Ulpan before IDF? | Imamother

amother

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 7:18 am

My American teen is thinking of joining the IDF. He'd be a Lone Soldier. Does the IDF provide ulpan prior to enlistment or is ulpan concurrent with basic training, etc?

Anyone else's child do this?

FranticFrummie

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 7:39 am

They get excellent Ulpan. Combined with full immersion, they should be fluent in no time.

There are also good programs here for Lone Soldiers. Lots of love and support.

It should be with hatzlocha!

amother

Coffee

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 7:43 am

You can get ulpan upon entering, together with basic training, it's at Mikveh Alon, nice base up North. BUT, you only get one ulpan, so if you start in Aleph and it gets you to Bet, you have extremely limited Hebrew and it really restricts the kinds of jobs you can get in the army.

Also the ulpan is with תנאי טירונות which some people enjoy as being part of the army experience, but others see as being the worst part. I personally enjoyed it and it counts as army service. That said, if at all possible I recommend doing as much ulpan as you can BEFORE enlistment, because one army ulpan won't get you very far if you start from 0.

Feel free to ask more questions

essie14

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 8:18 am

Theres a Facebook group for Anglo IDF parents and many many parents of lone soldiers are in the group.
If you PM me I can add you.

SixOfWands

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 8:25 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

My American teen is thinking of joining the IDF. He'd be a Lone Soldier. Does the IDF provide ulpan prior to enlistment or is ulpan concurrent with basic training, etc?

Anyone else's child do this?

Most of the lone soldiers we know did Ulpan in the US before going to Israel.

The Israeli army tests each foreign soldier before induction. Those who don't pass do Ulpan. From what my friends' kids say, its a strong program.

Rappel

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 8:36 am

DH did it!

Ulpan concurrent with basic. Basic takes 3 months instead of 1. It's on a base up north near Tsfat, called Michvei Alon. They're good about placing you where you want to go afterward.

On that note: if he can work on his Hebrew now, then he'll get a lot more out of his ulpan and his service.

Last edited by Rappel on Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:11 am; edited 1 time in total

FranticFrummie

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 9:36 am

I had the most amazing Ulpan teacher when I first made Aliyah. He was so patient, and clear, and fun. I loved every single class, and wasn't bored for a minute. I struggle with languages, and he was just the BEST with me. He understood intuitively just how much pressure I could take, and when to skip over me and call on someone else.

The next year he went north to work with the new Lone Soldiers. Anyone who gets him is incredibly lucky. His first name is Amir.

chanchy123

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 10:21 am

He should find out about joining Garin Tzabar, I’m pretty sure they have dati groups. They are a group of lone soldiers who go into the army together and form a support group/surrogate family.
Nefesh bnefesh shops e have info

amother

Thu, Dec 31 2020, 2:40 pm

thanks for the info!
He won't be starting from scratch but as it is now, he can't hold much of a conversation in Hebrew. I suspect if he were immersed in Hebrew, he'd pick it up much quicker.

Unfortunately I don't have FB so can't joint the parent FB group.