Twice a week, Ekaterina and Vladimir spend evenings at the ulpan of UTime College in Rishon Le-Tzion. They stay up late. Both are fluent in several foreign languages, now they learn Hebrew.
Ekaterina, international economist and nutritionist:
“By my first specialty I am an international economist, and by the second one I am a nutritionist. To start working in Israel, I need to understand what is expected from a nutritionist here.
My husband and I are Muscovites. We lived and worked in Kenya for the last 12 years. We didn’t have any problems with communication: we both speak English as a native language, we learned it from preschool age. Each of us speaks several other foreign languages as well.
Our fates are similar: in childhood (from about 4 to 15 years old) we lived not in Moscow, but abroad, where our diplomat parents worked. My husband grew up in the USA, I grew up in Japan. Then, upon returning to Moscow, we first ended up in the same school, and then in the same university - the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).
After receiving my diploma, I worked as a public relations manager at the Estee Lauder cosmetics company. Then I became a brand manager and launched the Mac company.
We immigrated to Israel in November 2023, at the pick of missile attacks. Of course, it was scary, but in Kenya, in Nairobi, terrorists also commit attacks... I can’t say that we weren’t afraid at all, but we didn’t experience any panic that would stop us from moving in Israel.
At first, we tried to enlist to the city ulpan, but I did not get into the class. They promised to call me - I'm still waiting for the call... Then I contacted UTime College. I was told that a new class will start soon. We started our studies without any delay.
Our teacher is amazing. Her name is Elena. The class is small. Everything is clear to us because Elena explains thoroughly each grammar rule.
I am happy that I am studying Hebrew at UTime College, we made the right choice."
Vladimir, Ekaterina’s husband, a top-class interpreter:
“We are constantly in the Hebrew language environment, that is why mastering a new language is easy. There is always an opportunity to listen to live speech and communicate with Israelis. This helps develop the skills that we acquired in the UTime College Ulpan.”
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