Brenda Brett

Tribute as Brenda moves to new pastures

This page pays special tribute to Brenda Brett, who has contributed immensely to the success of ESRA Modiin, and who will be moving shortly from Modiin to Netanya. Brenda has been an active and enthusiastic member of our committee for the past three years, initiator and coordinator of our successful Let's Talk and English Story Hour Programs, founding player of the Modiin Mahj Mavens, energetic contributor to our social events, and a regular volunteer in our bookshop.

On behalf of ESRA Modiin, we wish Brenda and her husband Eric continued success and an active life in their future new home.

Jackie Klein and Cynthia Barmor

Co-Chairs, ESRA Modiin

Two years on, her brainchild is still running

Let's Talk, the brainchild of Brenda Brett, was established over two years ago and has been running with much success in Modiin. The idea was to complement the structured format that ulpan provides with a more relaxed, interactive approach to speaking Ivrit.

Participants are paired according to common interests, times to meet, professions and goals, and after introduction, via email, are free to choose their meeting place and time, and subjects for conversation. 

To date, Let's Talk has met with much enthusiasm and many friendships have been formed. Participants are given the opportunity to meet Israelis who are delighted to help new immigrants with their Ivrit, while improving their English at the same time.

Let's Talk is a free service to the community.

For more information, please contact Jackie Graham in Modiin at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


'Let's Talk has not only helped my Ivrit, but I've also made a new friend'

After attending ulpan for several months I realized that if I did not have someone to speak with on a regular basis, I would not gain any benefit from my classes. Reading the ESRA Magazine, I discovered an advertisement in it for the "Let's Talk" program. One phone call was all it took to find a partner who was willing to speak with me for one hour, or more if I wanted, per week. She is a retired teacher of mathematics who speaks English reasonably well but feels she needs more practice. 

We spend half of the hour with me speaking as much as possible in Ivrit and she in English, each correcting the other where necessary. We both have Ipads and use them to find words we do not have in our vocabulary to ensure that the conversation flows as smoothly as possible. My Let's Talk partner is a few years younger than I and we both have grandchildren, so there was a good starting point. We try to speak about what we have done in the past week and we have developed a nice friendship as well as a working relationship.

She has noticed an improvement in my Ivrit and recently complimented me on my ability to try and use what I have learned, regardless of mistakes. Some days the conversation is more challenging than others. Not only has this given me the chance to use what I am learning, but I have had the opportunity to form a friendship with a native Israeli. As a mature immigrant it is often more difficult to form friendships with the native Israelis due to the language barrier. However, here I have found the best of both worlds.

I would strongly recommend this program to everyone who wants to speak Ivrit.

Evelynne Cherny