Israel talk · Languages in Israel
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Languages in Israel
Languages in Israel
Hebrew and Arabic are the official languages of Israel. Hebrew is most commonly spoken. 20% of the population are Israeli-Arabs who speak Arabic as well.
Because the United States is Israel's closest ally, English is the most popular foreign language. Israelis study English in school from an early age, and it is commonly understood in Israel. Nearly anyone you meet on the street will be able to communicate with you in English. All street and road signs (and many others) have English names, as well as the Hebrew and Arabic names.
Massive immigration from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s brought a large number of immigrants who speak Russian. Other commonly encountered languages in Israel, reflecting the diverse origins of Israelis, include Romanian, French, German, Polish and River Plate Spanish. Some of the older members of the population and some of the ultra-orthodox population speak Yiddish, an Eastern-European Germanic Jewish language. Foreign workers from China, Philippines, Thailand, and other Asian countries can be seen everywhere in central Israel. You can hear a mix of a dozen languages while on buses, trains or walking in transportation hubs, especially in Tel Aviv central bus station.
While speaking Hebrew Slang, words of Arabic origin are commonly used. For example: "Walla?" (Is that so?), "Yalla!" (Come on, let’s move!), "Sababa" (great), "Akhla" (good), "Sachbak" (friend), and many more. Street talk is also much affected by the military language, which is second nature to many Israelis.
See also: Hebrew phrasebook, Arabic phrasebook
Foreign television programmes and films are mostly American, and almost always shown in their original language with subtitles. Only children's programmes are dubbed into Hebrew.
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Israel Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.