User:Shlomif/Engrew

Introduction

English is mandatory in Israeli preschools, and Israelis are exposed to English on an almost daily basis. As a result, most Israelis (Jews, Arabs and members of other minorities alike) have functional (if not better) English, including many people that a tourist or an immigrant will be required to interact with on a daily basis.

Despite all that the English spoken by Israelis exhibits some paradigms that are peculiar to Israelis or native Hebrew speakers. The Hebrew of many Israelis has been influenced by English, often in ways that some people feel is not beneficial, but this is the scope of a different article. The purpose of this article is to list the common mistakes that Israelis make in their English (which will from now on be called "Engrew"), so Israelis can pay attention to avoid, and that non-Israeli English speakers can get to the bottom off without having a "WTF?" moment.

Engrew

"A software"

Many Israelis would refer to a software application as "a software", because in Hebrew the word for software, "תוכנה" is not only a collective noun, but also means a large piece of software. Using software in singular is not unique to Israelis, but it is prevalent there.

"Renew to me" instead of "Teach Me something new"

In Israel the verb "חידש" (= "Chidesh") means both "to renew [a lease, a software licence, a contract, etc.]" or "to teach me something new".