to serve in the army.  Those young people speak fluent Hebrew, but like my friends’ daughter, they are not Israelis.

Returning to Israel from another country after growing up believing that here was their real home, these young people have many dreams and expectations.  However, they lack the knowledge and the necessary experience of our society to be able to deal with the reality of the army.

Please keep reading in the Times Of Israel

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-deception-of-a-native-accent/