Thursday, February 12, 2015

Challenge 52 in 52: Hebrew

The letters aren't really difficult, neither are the other abjads, it's just a different system, and takes some time to couple loose from the alphabet... even when the aleph-beit is closer to the original :-D
So just learn the letters. It really takes only a couple of hours. Memrize has a good course for that.
(The only problem is that the names are not the israeli ones, so it might be a bit difficult. The Aleph-Beit song I linked to last year is a very good way of learning the HEBREW names of the letters - which is essential if you are seriously going to learn to speak Hebrew and not the Americanized Ashkenazic... (nothing wrong with Ashkenazic, but it's used mainly for religious purposes, and... languages are supposed to be alive. And some people can't get over their American accent and in my ears it sounds awful... Like... uh. Never mind.)

Because of this, DON'T LEARN TRANSCRIPTIONS. Learn the real letters used to write the language and the real way of writing the words, that's what you do with English and French also, even when those languages use Roman letters we West-Europeans are used to. You are not transcribing French, so don't transcribe Hebrew either.


This is the Israeli entry to 2010 Eurovision Song Contest and it always makes me cry

שוב העצב כאן , שוב הפחד קם
והסוף נרקם בחלוני
זגוגית סדוקה ושוב שתיקה
מותשת וזרוקה בדמיוני
האור נרדם, דמעות של דם
שורפות לי בגרון
ידית שרוטה, תקרה שמוטה
כשאני שר לך את השיר האחרון

השארת לי רק מילים
מקלט בין הצללים
ספרים מסודרים ובין החדרים
השארת לי רק מילים
זר של מנעולים
אלוהים,
השארת לי רק מילים

קירות שותקים עכשיו
ומה לקחת כשברחת
כן, מה לקחת
במלחמה הזאת אולי ניצחת
ומה נשאר לי כשהלכת?

השארת לי רק מילים
מקלט בין הצללים
ספרים מסודרים ובין החדרים
השארת לי רק מילים
זר של מנעולים
אלוהים,השארת לי רק מילים

וגם לקרח קר כשאני נזכר
איך את היום מולו
מוארת בצילו, נשברת בשבילו
את המילים שהשארת לי
את עכשיו אומרת לו

The sadness is here again, the fear is here again
and the end is at my window.
Broken glass and silence again
exhausted and forsaken in my mind.

The light fell asleep, tears of blood are burning my throat
scratched handle, fallen ceiling
While I’m singing the last song to you.

You’ve left me nothing but words, shelter in the shadows
tidy books and in between the rooms
you’ve left me nothing but words, a wreath of locks
Oh God, you’ve left me nothing but words

The walls are silent now and what did you take when you ran away
Yes, what did you take? You might have won this war
What am I left with when you are gone?

You’ve left me nothing but words, shelter in the shadows
tidy books and in between the rooms
you’ve left me nothing but words, a bouquet of locks
God, you’ve only words behind

Even the ice feels cold when I remember
How today you stand before him, a light in his shadow
Breaking for him the words you’ve left
you are now telling him

You’ve left me nothing but words, shelter in the shadows
tidy books and in between the rooms
you’ve left me nothing but words, a wreath of locks
Oh God, you’ve left me nothing but words

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