Moving to a new country is hard, and is especially so if you don't know the culture and language. Ulpan (a Hebrew school) was actually created to help immigrants of war-torn countries and refugees who fled to Israel in the late 1940's. Although the new immigrants were all considered Jewish, their culture and languages were all different. The Ulpan was created to teach them Hebrew, and other basic knowledge that would be useful to someone newly living in the country.
Ulpanim is the plural form of Ulpan, and basically means Hebrew universities. There are several of these, and they are still dedicated to teaching new immigrants. Their primary focus is the study of Hebrew, as learning the language is probably the most important part of integrating yourself into a new place. In an Ulpan, you can also learn important things about the culture and history of Israel, and the geography of the country. The Israelis feel that it is important to welcome immigrants, and to do what they can to help them integrate themselves as easily as possible. Their attitude of acceptance is wonderful, and Israel is one of the places in the world that welcomes newcomers with open arms.
If you are an immigrant moving to Israel, you can choose between a Morning Ulpan, which lasts about five months, or an evening Ulpan, which lasts about ten months. Either one you choose, you are looking at about 500 hours of study. The goal of the teachers in the Ulpanim is that you will graduate with the ability to communicate fluently with the people around you, and that you will have a firm grasp of the culture and way of life of the Israelis. For new citizens of Israel, the tuition to the Ulpan is free.
The first Ulpan was built in 1949 in Jerusalem, and since then there have been over 1.3 million graduates from the Ulpanim all over Israel. It has been such a success that there are many other countries who have adopted the concept for their own form of the Ulpanim, to teach their own immigrants their language. In some cases, other countries have adopted the concept of Ulpan to help bring back a dying language that they didn't want lost in history. You can attend school in Scotland to learn Gaelic, or in Wales to learn the old Welsh language. Some countries even kept the name Ulpan, to give credit to Israel for their innovative learning institutions.
There have been some changes to the Ulpanim in recent years, as the Israelis realized that there were a great number of immigrants who went through the program and still didn't have a comprehensive grasp of the language. New kinds of teaching have been adopted in some, and they are exploring the idea of Ulpanim being available over the internet as correspondence school. Others, unfortunately, have been shut down in recent years because the cost of maintaining the schools outweighed the benefits. Overall, though, the Ulpanim has been a big institution in Israel for over 60 years now, and the concept will remain intact, as the successes have been numerous, and the failures are just minor setbacks that require evolving with the times.
